"Who's that bugger that paints like me?"
Rover Thomas Joolama (c. 1926–1998) was a pioneering First Nations artist who revolutionized Australian art. Born in north-western Australia to a Wangkajunga father and Kukatja mother, he worked as a stockman before settling in Warmun in 1975.
His artistic journey began after a revelatory dream, the Gurirr Gurirr, following a 1974 car accident that led to his classificatory mother’s death. This narrative dance cycle, performed across communities, inspired Thomas’s painting. His visionary works merge past and present, myth and history, depicting the East Kimberley landscape through deep red and brown ochres in a distinctive gestural style.
As a founder of the Warmun School, Thomas influenced artists like Queen McKenzie and Paddy Bedford. His works gained international acclaim, with exhibitions worldwide. In 1990, he was among the first Indigenous Australians to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale. Honored with an honorary doctorate in 1997, Thomas left a lasting legacy in contemporary Indigenous art.