Aboriginal Art by Australian Aboriginal Artists, Quality Aboriginal Paintings for sale.  

Retrospective Exhibition
Emily Kame Kngwarreye: The Person and her Paintings

Presented by DACOU Aboriginal Art

Emily Kame Kngwarreye is Australia’s most important and famous female artist.  Hailed as a modernist ‘genius’, she has been compared to Rothko and de Kooning.   An Anmatyerre elder from Utopia in the remote central desert region of the Northern Territory, Emily first took up painting on canvas in her late 70's.  She quickly became one of the leaders in the contemporary Aboriginal art movement, transforming her style several times during her short career of eight years.  Today she is known as one of the greatest abstract painters of the 20th century.

Venue:   DACOU Australia’s new warehouse and headquarters in Melbourne
              10 B Phillip Court, Port Melbourne, 3207, Melways Ref: 42, H11
              Wednesday to Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  
              Sunday, 11:00am to 4:00pm

2nd venue: DACOU Melbourne, 41 Canterbury Rd, Middle Park, 3206
                   Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  
                   Sunday, 11:00am to 4:00pm

Dates:   29 October to 6 December 2009

Now open by appointment only.

           

View Larger Map

Introductory catalogues are available. Please email info@dacoumelbourne.com.au if you wish to receive one.

A comprehensive 240 page soft cover book has been produced to accompany this exhibition with contributions from art critic Susan McCulloch, author Dr. Victoria King, Emily's adopted daughter Barbara Weir, Director of DACOU Fred Torres, and others that knew Emily personally.  Images of the artworks, photographs of Emily painting and old family photos of the artist are also included. This impressive book retails for $75.00
    
Exhibition was opened by Mr. John Morse AM (1)              
 

Final Series, My Country, 1996, acrylic on canvas, 95 x 125 cm
Final Series, My Country, 1996, acrylic on canvas, 81 x 71 cm
Yam Dreaming, 1996, acrylic on canvas, 127 x 98 cm

  Exhibition: This important exhibition of over 80 pieces covering all significant series and periods of Emily Kngwarreye’s artistic career is the first commercial retrospective exhibition to be held since she passed away in 1996. It gives the public an outstanding chance to view and purchase works in each of her styles. DACOU has retained numerous magnificent pieces over the years and are included in this exhibition, such as rarely seen works from Emily's Ochre Series, created with ochre and charcoal she collected from her country.  On show is the sister painting to the famous Earth’s Creation (also titled Earth’s Creation, 1994, 4 panels, 211 x 596 cm) and just as splendid in colour and style. DACOU is pleased to be able to offer a selection of monumental and rare works from her Final Series.

The team at DACOU is thrilled to present this major retrospective and will use this opportunity to give insight into the person behind the paintings. Through photos and personal stories provided by people who were close to Emily Kngwarreye, the exhibition will also reveal the humorous and strong-minded character of this beloved artist.

DACOU is an Aboriginal-owned Gallery and many prominent Utopia artists and family members were present on the opening night, including Barbara Weir, and Emily Kngwarreye’s direct nieces Rosemary, Joy and Jeannie Petyarre.

The opening of this exhibition coincides with DACOU’s relocation from Adelaide to Melbourne.  It is the inaugural exhibition of their new headquarters in Port Melbourne.

DACOU (Dreaming Art Centre of Utopia) was established in 1993 in Adelaide and has supplied major galleries throughout Australia (including Gallery Savah, Sydney; Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne; and Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane) and internationally with fine Aboriginal art works from Utopia.   DACOU has been involved in over 200 exhibitions of Utopia art including Spirit Sings, 1998, Tandanya (National Aboriginal Cultural Institute); a major exhibition during the 2000 Olympic Games sponsored by AMP, Sydney; and Utopia, Colors of the Desert in 2008 in Seoul, Korea at Gongpyeong Art Space in conjunction with the Australian Embassy. DACOU now has galleries of its own in Melbourne, Sydney and Broome. Director Fred Torres was the nephew of Emily Kngwarreye (in Aboriginal Law) and was closely involved in her life and the rise of her career.  DACOU commissioned numerous major pieces such as ‘Earth’s Creation’ which sold for $1.056 million at a Deutscher-Menzies auction in 2007, breaking all previous records for an Australian female artist.  The following year the record was broken again when ‘My Country’, the largest piece from her final series sold privately for over $1 million. The outstanding Final Series was commissioned in 1996 by DACOU, 3 weeks before Emily passed away.  She used a wide brush to paint 24 extraordinary pieces consisting of intense blocks of fluid colour. Aboriginal artworks commissioned by DACOU are represented in many prominent collections such as the South Australia Art Gallery, Queensland Art Gallery and Parliament House.

Bush Potato, 1993, acrylic on canvas, 191 x 126 cm

(1) John Morse is the former managing director of the Australian Tourist Commission.  He now works with Aboriginal communities across Australia. He is chairman of the Mutitjulu Foundation, a Council Member of the National Museum of Australia, and co-chair of the Aboriginal Economic Development Task Force for the Government of Victoria. He was awarded an Order of Australia [AM] in 2003 for services to tourism and Indigenous tourism.

Further articles about Emily Kame Kngwarreye the Aboriginal artist can be found here.

Below is a selection of the paintings that will be on display: