Emily Kame Kngwarreye 1910-1996

Emily Kame Kngwarreye
c 1910-1996

Arguably the most significant Aboriginal artist, Anmatyerre elder Emily Kame Kngwarreye was born in circa 1910 a remote area known as Urupunta, north east of Alice Springs.
The comprehensive exhibition, Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, was curated by the National Museum of Australia, having been exhorted by the director of the National Museum of Art in Osaka, Akira Tatehata, to bring the works to Japan. The exhibition’s showing in Japan was noted as being ‘…the most successful contemporary art blockbuster ever seen in Japan, breaking Andy Warhol’s 10 year record by 40,000 visitors’, and according to Indigenous art curator and historian Margo Neale, it was the single largest international exhibition for an Australian artist saying: “Boyd, Whiteley and Nolan all had exhibitions overseas, but nothing like this.”
Following the Japanese showing Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, travelled nationally, exposing the Australian audience to Indigenous women’s work, the likes of which had never been seen before.
Major collections:
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra
ATSIC Collection, Canberra
The Araluen Centre of Arts and Entertainment, Alice Springs, NT
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne