previous 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.
© The Artist, Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2024
TANIA MAJOR •ECHOES OF COUNTRY: STORIES FROM KOWANYAMA
Alcaston Gallery is delighted to present Echoes of Country - Stories from Kowanyama, the debut solo exhibition of award-winning Kokoberra artist Tania Major.
An accomplished artist, activist, and former Young Australian of the Year, Major is dedicated to preserving the rich cultural landscape and natural beauty of Kowanyama Country in Cape York, Queensland; bringing prominence to the profound connection between the Kokoberra, Yir Yoront (Kokomenjen), and Kunjen communities of Kowanyama and their land and ...
Rene Sundown •Ngura Tali - Sand Dune Country
Alcaston Gallery is thrilled to introduce respected senior Yankunytjatjara artist, Rene Sundown, in her debut exhibition with the gallery, Ngura Tali - Sand Dune Country.
Sundown is a senior artist and longstanding director of the Iwantja Art Centre in Indulkana, South Australia, whose practice is dedicated to passing on knowledge to future generations. Having exhibited in important national and international group exhibitions over the past decade, this will be Sundown’s first solo ...
HERMANNSBURG POTTERS | AFL Footy in Aranda Country Award • 2024
Alcaston Gallery is delighted to present AFL Footy in Aranda Country Award, a jubilant exhibition of new ceramic artworks by the acclaimed
Betty Kuntiwa Pumani • Titutjara - Ongoing
Alcaston Gallery is honoured to present Titutjara - Ongoing, a solo exhibition of significant paintings by revered artist and respected ngangkari (traditional healer),
Nellie Ngampa Coulthard •Ngura Itjanungka – Country After Rain
Alcaston Gallery is delighted to present Nellie Ngampa Coulthard’s fifth solo exhibition Ngura Itjanungka - Country After Rain.
Coulthard’s paintings of Yankunytjatjara Country are refined in both technique and composition. Accenting bold pinks, golden browns and burnt oranges - the colours of the central and eastern deserts of Australia – her paintings are defined by the outstretched linear branches of the Acacia Murrayana Wattle that sit at the heart of her ...
