Photo courtesy of "Nangara" The Australian Aboriginal Art Exhibition, from
the Ebes Collection, published by the Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings 1996
One of the most highly respected Aboriginal artists of all time
Emily Kame Kngwarreye Dob: 1910 Died: 1996 Place: at Alhalkere Utopia Station. Area: Alhalkere NE of Alice Springs, Central Australia Language: Eastern Anmatyerre Tribe: Utopia Dreamings: Yam, Yam Seeds, Wild Potato, Wild Flowers, Sand Goanna, Wild Orange & Emu. Awards: 1992 Emily was awarded an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship Collections: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Canberra. Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs. Artbank, Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand. Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla, Victoria. Coventry Collection, Donald Kahn collection, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. Museum of Victoria, Melbourne. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane. The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth. The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, U.S.A. University of New South Wales, Sydney. University of Sydney Union, Sydney. Numerous public & private collections around the world including the Vatican in Rome and Buckingham Palace in London. Exhibitions: Individual Exhibitions: 1990, First Solo Exhibition, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1990, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne 1990, Coventry Gallery, Sydney 1991, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Hogarth Gallery, Sydney 1991, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1991, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne 1992, Alkalhere, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1992, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne 1993, Hogarth Gallery, Sydney 1993, The Alkalhere Suite, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1993, Recent Paintings by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne 1994, Emily Kame Kngwarreye: New Directions, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1994, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Utopia, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London Group Exhibitions: 1977-1987, Exhibited in many group shows with the Utopia Women's Batik Group worldwide. 1988, Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1989, Art from Utopia, Austral Gallery, St Louis, USA 1989, Utopia Batik, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs 1989, Utopia Women's Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney 1989, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne 1990, Abstraction, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1990, Paintings from the Desert, Contemporary Aboriginal Paintings, Plimsoll Gallery, Centre for the Arts, Hobart, Tasmania 1990, Utopian Artists, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne 1990, Utopia Artists in Residence Project: Louie Pwerle and Emily Kame Kngwarreye, 1989-1990, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth 1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, Lake Oswego Center for the Arts, United States of America 1990, 'Utopia - A Picture Story,' an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes a Court Collection by Utopia artists which toured Eire and Scotland. 1990/91, New Acquisitions, National Gallery of Victoria, Victoria 1991, Contemporary Aboriginal Paintings, Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla, Vic. 1991, Aboriginal Paintings from the Desert, Union of Soviet Artists Gallery, Moscow and Museum of Ethnographic Art, St. Petersburg, Russia. 1991, Aboriginal Art and Spirituality, High Court, Canberra 1991, Aboriginal Women's Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1991, Through Women's Eyes, ATSIC travelling exhibition. 1991, Images of Women, S. H., Ervin Museum, Sydney 1991, Flash Pictures, National Gallery of Australia 1991, Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Donald Kahn, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA 1992, Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs 1992, Aboriginal Art: Utopia in the Desert, Nogazaka Arthall, Tokyo, Japan 1992, Nineteen ninety two, New Work, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1992, Bubbles, Baubles and Beads, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore 1992, Aboriginal Paintings from the Desert, State Ukranian Museum of Art, Kiev, Ukraine; State Byelorussian Museum of Modern Art, Minsk, Byelorussia. 1992, Crossroads-Towards a New Reality, Aboriginal Art from Australia, National Museums of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo 1992, The Ninth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, Darwin 1992, Emily Kngwarreye and Utopia Artists, Hogarth Galleries, Paddington 1992, My Story, My Country: Aboriginal Art and the Land, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 1993, Tjukurrpa, Desert Dreamings, Aboriginal Art from Central Australia (1971-1993), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth WA 1993, Triennial Exhibition of Contemporary Australian Art, National Gallery of Victoria, 1993, Out on Selection: Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Australian Painting and Sculpture from the Holmes a Court Collection, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth 1993, The Tenth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, Darwin 1993, Australian Heritage Commission National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Old Parliament House, Canberra. 1993, Trevor Nickolls and Paintings by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Ginger Riley Manduwalawala and Rover Thomas, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney 1993/4, ARATJARA, Art of the First Australians, Touring: Kunstammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf; Hayward Gallery, London; Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark 1994, Dreamings - Tjukurrpa: Aboriginal Art of the Western Desert; The Donald Kahn collection, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich 1994, Australian Heritage Commission National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Old Parliament House, Canberra. 1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria. 1994, Identities: Art from Australia, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan, Wollongong City Gallery 1994, Utopia Body Paint: The Oval Paintings Collection, Bishop Museum, Hawaii 1994, Desert Paintings, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane 1994, Ink Lines: Mapping the Printer, Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, Sydney 1994, This Land: A Celebration, Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore. 1994, Creators and Inventors, Australian Women's Art in the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1994, Yiribana, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 1995, Ian Fairweather and Emily Kngwarreye, Niagara Gallery, Victoria. 1995, A Celebration of the Art and Craft of Aboriginal Women, Tribal Art Centre, Sydney 1995, Stories, Eine Reise zu den grossen Dingen, touring, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Museum fur Volkerkunde Leipzig, Hausder Kulteren der Welt Berlin, Ludwig-Forum fur Internationale Kunst Aachen Select Bibliography: Andreeva, Y., 1992, 'Russian reflections on Australian Aboriginal Art,' Art Monthly Australia 50, 3-4. (C) Australian Aboriginal Art from the Collection of Donald Kahn, 1991, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, USA. Batty, P., and Sheridan, N., 1990, Utopia Artist in Residence Project, Holmes a Court Foundation, Perth. 1990, Painting from the Desert, exhib. cat., University of Tasmania, Hobart. (C) Brody, A., 1989, Utopia Women's Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings, Perth. (C) Brody, A., 1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art: from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, exhib. cat.,Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth. Brody, A., 1990, Utopia: a Picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth. (C) Brody, A., Krempel, U., Bahr, E., (eds.), 1995, Stories, Eine Reise zu den grossen Dingen, exhib. cat., Landeshauptstadt Hannover Der Oberstadtdirektor Sprengel Museum Hannover and Autoren. Boulter, M., 1991, The Art of Utopia, Craftsman House, Roseville, New South Wales. (C) Caruana, W., 1993, Aboriginal Art, Thames and Hudson, London. (C) Crumlin, R., (ed.), 1991, Aboriginal Art and Spirituality, Collins Dove, North Blackburn, Victoria. (C) Crossroads-Towards a new reality, 1992, exh. cat, Museum of Modern Art Kyoto, Japan Green, J., 1981, Utopia: Green, J., 1981, Utopia: Women, Country and Batik, Utopia Womens' Batik Group, Utopia, Northern Territory. (C) Johnson, V., 1993, Twentieth Century Dreaming, Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Art and Asia Pacific, quarterly journal Vol 1 No 1 December. Johnson, V., 1994, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, East Roseville, New South Wales. (C) Johnson, V., 1995, 'Is there a gender issue in Aboriginal art?', Art & Australia, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 350-357. 1993, Aratjara, Art of the First Australians: Traditional and Contemporary Works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Artists, exhib. cat. (conceived and designed by Bernard Luthi in collaboration with Gary Lee), Dumont, Buchverlag, Koln. (C) Lynn, V., 1990, Abstraction, exhib. cat. AGNSW McCulloch, A., & McCulloch, S., 1994, The Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd, St Leonards, New South Wales. Neale, M., 1994, Yiribana, exhib. cat., Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney. (C) Smith, T., Rethinking Regionalism: Art in the Northern Territory, Art & Australia, Vol 31, No. 4, Winter 1994. 1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings Ltd., Perth. 1991, Through Women's Eyes, exhib. cat., Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Woden, Australian Capital Territory. (C) 1993, Tjukurrpa Desert Dreamings, Aboriginal Art from Central Australia (1971-1993), exhib. cat., Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. (C) Amadio, N., 1992, 'Oz in the global art village,' Oz Arts 4, 70-71. (C) Wallace, D., Desmond, M., Caruana, W., 1991, Flash Pictures, exhib. cat., National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 1991, Aboriginal Women's Exhibition, exhib. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. 1994, Emily Kame Kngwarreye: New Directions, exhib. cat., Utopia Art Sydney, Stanmore. Record Date: 01/01/89
COMMENTS: First saw a white person when she was about 9 years old. The adopted daughter of Jacob Jones (senior elder of the Alyawarre people). Worked as a stockhand in her younger years. Commenced painting in 1988 and has received widespread acclaim and recognition. Emily's paintings are rapidly acquired by major private and public collectors around the world. She is the most famous of the Utopia and Desert artists of today and is included in a number of publications and has also been featured on TV. In 1992 Emily was awarded an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship.