Biography - Anna Petyarre
Born: c.1965, Mulga Bore, Utopia.
Language: Anamatyerre
Country: Utopia, NT
Anna Petyarre is a very talented artist and niece to the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye, and daughter to Glory Ngarla. She is an artist whose artistic confidence became very apparent in her later works and she is considered to be a leading artist of the second generation of modern Aboriginal artists. She has already made her mark in the world of Aboriginal art and as such, Anna’s work is in high demand.
She began painting in the early 1980s when the medium of canvas and acrylic paints was introduced to the community of Utopia. Prior to painting she produced batik works. Anna’s more recent paintings have focused on images of her ancestral country. The finely delineated structures show the terrain of the sandhill and bush country, often with markings that reveal waterholes and ceremonial sites. This outstanding artwork depicts in fine detail multi layered elements, which are closely associated with the Artist's homelands of Atneltyeye, Utopia in central Australia. This illustration is important visually and spiritually of country, sand hills and significant landmarks for ceremonies. Anna is renowned for her fine painting technique and for the care and prides she takes in her work, producing intricate and sensitive paintings that relate to the traditional culture of her Anmatyerre heritage. Her work is becoming more collectible as she develops her craft and cements her reputation as one of Utopia's rising talents.
For more information on this artist, see also Australian Encyclopedia Aboriginal Artists dictionary of biographies Anna Petyarre page 315.
Awards:
1998 - 15th National Australian Aboriginal Arts Award.
Collections:
Art Bank, Sydney
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Power House Museum, Sydney
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
The Kerry Stokes Collection
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
Anthropology Art Museum, Perth
Exhibitions:
1996, "Utopia Dreaming", Soho Gallery, Sydney
1997, Dacou Gallery, Adelaide
1997, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
1998, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney
1998, Selected entrant for the 15th NATSIAA
1999, 2000 Tandanya, Adelaide
1999, BMG Art, Adelaide
2000, Dacou (in association with AMP), Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
2001, "Women's Business", Australian Exhibition Centre, Chicago, USA
2001, Japingka Gallery, Perth
2001, Raintree Aboriginal Art Gallery, Darwin
2002, Galerie Le Temps du Reve, France
2002, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2002, Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne
Source: Kreczmanski, Janusz B & Birnberg, Margo (eds.): Aboriginal Artists: Dictionary of Biographies: Central Desert, Western Desert & Kimberley Region (JB Publishing Australia, Marleston, 2004)