Spirit Journeys: The Ngukurr School of Art - An archival exhibition. Ginger Riley, Willie Gudabi, Djambu Barra Barra, Wilfred Ngalandarra & Barney Ellaga

Opening 31 August 2022, Alcaston Gallery presents a new collection of paintings by senior Pitjantjatjara artist Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, in 'Malpa Kutjara (Two Friends)' alongside work by Goodwin's close friend and fellow Mimili Maku artist, the late Kunmanara (Judy) Martin.

A senior Pitjantjatjara artist committed to passing on her cultural knowledge to the next generation of Anangu Country, Goodwin's paintings depict her Country of Antara and the Maku Tjukurpa, the Witchetty Grub story.

“Antara, (is) a sacred place for Anangu, and the Maku Tjukurpa (witchetty grub story). There is a special rock hole at Antara where women perform inma – ‘inmaku pakani’ – and afterwards there is enough maku to feed everyone. Antara and Maku Tjukurpa is really important for Mimili women, we paint this place and its stories, keeping them strong.” 

Highly celebrated for her practice, Goodwin has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has been recognised as a finalist in a number of major national awards; most recently in the 2022 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards presented at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) and the 2022 Hadley’s Art Prize, presented by the Hadley’s Orient Hotel in Hobart, Tasmania.

Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin's exhibition will be presented at Alcaston Gallery until 23 September 2022.

© The Artist, Mimili Maku Arts and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2022

Alcaston Gallery, in conjunction with the artist's family and Mimilu Maku Arts, is honoured to present an exhibition of paintings by late Kunmanara (Judy) Martin (1963 - 2022) to respectfully pay tribute to an artist of great joy and intuition. 

A senior Pitjantjatjara artist and ngangkari who lived and worked in Mimili community on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in north-west South Australia, Ms Martin was known for her bold visual language and her deep joy for storytelling that radiated through her paintings.

Her paintings connected her father’s Country, Wakura, near Nyapari, in the far west of the APY Lands, with her mother’s Country, Puntiri, in the east, two locations that are geographically distant from each other, and yet intrinsically connected through the artists own identity and lived experience. 

In her later years, Ms Martin's paintings became renowned and exhibited around the world, celebrated for the raw expression of her spirit and connection to Country. She gardened national recognition, was announced as a finalist in the Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize in Melbourne in 2019, and the John Leslie Art Prize at the Gippsland Art Gallery in Victoria in 2020. 

By request of Ms Martin's family and community and in honour of her artistic legacy we respectfully present this exhibition of paintings by Ms Martin, presented alongside a collection of new work by her close friend and fellow Mimili Maku artist, Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin.

© The Artist, Mimili Maku Arts and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2022

Alcaston Gallery is proud to present a curated selection of significant artworks by Australia's leading First Nation contemporary artists at Sydney Contemporary 2022, for the return of the in-person physical Art Fair at Carriageworks, Sydney this September.  

In 2022, Alcaston Gallery's presentation will pay homage to the past; honouring one of Australia’s most important contemporary artists, the late Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (c.1924 - 2015) with a collection of significant work by the artist to coincide with the major international solo survey exhibition currently on show at the distinguished Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris, France; and look to the future of contemporary Australian First Nations art by featuring commissioned work by leading Australian Indigenous artists Betty Kuntiwa Pumani, Tiger Yaltangki, Nellie Ngampa Coulthard, Shirley Macnamara, Karen Mills and Barbara Mbitjana Moore.

Each of these artists has been celebrated and recognised in leading art prizes and major exhibitions over the past two years and represents the rich diversity of Australia’s First Nations contemporary art scene today, and tomorrow.