Biography
COWBOY LOY PWERL c.1941
Region: North Eastern Central Australia
Residence: Atneltyeye, Utopia
Language: Eastern Anmatyerr
Cowboy was born at the sheep camp on Old McDonald station in the north east of Central Australia. He is an Eastern Anmatyerr speaker whose traditional country lies on the western side of the Sandover River on Utopia station, stretching west onto Mt Skinner station.
He is the younger brother of Louie Pwerl (now deceased), and custodian of a secondary series of Dreaming sites over the same area, the great variety of which can be seen in his paintings. He often depicts the nesting place of the Bush Turkey. The name 'Cowboy' comes from his reputation as a stockman and his 'flashy' dressing. Cowboy changed his name from William to reflect this.
Cowboy is married to Carol Kngwarrey and Elizabeth Kunoth Kngawarrey, both daughters of Nancy Petyarr, and he lives most of the time at Mosquito Bore (Atneltyeye) but also spends time at Boundary Bore on the western boundary of Utopia land and Soakage Bore (Atnarare), south-east of Lytntye. Cowboy’s daughter, Genevieve Loy, is also a painter.
Selected Exhibitions
2009
Blake Prize, The Blake Society, National Art School Gallery, Sydney
2008
Impulse to Paint: The Artists of Iylenty, Utopia, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art
Albany Art Prize, Albany
Moscow World Fine Art Fair, Manege, Moscow, Russia
Annual Collectors' Exhibition 2008, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
Sydney Art & Antiques Fair 2008, Sydney
2007
Visions of Utopia, Cooee Aboriginal Art, Sydney
Memory As Landscape, Masterpiece @ IXL, Hobart
Utopia Today, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art
ArtParis 2007, Grand Palais, Paris
Achievements, Collections & Commissions
AWARDS:
Blake Prize 2009, Finalist
Albany Art Prize 2008, Finalist
COLLECTIONS:
Art Gallery of South Australia
Benalla Art Gallery
Museum of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
Stichting Sint-Jan, Brugge, Netherlands
The Casama Group, Melbourne
Private collections in Australia and France
Bibliography
Annual Collectors’ Exhibition (exhibition catalogue), Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Malakoff Fine Art Press, Melbourne, 2008
Barilo, von Reisberg, Impulse to Paint: The Artists of Iylenty, Utopia, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, 2008
Johnson, V., Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert, Craftsman House, 1994, p.80
