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This body of work emerged from my return to my bush property following the recent Victorian fires. Rather than depicting the visible aftermath of fire, I found myself drawn to something less obvious – the feeling that the land had changed in ways that were difficult to articulate…… Continue reading
Continue readingOil on Canvas
101 x 150 cm
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122 x 182 cm
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111 x 208 cm
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Acrylic on Linen
153 x 182 cm
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Acrylic on Linen
152 x 183 cm
A$55,000 Buy Now
Acrylic on Linen
182 x 244 cm
A$160,000 Buy Now
Acrylic on Linen
182 x 244 cm
A$135,000 Buy NowMinnie Pwerle (c.1915–2006) was an Alyawarre and Anmatyerre artist from Atnwengerrp in the Utopia region of Central Australia. Although she began painting professionally only in 1999, she rapidly became one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary Aboriginal artists, renowned for the energy, confidence and expressive freedom of her work.
A senior custodian of her Country and its cultural traditions, Minnie painted the stories of Awelye Atnwengerrp(Women’s Ceremony) and Bush Melon Dreaming. Her sweeping, gestural lines and vibrant colour palettes were inspired by ceremonial body painting and reflected a profound connection to ancestral knowledge, Country and community.
Minnie’s distinctive style transformed traditional iconography into a powerful contemporary visual language, earning widespread recognition in Australia and internationally. Her work is celebrated for its dynamic movement, rhythmic compositions and remarkable sense of vitality.
Despite a relatively short painting career, Minnie’s influence has been profound. Her paintings are held in every major Australian state gallery, as well as significant public and private collections around the world, and she is widely regarded as one of the defining figures of the Utopia art movement.
EXHIBITIONS
2001 Group exhibition, San Anselmo, Marin County, California, USA.
2001 ‘Small Stories: Minnie Pwerle, Mary Pantjiti McLean, Tumaru Purlykumunu’, Japingka Gallery, Perth, WA.
2001 ‘Desert Colour- My Country’, group exhibition, Raintree Aboriginal Art Gallery, Darwin, NT.
2001 Dreamtime Gallery, group exhibition, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
2001 ‘Women Artists of the Australian Desert’, group exhibition, Gallery 2021, Auckland, New Zealand.
2002 ‘United – Mother and Daughter’, with Barbara Weir, Alison Kelly Gallery, Armadale, VIC.
2002 Group exhibition, New York City, USA.
2002 Mbantua Gallery, group exhibition, Alice Springs, NT.
2002 Knut Grothe Galeri, Utopia group exhibition, Charlottlenlund, Copenhagen.
2002 Galerie à Le Temps Du Reve, Utopia group exhibition, Pont-Aven, France.
2002 ‘Minnie’s Country’, DACOU Gallery, Adelaide, SA.
2002 ‘Generations Utopia’, group exhibition, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, Perth, WA.
2002 Selected entrant in the 2002 19th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.
2002 ‘Awelye Atnwengerrp’, solo exhibition, DACOU Gallery, Adelaide, SA.
2002 Urban Wineworks Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA.
2002 ‘In the Cove’, Carriage House Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA.
2003 ‘My Grandmother & Me’, World Vision, Walkabout Gallery, Sydney, NSW.
2003 ‘Minnie Pwerle & Mitjili Napurrula’, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA.
2003 Art & Soul Gallery, group exhibition, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
2003 ‘Art from the Dreamtime’, Portland Art Museum, Oregon, USA.
2004 Named by Art Collector as “one of Australia’s 50 most collectible artists”.
2005 Finalist in the 2005 Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.
2006 ‘The Pwerle Sisters’, group exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2006 ‘Memorial Exhibition’, solo exhibition, Gallery Savah, Sydney, NSW.
2006 APS Bendi Lango Art Exhibition, group exhibition, Rio Tinto Offices, Melbourne, VIC.
2007 ‘Utopia in New York’, Robert Steele Gallery, New York, USA.
2007 ‘Desert Diversity, group exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2007 ‘New Works from Utopia’, Space Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
2008 ‘Atnwengerrp: Land of Dreaming’, Minnie Pwerle carpet launch, Designer Rugs Showroom, Edgecliffe, NSW.
2008 ‘EWB Elements’, travelling group exhibition, all major cities of Australia, DACOU in conjunction with Dreamtime Art.
2008 ‘Minnie Pwerle – Body Paint’, solo exhibition, DACOU Melbourne, Middle Park, VIC.
2009 ‘Utopia – Colors of the Desert’, Gongpyeong Art Space in conjunction with DACOU, Australian Embassy in Korea and Crossbay Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
2010 ‘Utopia’, group exhibition, DACOU Melbourne, Middle Park, VIC.
2010 ‘Desert Rhythms’, group exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2010 ‘The Pwerle Sisters’, group exhibition, DACOU Australia & DACOU Melbourne, Port Melbourne & Middle Park, VIC.
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Victoria
Art Gallery of NSW
Queensland National Gallery
Art Gallery of South Australia
La Trobe University
Kelton Foundation
Kreglinger Collection
Thomas Vroom Collection
John McBride Collection
AMP Collection
Corrigan Collection
Hank Ebes Collection
Fred Torres Collection
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