Dorothy Napangardi | FireWorks Gallery

Artist Tabs

Selected works

FW10243 Karntakulangu Jukurrpa	FW10245 Karntakulangu Jukurrpa	FW10361 Karntakurlangu Jukurrpa 35/40
FW10752 Salt on Mina Mina	FW15423 Salt on Mina Mina	FW16684 Sandhills of Mina Mina ed. 57/99

Bio & CV

Born: c. 1958 Mina Mina NT – died Alice Springs NT 2013
Language: Warlpiri
Country: Mina Mina
Region: Tanami Desert NT

Living for the greater part of her life in Alice Springs, Dorothy began painting in 1987 with generic ‘bush tucker’ designs. Dorothy’s later paintings depict elaborate and elegant interpretations of country, including concentrations of finely veiled grids over predominantly white or black grounds. In 2001, Dorothy won the coveted Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award for a black and white work, Salt on Mina Mina. In 2002, there was a major survey of her work at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Dorothy’s paintings feature in numerous private and public collections in national and international collections including National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Germany, USA and the Netherlands.

Story/Statement

Dorothy’s monochromatic paintings represent the journey of ancestral women to the sacred salt site of Mina Mina, a soakage bore in the artist’s country, Walpiri, north-west of Yuendumu NT. The dances and ceremonies take place both on the journey and at Mina Mina, through sandhills and saltpans. In keeping with the Dreaming story these dances and ceremonies celebrate Mina Mina as their homeland and significantly, the birthplace of the digging stick. This is portrayed through the linear grids and waves in her painting which create a sense of movement and activity.

Images courtesy of The Australian 02.jpg

Dorothy Napangardi at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on the 2000sqm carpet with a design reproduced from her painting Sandhills. Image courtesy of The Australian

DOROTHY NAPANGARDI

Born: c.1952-56 Mina Mina NT
Died: 2013
Language: Warlpiri
Country: Mina Mina
Region: Lake Mackay, Tanami Desert, NT

EXHIBITIONS—SOLO

2020 Dorothy Napangardi - Retrospective Exhibition, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle

2014 Dorothy Remembered, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2013 Mina Mina Maranoa: Sandhills, Salt Lakes & Soakages FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2010 All is Calm FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2007 Country in Mind: Dorothy Napangardi - stories from mina mina & Yvonne Mills-Stanley - stories from the long paddock Fire-Works gallery Brisbane Australia

Dorothy Napangardi: etchings and screenprints

2001-6 Northern Editions Printmaking Studio

Charles Darwin University Darwin Australia

2006 Karnta-kurlangu Jukurrpa Gallery Gondwana Sydney Australia

2005 Dorothy Napangardi Hosfelt Gallery San Francisco USA

2004-5 Mina Mina - My Country Gallery Gondwana Sydney Australia

2004 Mina Mina - My Country Crown Point Press San Francisco USA

Dorothy Napangardi: New Work Gallery Gondwana at the Depot Gallery Sydney Australia

2002 Kana-kurlangu Dorothy Napangardi Gallery Gondwana at The Depot Gallery Sydney Australia

2002 Dancing Up Country: the work of Dorothy Napangardi Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney Australia

2001 Dorothy Napangardi: New Paintings Vivien Anderson Gallery Victoria Australia

Mina Mina: Dorothy Napangardi Gallery Gondwana Alice Springs Australia

2000 Recent Paintings by Dorothy Napangardi Vivien Anderson Gallery Melbourne Australia

Dorothy Napangardi Hogarth Gallery Sydney Australia

1999 Recent works by Dorothy Napangardi Chapman Gallery Canberra Australia

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS—GROUP

2020 Black & White 2020 FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2020 The Women's Show, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne

2019 Woven FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2019 defining tradition | black + white, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2019 International Women's Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2017 Gems from the Stockroom, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2017 Along the Lines, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2014 Melbourne Art Fair Royal Exhibition Building Melbourne

2014 Cross Over Merricks House Art Gallery Victoria

2013 Australia Royal Academy, London

2012 From the Bush II: DESERT TO ISLAND FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2011 Blue August FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2011 Eclectica 1 FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2011 Almanac: The Gift of Ann Lewis AO MCA touring exhibition

2011 Wet Paint Flinders Lane Gallery Melbourne

2010-11 Spirit in the Land NETS Victoria touring exhibition

2009 Dorothy Napangardi/John Reynolds Institute of Modern Art Brisbane

2009 Sculpture + Works on Paper FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2008 From the air FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2007 Intimate and Distant Landscapes Devonport Art Gallery Devonport

2007 Divas of the Desert Gallery Gondwana Sydney & Alice Springs

2006 Journey to Mina Mina Gallery Gondwana Sydney

2006 Dreaming Their Way - Australian Aboriginal Women Painters National Museum of Women in the Arts Washington USA

Group Show Hosfelt Gallery New York USA

2005 Imagined Worlds - Willful Invention and the Printed Image 1470-2005 AXA Gallery New York USA

2004 Mina Mina & Pirlinyanu Holmes a Court Gallery Perth Australia

2004 Ngati Jinta - One Mother Gallery Gondwana at the Depot Gallery Sydney

2004 Our Country, Our Art PASCO Art Museum Korea

2003 Collectors Show Gallery Gondwana at the Depot Gallery Sydney

2002 Native Title Business - Contemporary Indigenous Art National Travelling Exhibition Gurang Land Council (Aboriginal Corporation) Queensland

2002 One Mother: Dorothy Napangardi and Sabrina Nangala Gallery Gondwana Alice Springs

2001 Masterwork Vivien Anderson Gallery Victoria Australia

2001 18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin

2001 Dreamtime: The Light and the Dark Sammlung Essl Klosterneuburg Vienna Austria

2000-1 The Art of Place Exhibition Australian Heritage Commission Old Parliament House Canberra Australia

2000 Songlines: Walala Tjapaltjarri & Dorothy Napangardi Rebecca Hossack Gallery London UK

2000 Dorothy Napangardi and Walala Tjapaltjarri Adelaide Festival Gallery Australis Adelaide

2000 17th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin

1999 16th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award Darwin

1999 Recent works by Dorothy Napangardi and Walala Tjapaltjarri Vivien Anderson Gallery Melbourne

1998 Warlpiri Women Gallery Gondwana Alice Springs

1998 Napangardi Dreaming - Ceremony and Song Hogarth Gallery Sydney

1998 15th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin Northern Territory

1991 8th National Aboriginal Art Award Darwin, Northern Territory

AWARDS

2001 First Prize, 18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin

1999 Highly Commended - 16th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin

1998 Northern Territory Art Award Alice Springs NT

1991 Best Painting in European Media - 8th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Darwin NT

COMMISSIONS

2013 Sandhills 2000sq/m carpet commission

Plaza Ballroom Brisbane Convention Centre

PUBLICATIONS

2007 Country in Mind: Dorothy Napangardi – stories from mina mina & Yvonne Mills-Stanley – stories from the long paddock Fire-Works gallery Brisbane Australia (Catalogue)

2006 Dreaming Their Way - Australian Aboriginal Women Painters, National Museum of Women in the Arts. Washington, USA Published by Scarla Publishers Ltd, Northburgh House, London

Kathan Brown Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively – The Art of Etching and the Truth of Life Crown Point Press New York, USA

2005 Imagined Worlds - Willful Invention and the Printed Image

2004 Our Country, Our Art – Welcome to the Art of Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Artists

2002 Dancing up Country – The art of Dorothy Napangardi Published by Museum of Contemporary Art, Circular Quay Sydney Australia Bibliography

COLLECTIONS

18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards Darwin

National Gallery of Australia

National Gallery of Victoria

Art Gallery of South Australia

Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory

Queensland Museum

Linden Museum Stuttgart Germany

The Kelton Foundation Santa Monica LA USA

The Kaplan-Levi Collection Seattle USA

The Vroom Collection, the Netherlands

The Erskine Collection, NSW, Australia

The Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth, WA, Australia

The Australia Council Collection, Sydney, Australia

South Australian Festival Centre Foundation, Adelaide, Australia

The Homesglen Institute of TAFE Collection, Victoria, Australia

The Holmes a’ Court Collection, Perth, WA

The LeWitt Collection, Chester, Connecticut, USA

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