Biography
KATHLEEN NGAL c.1934 -
Region: North Eastern Central Australia
Residence: Camel Camp, Utopia
Country: Aharlper
Language: Anmatyarr
Grandfather’s Langauge: Anmatyarr
Grandfather’s Country: Aharlper
Grandmother’s Language: Alyawarr
Grandmother’s Country: Ngkwelay (Kirrajong Bore)
Kathleen Ngal is a senior custodian for her Country and shares great responsibility as keepers of cultural knowledge for Aharlper, located in the heart of Utopia, 250 kms North East of Alice Springs.
Kathleen and her sisters are among the most accomplished painters who have worked at Utopia during the past 20 years. Kathleen Ngal began her career in late 1979, with the production of Batiks, made by artists in Utopia prior to the introduction of painting on canvas in the mid to late 1980s.
Kathleen Ngal's work is a sophisticated play between the cultural knowledge of her country and the contemporary expression formed through the medium of synthetic paint. Thousands of dots of colour are rained across her canvas denoting flora and the geographical and sacred sites of the Bush Plum. In 2000 Kathleen Ngal was exhibited as a finalist in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award and has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since 1999.
Selected Exhibitions
2008
Wynne Prize For Landscape Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
25th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, Darwin, N.T.
2007
Journeys and Dreams, Gecko Gallery, Broome
My Way: A Survey of Utopia Artists, Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane
Memory As Landscape, Masterpiece @IXL, Hobart
Utopia Today, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
Visions of Utopia, Cooee Art Gallery, Sydney
Artparis: Contemporary Art Fair, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2005
Memory As Landscape, The October Gallery, London, in association with Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
2004
Artparis: Contemporary Art Fair, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
2002
Two Sisters: Kathleen and Poly Ngal, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
Australian Modern, Fondazione Mudima, Milano Italy
2001
Utopia, a Special Painting Place, Bett Gallery, Hobart
Bush Plum Dreaming, Indigenart, Perth
Brilliance, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
Amerr Merungrka, Hogarth Gallery, Sydney
2000
17th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, Darwin, N.T.
Intricacies of Women, Indigenart, Perth
1999
Awelye, Desart Gallery, Sydney
Achievements, Collections & Commissions
ACHIEVEMENTS:
2008
Wynne Prize For Landscape Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Finalist
25th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, Darwin, N.T., Finalist
2000
17th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, Darwin, N.T., Finalist
COLLECTIONS:
Art Gallery of Queensland
Art Gallery of South Australia
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Art Gallery of Queensland
Benalla Art Gallery
Lauraine Diggins, Melbourne
National Gallery of Victoria
Nebaluna Collection, Hobart
Robert Scarborough Collection, Melbourne
Shepparton Art Gallery
private collections: Australia; Canada; United States of America
