BORN
1975

REGION
Alice Springs, Northern Territory

COMMUNITY
Utopia, NT

LANGUAGE
Anmatyerre

BIOGRAPHY
With the famous Minnie Pwerle as grandmother, and the equally talented Barbara Weir for her mother, it is not surprising that Charmaine Pwerle is bursting with talent. She is certainly one of the most promising of the younger generations of Indigenous artists, having been immersed in her culture and its artistic expression from an early age. She was surrounded by artists all her life, including such role models as her mother and grand mother, together with Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Gloria Petyarre. Charmaine’s innate artistic sense inevitably blossomed.
Pwerle approaches the canvas with much more than the usual degree of confidence. Her lines are bold and sure, echoing those of her grandmother Minnie Pwerle, but with the assurance of a much more practised artist than her years or experience would suggest. The brushwork in her body designs, Awelye, has all the characteristics of this family dreaming, but Charmaine lends her own distinct creative flair, pattern and movement to the canvas.

Charmaine is definitely a family person: She lives in Alice Springs at present with her partner, her four daughters and one step-daughter. Her education has been varied to say the least, straddling the worlds of the remote outpost of Utopia (280 kms north east of Alice Springs) until she was seven years of age, and immediately following this, the urban environment of Adelaide, where she was sent to ‘improve her education’. 

At the age of 10 she returned to Utopia School for a further year, before attending St. Phillips College in Alice Springs. Alice Springs high school was next on the agenda, and after this she returned to Utopia for a few years before moving back to Adelaide again to study.

In 1992 Charmaine returned to Utopia and worked for Urapuntja Council as a junior administration assistant, while living with her mother Barbara Weir and grandparents Minnie Pwerle and Motorcar Jim at Soakge Bore – an outstation on what used to be Utopia Station.
During the years she spent at Utopia, Charmaine’s education extended to embrace her people’s culture, performing in ceremonies, and learning the sacred stories passed on to her by her grandmothers.
Charmaine’s early works were impressively executed and rich with culture and expression. In the years that have followed she has developed her obvious talent, and appears to be following in her mother’s footsteps as one of the most sought after artists living and working today. Her exhibition history both nationally and internationally is growing exponentially, and her work is starting to be acquired by major institutions such as the NGV.

EXHIBITIONS
2019 Polly Ngale & Charmaine Pwerle, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2019 International Women’s Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2019 defining tradition | the colurists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2018 A New Tradition, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2018 Delmore Gallery: Utopia Women, Merricks Art Gallery, Victoria,Australia
2018 Paddington Art Prize – Finalist
2018 Spring Colours, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2018 Earth’s Creation, Emily Kame and Family, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2018 Utopia Women, Merricks Art Gallery, Merricks, VIC
2018  Delmore Gallery: Utopia Women, Merricks Art Gallery, Victoria,Australia
2017 Atnwengerrp Revisited, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2017 Sacred Marks, JGM Gallery, London
2017  Utopia: the artists of Delmore Downs, Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree
2017 Utopia: the artists of Delmore Downs, Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree
2016 Winter Salon, Whistlewood, Shoreham, VIC
2015 Sixteen Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
2015 Awelye, ARTMOB, Hobart
2015 Alpitye Art Studio, Alice Springs
2014 Far North-Great South, Le Mans Contemporary Arts (MAC), Collegiate
Church of St Pierre La Cour, Paris, France
2012 Little Gems, Japingka Gallery, WA
2012 Heirs and Successors, Japingka Gallery WA

COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

BORN
circa 1940

REGION
Utopia, Northern Territory

LANGUAGE
Anmatyerre

BIOGRAPHY
Polly Ngale was born circa 1940 in the artistically rich area of Utopia, 240 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Polly Ngale belongs to the oldest living generation of Utopia women. Like many of the women in Utopia, Polly began her artistic career in the 1970s within the Batik movement when Indigenous imagery and Western craft practices were combined for the first time. This movement was an initiation into the art world for many female artists in the area.

Like Kathleen, Polly creates her paintings by building up layer upon layer of colour to create multi-dimensional images. The two have often collaborated and painted together.

Many of Pollys paintings depict the bush plum and its bright yellow seeds, in its various stages of ripening, or the topography of the land in varying shades of red, orange, and yellow to reflect the changing colours of the seasons.
Other works depict designs associated with Awelye, Womens business and ceremonial law. Polly Ngales paintings often depict bright yellow seeds, a feast for emus, amongst the Bush Plums that grow in her country. Polly’s work has been exhibited extensively both in Australia and overseas.

EXHIBITIONS
2019 Polly Ngale & Charmaine Pwerle, Harvey Galleries, Sydney
2019 Defining tradition | the colourists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2019 International Women’s Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2018 Beyond the Veil, Olsen Gruin, New York
2010 Spring, Kate Owen Gallery Sydney
2014 Dot Code: Desert Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2015 Sixteen Artists – 16 x 2, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2009 Utopia – Bush Plum & Other delicacies, Honey Ant Gallery, Noosa, Queensland.
2009 Size Matters, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2008 Utopia Revisited, NG Art Gallery, Sydney.
2007 Journeys and Dreams, Gecko Gallery, Broome.
2007 Visions of Utopia, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Sydney.
2003 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award,
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
2002 Two Sisters: Kathleen and Polly Ngale, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne.
2000 Arts Australie, Arts Australie, Stephane Jacob/Air France, Paris.
2000 Arts Australie, Arts Australie, Stephane Jacob/Espace Mezzo, Avenue des Champs- Elysees, Paris.
1990 Utopia – A Picture Story, an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the
Holmes a Court Collection by Utopia artists which toured Ireland and Scotland.
1989 Utopia Women Painting, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988 – 89, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney.

COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
The World Bank, Washington