current Exhibitions
Pedro Wonaeamirri • Ngiya Purrungbarri – My Bark Painting
Alcaston Gallery is honoured to present Pedro Wonaeamirri's exhibition Ngiya Purrungbarri – My Bark Painting, the first exclusively bark exhibition of Wonaeamirri's career.
As one of the few Tiwi people of his generation who speaks old or classic Tiwi, Wonaeamirri’s contemporary art practice is steeped in Tiwi tradition. His commanding paintings on bark reveal a profound knowledge of heritage, meticulously depicting the Jilamara (design) with artistic confidence and an exceptional sense of composition. A master of traditional techniques his paintings are rendered with kayimwagakimi (the traditional Tiwi iron-wood comb), a process he has refined over decades to produce the strong fields of colour and geometric patterns that have become his signature. Wonaeamirri's sophisticated artistic practice has long affirmed his standing alongside the most significant and influential Tiwi artists of generations past and present.
In addition to being a highly esteemed and influential contemporary artist, Wonaeamirri is a senior cultural leader and artistic thinker. His career highlights are substantial, culminating in 2024 when he was invited to speak at the Venice Biennale, Italy at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum for the Indigenous Visions seminar curated by Professor Brook Andrew. He also served as a mentor to emerging Tiwi artist Johnathon World Peace Bush, to produce a body of work for the Country Road + NGV First Nations Commissions for the exhibition My Country, at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia in Melbourne.
Having joined the Alcaston Gallery stable in 1991, the same year he commenced his artistic career, Ngiya Purrungbarri – My Bark Painting marks Wonaeamirri’s ninth solo exhibition at Alcaston Gallery - a milestone in a friendship between artist and gallery spanning three decades.
Pedro Wonaeamirri’s exhibition will be exhibited at the Alcaston Gallery Exhibition Space, 84 William Street Melbourne from 18 September - 11 October 2024.
© The Artist, Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2024
Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) | Watercolour Monotype Prints
Alcaston Gallery is delighted to present an exhibition of unique monotype prints by Iltja Njarra (Many Hands) artists Hubert Pareroultja, Vanessa Inkamala, Mervyn Rubuntja, Reinhold Inkamala, Selma Nunay Coulthard, Dellina Inkamala and Kathy Inkamala.
Iltja Ntjarra ...
