Marcus(dec) a senior law man and pastor in Ntaria (Hermannsburg). He is married to Betty Namatjira Wheeler (Albert Namatjira’s granddaughter) and lives with his extended family on an outstation near Ntaria. Marcus paints the country of his home land including Uruna Tjina (James Range) and Lirahpintja (Finke River). Marcus represented Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre at the 2017 Tarnanthi festival in Adelaide, where he launched the event in the Western Aranda language and exhibited four paintings of sites in Tjoritja (the West MacDonnell Ranges). Marcus’s work is held in significant public collections including the Art Gallery of South Australia and the National Museum of Australia.
I first started to paint when I married my wife, Betty Namatjira Wheeler, granddaughter of Albert Namatjira. I would sit with her and her uncles, Osar, Enos, Ewald, Keith and Morris and watch them paint. I then started to try and do it myself. I really enjoyed it so I kept going. Betty and I started to paint together and help one another and it’s something we still both enjoy doing together. We often sit down with our grandchildren and show them how to paint and hope that they will keep painting to carry on the Hermannsburg School tradition. – Marcus Wheeler