Gloria Petyarre Biography and CV
Gloria Petyarre was one of the most successful living female Indigenous Australian artists.
Gloria (Tamerre) Petyarre, born in 1945, deceased June 2021, is one of seven sisters who belong to Arlperre country near an outstation called Boundary Bore on Utopia, 260 kilometres north east of Alice Springs. She belongs to the Anmatyerre people (of the Eastern Anmatyerre language group) who have produced many renowned artists including Clifford Possum and Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
Gloria began painting on fabric in the batik technique in 1977, initially instructed by Yipati, a Pitjantjatjara artist from Ernabella and Suzie Bryce, a craft instructor. Later, Jenny Green, a wonderfully enthusiastic facilitator, provided cotton material and paints for the women to use. Jenny also taught many of the women to sign their names, as well as other skills that would make a difference to life at Utopia (including how to drive a car). Later, Julia Murray arrived and introduced silk as a medium to the artists.
After ten years of creating batik on silk and cotton in glorious colours, with the training and encouragement of Jenny and Julia, Gloria took part in the Summer Project exhibition at the S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, in April 1989, on small canvas boards. This was organised by Rodney Gooch of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA). This exhibition created a great deal of interest in Gloria's work. Her silk batiks were later shown to a wider audience in 1990, when 88 works from the Holmes a Court collection toured Ireland, Scotland and Harvard University and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis in the USA; Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, Oregon, USA; The Forum, St Louis, Missouri USA; and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Also in April 1989, several artists including Emily Kngwarreye, Lily Sandover Kngwarreye and her sister, asked for art materials at Delmore. Gloria Petyarre was one of the first of 138 artists who painted during what became the foundational year for Delmore Gallery. After initially trialling other materials, Delmore Gallery settled on using Belgian linen and acrylic paints.
On 31 October 1989, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, opened a Utopia women's exhibition sourced from Delmore Gallery. This was the first exhibition of works from Utopia on linen. Including paintings by Gloria Petyarre, the exhibition was successful in creating a wave of interest in Utopia art across Australia. The Utopia artists from Delmore Gallery were in high demand.
Gloria was one of a few contemporary artists who could truly reinvent herself. She has successfully changed styles several times, usually inspired by traditional body painting (awelye), her father's Dreaming stories and her own animal (the thorny mountain devil) and plant (medicine leaves) stories.
The beautifully lined 'Mountain Devil' painting, acquired by Le Louvre, Paris in 1994 elevated Gloria and by extension Indigenous Australian art to fame in Europe and throughout the contemporary art world. This work, painted for Delmore Gallery, was sold to Le Louvre by Stephane Jacob. It now resides in Le Louvre’s Musée du quai Branly. By 1999, Gloria had won The Wynne prize for landscape and was a finalist another four times. Her ‘Bush Medicine’ paintings became extremely popular in Australia.
Gloria travelled around the world several times, participating in a series of projects and exhibitions such as the creation of a mural at the Kansas City Zoo, USA. Gloria recently developed a new style while visiting Uluru for the first time. The artworks she created there are related to the early works she produced at Delmore, over twenty years ago. They are inspired by the traditional body painting she learned as a teenager, and her father's Mountain Devil Dreaming, which has such a powerful influence on her art. Also, by the Anmatyerre people's strong historical connections to Uluru - they would traditionally visit after big rains, when all the water holes and rock holes were full, enabling them to walk there from their country, Arlperre.
The Holt Collection includes Gloria Petyarre’s early batik silks and a retrospective selection of her work spanning over 35 years.
View Gloria Petyarre's paintings
COLLECTIONS
Musee du quai Branly, ParisMusée des arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, Paris
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Donald Holt Collection, Australia
Janet Holt Collection, Australia
Allen, Allen & Hemsley
Artbank, Sydney
Baker-McKenzie Collection
British Museum, London, UK
Campbelltown City Art Gallery, Campbelltown, NSW
Flinders University, Adelaide
Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Gold Coast, Queensland
Griffith University Collection, Queensland
James D. Wolfensohn Collection
Levi Collection, Seattle, Canada
Holmes à Court Collection, Australia
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
Macquarie Group Collection
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Victoria
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria
Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Supreme Court Collection, Brisbane
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
The Robert Holmes a Court Collection
University of New South Wales Collection, Sydney, NSW
University of the Sunshine Coast Collection, Queensland
University of Woollongong, Woollongong, NSW
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, U.S.A
Woollongong City Art Gallery, Woollongong, NSW
Westpac Gallery, New York, USA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Sacred Marks, JGM Gallery, London, U.K.
2017 Utopia: the artists of Delmore Downs, Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree
2016 Utopia Sisters - The Petyarre Women, Delmore Gallery with RedSea Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
2011 Aboriginal Art Collectors Gallery, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2010 New Beginnings, Central Art – Aboriginal Art Store, Alice Springs (touring Germany)
2009 Abstraction, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW
2009 5th Shalom Gamarada Aboriginal Art Exhibition, University of New South Wales, Sydney
2009 Size Matters, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2008 Three Petyarre's, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2008 Gooch's Utopia, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA
2007 The Petyarre Sisters 2007, Central Art – Aboriginal Art Store, Alice Springs, NT
2006 A Survey, Utopia Art Sydney, NSW
2006 National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC, USA
2006 Utopia, Flinders Lane Gallery, VIC
2004 Fremantle Arts Centre, WA
2004 Curtin University of Technology, WA
2004 Ivan Dougherty Gallery, COFA, NSW
2004 The Women's Show, Vivienne Anderson Gallery, VIC
2004 Utopia, Gloria, Barbara, Minnie, Flinders Lane, VIC
2003 Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2003 Chapel off Chapel, Melbourne, VIC
2003 National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square, Melbourne, VIC
2002 Chapel off Chapel, Melbourne, VIC
2002 National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square, Melbourne, VIC
2002 Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
2002 Light Square Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2002 Knut Grothe Galeri, Denmark
2002 Two thirds sky, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, NSW
2002 The Utopia Six, Flinders Lane Gallery, VIC
2001 Icons of Australian Aboriginal Art, Singapore
2001 Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW
2001 Kunst der Gegenwart, Vienna, Austria
2000 Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
2000 Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
2000 Old Parliament House, Canberra, ACT
1999 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
1999 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, USA
1999 Embassy of Australia, Washington, USA
1999 Art Gallery of Western Australia, WA
1999 Embassy of Australia, Washington, U.S.A.
1999 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, U.S.A.
1999 New England Regional Art Museum, NSW
1999 New Leaves, Utopia Art Sydney. NSW
1999 Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1999 Utopia, BMG Art, Adelaide, SA
1999 Arts d'Australie, Bastille, Paris, France
1999 Wynne Prize exhibition Winning entry
1998 Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW
1998 The Anangkere Growth Paintings, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1998 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1998 The Adelaide Festival Theatre, SA
1998 Propositions Australiennes, Galerie Luc Queyrel, Paris
1997 Australian Galleries, Sydney, NSW
1997 Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
1997 Galerie de Stassart, Bruxelles, Belgium
1997 Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
1996 William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
1996 Sherman Galleries, Sydney, NSW
1996 Old Parliament House, Canberra, ACT
1996 Seoul Arts Centre, Korea
1996 Niagara Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
1995 Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW
1995 Mitchell Galleries, State Library of NSW
1995 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
1995 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
1995 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Museum of Art, Gifu, Japan
1994 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
1994 Royal Exhibition Hall, Melbourne, VIC
1993 Australia Embassy, Paris, France
1993 Austral Gallery, St Louis, USA
1993 Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD
1993 Myra Morgan Gallery, Kansas, USA
1992 National Gallery of Australia Canberra, ACT
1992 Royal Exhibition Hall Melbourne, VIC
1992 Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Gallery Rai, Tokyo, Japan
1992 Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Bangkok, Thailand
1992 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
1991 Australia Galleries, New York, USA
1991 Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
1991 Meat Market Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
1991 S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1990 Third Eye Centre, Glasgow
1990 Orange Regional Gallery, NSW
1990 Utopia, exhibited in Ireland, UK and Calcutta, India
1990 Tandanya, Adelaide, SA
1989 Bloomfield Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1989 Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1989 Austral Gallery, St Louis, USA
1989 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
1989 Coventry Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1989 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
1989 A Summer Project, S.H.Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1988 Bloomfield Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1984 First National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, AGNT, Darwin
EXHIBITIONS 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
AWARDS
2004 Highly Commended, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales1999 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
1996 Full Fellowship Grant, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board, the Australia Council
1993 Tapestry for Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne
1994 Tapestry Commission, Law Courts Brisbane, Brisbane
1993 Mural for Kansas City Zoo, Kansas, USA
