Angeline Ngale (Kngale) Biography and CV
Angeline Ngale (Kngale) started creating batiks on cotton fabric in 1977 under the instruction of Yipati, a Pitjantjatjara artist from Ernabella and Suzie Bryce, a craft instructor. Then later, with Jenny Green and followed with the silk works she began under the guidance of Julia Murray. Both Jenny and Julia were enthusiastic and dedicated, but the fabric was not easy to sell. The Holts at Delmore Gallery bought a small part of the work produced, only a couple of hundred pieces, some of which were done by Angeline. This experience undoubtedly gave her tremendous confidence in the use of colour.
Angeline, also known as Angelina, was born on July 1, 1947 to the Eastern Anmatyarre tribe. She was married to a wonderful man called Louie Pwerle, who was a great artist in his own right, the elder brother of Cowboy Louie Pwerle. Louie passed away in 1999.
Because of her marriage, some city galleries assumed that Angeline was Mrs Pwerle and sold many of her paintings as under that name, Angelina Pwerle. In Central Australia, tribal Aboriginal women keep their own skin name, which they are born with and this certainly does not change when they get married. So she should not be referred to as Pwerle Ngale or Ngale Pwerle. For many years, Angeline painted as Angeline Kngale, but some galleries began to call her Angelina and linguists changed the spelling of her skin name to Ngale. In normal conversation her sisters refer to her as Angeline with an emphasis on the g, only very occasionally when they call to her from a distance, do they yell "Angelina”, emphasising the a. Hence, both variations are legitimate and in common usage.
Angeline and her sisters took part in several exhibitions of the batiks including a tour of Ireland and Harvard University, USA. Angeline was applauded after being shown at the SH Ervin Gallery in Sydney. She was then part of the Gabrielle Pizzi exhibition, supplied and curated by Delmore Gallery, which opened in Melbourne on 31 October 1989. These were her first works on linen and were very well received.
View Angeline Ngale (Kngale) paintings
COLLECTIONS
Allen, Allen and Helmsly Collection, Sydney
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Artbank, Sydney
Commonwealth Law Courts, Melbourne
Holt Collection
Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth
Latrobe University Collection, Melbourne
Mansion Hotel, Melbourne
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Sydney
The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
Laverty Collection
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 E(merge): two spiritualities, Space Station Art Space, Beijing and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2010 Desert Country, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide and touring Korea International Art Fair, COEX Korea Exhibition Centre, Seoul, Korea
2009 Utopia - Bush Plum and other Delicacies, Honey Ant Gallery, Noosa, QLD
2008 Utopia Revisited, WG Gallery, Sydney
2005 Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2001 Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1999 Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1997 Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1996 Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Sacred Marks, JGM Gallery, London, U.K.2017 The Golden Age of Utopia, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2016 Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia, Nevada Museum of Art. Tour included Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA; Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; and the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Canada
2009 Utopia Artists, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
2009 Utopia Group Exhibition, DACOU, Melbourne
2008 Power of Place, Paintings and Sculpture from the Eastern Desert, Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide
2008 Emily Kngwarreye and her legacy, Art Front Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2007 Eastern Desert Dreaming – Artists from Utopia, GalleryG, Brisbane
2007 Delmore Gallery – a new Selection of Utopia Art, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
2004 Explained, A closer look at Aboriginal Art, Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2002 Indecorous Abstraction: Contemporary Women Painters, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide
1999 Blue Chip 2: The Collectors Exhibition, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1998 Sixth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
1997 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1994 Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
1994 The Oval Board Collection, Hawaii
1994 This Land, Utopia Art, Sydney
1993 Utopia Women, MCA, Sydney
1993 Utopia Sculpture, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1993 Camp Scenes, Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney
1992 Aboriginal Painting, Austral Gallery, St Louis, USA
1992 Bubbles, Baubles & Beads, Utopia Art, Sydney
1992 Little Friends, Utopia Art, Sydney
1991 Long Hot Summer, Utopia Art, Sydney Utopia, Utopia Art, Sydney Men and Dogs, Utopia Art, Sydney
1990 The Last Show, Utopia Art, Sydney Art from Utopia, Orange Regional Gallery, NSW
1989 Utopia Women’s Paintings, the first works on canvas, Sydney
EXHIBITION OF BATIK SILKS
1988 Time Before Time, Austral Gallery, St Louis, USA
1988 Painting and Batik from the Desert, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW
1988 Utopia Batik, Craft Council Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1988 Utopia Batik, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD
1987 Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA
1987 Darwin Museum Gallery, Darwin, NT
1987 Yirrkala Community Centre, Northern Territory
1987 Jogyakarta Fine Art Academy, Indonesia
1987 Sydney Expo, Craft Council Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1987 The Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1986 Craft Council Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1986 Bundaberg Art Gallery, Queensland
1986 The Araluen Centre, Springs Craft Festival, Alice Springs, NT
1985 Black Women in Focus, Adelaide Festival, Adelaide, SA
1985 Burnie Gallery, Tasmania
1985 Tasmanian Craft Gallery, Hobart, TAS
1984 Craft Council Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1984 Queensland University Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
1984 Fireworks Gallery, Adelaide, SA
1984 Sydney Craft Expo, Sydney, NSW
1984 Darwin Craft Council Gallery, Darwin, NT
1984 The Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1983 Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, SA
1983 Alice Springs Craft Council, Alice Springs, NT
1982 Sydney Craft Expo, Sydney, NSW
1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games Exhibition, Brisbane, QLD
1981 Floating Forests of Silks - Utopia Batik from the Desert, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA
1980 Artworks, Alice Springs, NT
1997 Finalist in 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA)
2008 Finalist in the Wynne Prize for Landscape painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
