Minnie Pwerle
Tribe: Anmatjerre
Area: Utopia, Northern Territory
Born: circa 1910- March 2006
Biography:
Minnie was born at McDonnell Down Station in the Northern Territory. She then moved to Utopia with her family of three daughters and one son.
Minnie started painting in 1999. Since then her works have been in high demand and have found their way into prominent auction houses of Sydney and Melbourne. Minnie often travelled to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney for exhibitions of her art, which were always well received.
One of Minnie’s pieces was entered into the 18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Telstra Award in 2001. To be selected for the Telstra Award is an enormous recognition of her work.
Her distinctive style uses linear brush-work based on the Body Painting used for important women’s ceremonies in her native country of Atnwengerrp. She paints with a rich array of colours and her work contains a compelling visual and spiritual power. All the stories that she paints convey her deep connection with the land, and knowledge of the foods that it provides.
Collections:
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
The Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
The Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
The Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
The LaTrobe University Collection, Melbourne, Australia
The Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
The Kreglinger Collection, Antwerp, Belgium
The Thomas Vroom Collection, Amsterdam, The Netherlands