Cowboy Loy Pwerl

c.1941 - 2022

Biography

COWBOY LOY PWERL c.1941 - 2022
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.

Exhibitions

2014
Narrativa Herióca - Pintura Aborígine do Deserto Australiano
Renaissance Hotel, São Paulo, Brazil & Arca Urbana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Finalist, 38^th Alice Prize: National Contemporary Art Award, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, 10 May – 9 June

2013
Finalist, 62^nd Blake Prize, University of NSW Galleries, Sydney, 18 Oct – 16 Nov
Finalist, The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, Museum of South Australia
Landmarks & Law Grounds; Men of the Desert, Japingka, Perth, 12 April - 22 May

2012
Sandover River Stories, Japingka Gallery, Perth, 4 May - 6 June
61^st Blake Prize, The Blake Society, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize Award, Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane
Outback Open Art Prize, Broken Hill Regional Gallery

2011
Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize Award, Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane

2010
59th Blake Prize, National Art School Gallery, 3 Sept - 2 Oct, Sydney
Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

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

2006
ArtParis 2006, Grand Palais, Paris, France

2005
ArtParis 2005, Grand Palais, Paris, France

Achievements, Collections & Commissions

AWARDS:
Alice Prize: National Contemporary Art Award 2014, Finalist
Blake Prize 2013, Finalist
The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2013, Finalist
Blake Prize 2009, Finalist
Albany Art Prize 2008, Finalist

COLLECTIONS:
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Benalla Art Gallery, Benalla, VIC
Geelong Art Gallery, Geelong, VIC
Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne
Moree Plains Gallery, Moree, NSW
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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