Minnie Pwerle: Why she kicks ass
She is an artist from the Utopia Community, Northern Territory Australia, specialising in contemporary Indigenous Australian art.
She began painting in 2000 at about the age of 80.
Minnie’s works were exhibited around Australia until she passed away in 2006, and collected by major galleries, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Queensland Art Gallery.
The immediate reaction to her artwork was positive; she had her first solo exhibition that same year at Melbourne’s Flinders Lane Gallery.
She was first selected to exhibit in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2002.
One of her pieces, Awelye Atnwengerrp, was exhibited in the 2003 Award, the asking price for the picture, A$44,000, was the second-highest in the exhibition and the highest for an artist from the central and western deserts.
She was named by Australian Art Collector as one of Australia’s 50 most collectible artists in 2004.
Her paintings are characteristically bold, vibrant and colourful.
Her paintings include two main design themes; free-flowing and parallel lines in a pendulous outline, depicting the body painting designs used in women’s ceremonies, orawelye, and the second theme involves circular shapes, used to symbolise bush food such as: bush tomato (Solanum chippendalei), bush melon, and northern wild orange (Capparis umbonata).
Her art can be found in major public collections such as the Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and Queensland Art Gallery.
Her art was also included in a 2009 exhibition of Indigenous Australian painting at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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