Billy Duncan

Billy Duncan was born on Inverway Station in the Northern Territory in 1947. He is of the Jungari subsection skin, his country is Moornboo and his language is Jaru, Koorindgi. He has 4 children - two boys and two girls.

Like many artists of the Kimberley region before him, including Rover Thomas, Billy worked firstly as a ringer then stockman across the Northern Territory and Western Australia including the stations of Inverway, Nicholson and Mistake Creek Stations. After an accident during his stockman days, an injury to his knee forced Billy to change to working on farms in the Kimberley region.

Billy has been painting for approximately ten years in ochre - his works are well executed, and he says has endless stories and vast expanses of land yet to paint. He paints the country where he worked as a stockman, but now resides in Kununurra.

His paintings depict the country of his birth and where he has worked in a stylised and minimal style. His use of rich ochres and contrasting light pigments are both dynamic and distinctive to the viewer.

Billy Duncan has achieved considerable acclaim during the past few years and is held in several public collections. His work continues the strong representation by artists such as Rover Thomas, Paddy Bedford and Madigan Thomas whose depiction of country is both topographical and mythological.

Collections include:

National Gallery of Australia

Art Gallery of NSW

Art Gallery of New South Wales

National Gallery of Victoria

Kerry Stokes Collection, WA

Clemenger Collection, VIC