Gloria Petyarre

 

Gloria Petyarre was born in Utopia around 1945. Her language is Anmatyerre and her country is Atnangkere. Gloria is one of seven sisters who are all artists, including Kathleen Petyarre, Nancy Petyarre, Violet Petyarre and Ada Bird. Gloria lives at Mulga Bore (Akaye Soakage) at Utopia. Gloria, like many of the Aboriginal women artists in Utopia, first gained recognition as an artist working with batik. In 1988, Gloria began painting and her first work was shown in the exhibition “Utopia Women’s Painting; The First Works of Canvas; a Summer Project 1988 to 1989.”

Gloria’s work is based on the body paint designs for her Dreamings, which include “Mountain Devil”, “Bush Medicine”, “Aknangkere Growth”, and “Awelye” Dreaming. Her earlier works clearly showed the designs painted across the women’s breasts and shoulders.

“LEAVES – Bush Medicine Dreaming” depicts the leaves of a particular type of shrub that has medicinal qualities, and Gloria uses a range of different brush strokes to represent the growth of the leaves at certain times of the year.

Sadly Gloria passed away on the 8th of June, 2021.

Selected exhibitions:
1989 Austral Gallery, St Louis, U.S.A.; 1990 “Utopia”, exhibited in Ireland, U.K., India; 1990 Third Eye Centre, Glasgow; 1991, 1994, 1995 Art Gallery of N.S.W.; 1991 Australia Galleries, New York; 1992 Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Bangkok, Thailand; Gallery Rai, Tokyo, Japan;1992 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; 1993 Myra Morgan Gallery, Kansas, U.S.A.; 1993 Austral Gallery, St. Louis, U.S.A.; 1993 Australian Embassy, Paris, France; 1995 National Gallery of Australia – Canberra, Museum of Art, Gifu, Japan; 1999 Embassy of Australia, Washington; 1999 Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; 2001 Manawatu Gallery, New Zealand; 2001 Kunst der Gegenwart, Vienna, Austria; 2001 ‘Icons of Australian Aboriginal Art’ Singapore; 2002 Singapore Art Museum; 2002/2003 National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square, Melbourne.

Selected collections:
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; Flinders University, Adelaide; Griffith University Collection; Gold Coast City Art Gallery; Queensland University of Technology; Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin; Supreme Court, Brisbane; Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; Westpac Gallery, New York; Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, U.S.A.; Robert Holmes a Court Collection; Wollongong University Collection; Artbank, Sydney; Macquarie Bank; Singapore Art Museum; British Museum, London.

Awards & Commissions:
1999 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of NSW; 1993 Tapestry for Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, Vic.; 1993 Mural for Kansas City Zoo, U.S.A.; 1994 Tapestry Commission for the Law Courts, Brisbane, Queensland.

Artworks

Leaves - Bush Medicine Dreaming - 2004 - BBB0302
Gloria Petyarre
  • $6,600.00
Leaves - Bush Medicine Dreaming - 2006 - BBB0011
Gloria Petyarre
  • $4,400.00