Molly Pwerle's first solo exhibition

MOLLY PWERLE’S FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION OPENING AT DACOU MELBOURNE


Molly Pwerle
3 May – 5 June 2011
Opening: Tuesday 3 May, 6:00pm to 8:00pm
DACOU (Dreaming Art Centre Of Utopia)
35 Spring St (corner Flinders Lane)
Melbourne VIC 3000

T: 03 9663 6368
E: info@dacoumelbourne.com.au
W: www.dacoumelbourne.com.au

RSVPs appreciated by 1 May.

Click here for opening night photos.

DACOU is proud to present the first solo exhibition of paintings by Molly Pwerle, sister to late, famed artist Minnie Pwerle, held from 3 May to 5 June at DACOU Gallery, Melbourne.

Now the eldest of the Pwerle Sisters and the senior female elder of her country of Atnwengerrp (in Utopia, Central Desert, N.T.), Molly paints with the bold brush strokes and innate sense of colour which made her sister Minnie one of Australia’s most well known artists.

Minnie Pwerle was “discovered” by DACOU when she began painting in 1999. Already in her late 80s, she expressed a desire to paint while observing an art workshop, and promptly astonished all around her by producing bold designs symbolising the women’s ceremony of her country, Atnwengerrp.  

In her brief career, Minnie Pwerle produced works which captivated both Indigenous art lovers and mass audiences with no previous interest in Indigenous Australian art. Today, Minnie’s works are held in prominent public and private collections including the Ian Potter Centre at the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery.

Molly also came to painting late in life when, with her sisters Galya and Emily, she joined Minnie at a 2004 art workshop hosted by Minnie’s daughter, prominent Indigenous artist Barbara Weir.

Although Molly’s Dreamings are shared by her sisters, in the eight years since she started painting she has developed an exciting personal style characterised by straight and interweaving lines and sensuous, bold gestures which create mesmerising colours and rhythms. Her works depict the tracks made in the earth by women dancing and singing during their ceremonies, and also make reference to the ceremonial body paint they apply to one another. At times, her work also symbolises the roots of the bush melon plant, which is her main Dreaming.

Molly’s works illustrate the customs of an ancient, continuous culture in a cutting edge style well suited to any contemporary home, institution or museum. For a woman in her late eighties still living a largely traditional life to create such works is nothing short of remarkable.  

Up to 20 paintings chronicling Molly’s artistic development, including her very popular recent works, will feature at the exhibition. Molly will be making the long journey from Utopia to attend the opening on Tuesday 3 May at 6pm, and will be joined by family members Fred Torres (DACOU’s Director), Barbara Weir (Molly’s niece), her sisters Emily and Galya Pwerle, and her daughters, the artists Susie and Annie Hunter.

If you would like to join this extraordinary artist at the opening of her first solo exhibition, please RSVP to info@dacoumelbourne.com.au or 03 9663 6368 by Sunday 1 May.

For more information or to arrange an interview please call
Leanne Collier on 0405 731 393
or
Fred Torres on 0419 037 120.