David Malangi was an Indigenous Australian

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 Yolngu

Yolngu

The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an Indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means “person” in the Yolŋu languages.-Yolŋu law:...

 artist from the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. He was one of the most well known bark painters from Arnhem Land

Arnhem Land

The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National...

 and a significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art

Contemporary Indigenous Australian art

Contemporary Indigenous Australian art is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians. It is generally regarded as beginning with a painting movement that started at Papunya, northwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in 1971, involving artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri...

. He was born at Mulanga, on the east bank of the Glyde River.

He painted on clear, red ochre or black backgrounds. He used much broader and bolder brushstrokes than other Arnhem Land bark painters. His work includes depictions of the sea eagle

Sea Eagle

Sea eagle mainly refers to Sea eagle, birds of prey of the genus Haliaeetus.It may also refer to:-Aerospace:* Sea Eagle , British, anti-ship missile* Sea Eagle * Supermarine Sea Eagle, 1920s British passenger flying boat-Sports:...

, crow

Crow

Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...

, snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

 and goanna

Goanna

Goanna is the name used to refer to any number of Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from Southeast Asia.There are around 30 species of goanna, 25 of which are found in Australia...

.

Malangi represented Australia at the São Paulo Art Biennial

São Paulo Art Biennial

The São Paulo Art Biennial was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial , which serves as its role model....

 in 1983. He contributed ten hollow logs for the Aboriginal Memorial at the National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery of Australia

The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...

 in 1988. He travelled to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 in 1988 as part of the Dreamings exhibition of Aboriginal art. In July 2004 an exhibition opened of David Malangi's work at the National Gallery of Australia called No Ordinary Place.

Australian one dollar note

The reproduction of one of his designs appeared on the reverse of the Australian one dollar note in 1966. This was done originally without his knowledge, and he was later financially compensated after intervention by the Governor of the Reserve Bank

Reserve Bank of Australia

The Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on 14 January 1960 as Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank to it....

, Dr H. C. Coombs

H. C. Coombs

Herbert Cole H.C. "Nugget" Coombs was an Australian economist and public servant.-Early years:Coombs was born in Kalamunda, Western Australia, Australia, one of six children of a country railway station-master and a well-read mother.Coombs's political and economic views were formed by the Great...

 as well as receiving a specially struck medal. The image depicts the mortuary feast of the ancestral hunter Gurrmirringu.

The payment by the Reserve Bank to Malangi began issues of Aboriginal copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

in Australia.