Angelina Pwerle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Angelina Pwerle
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|---|---|
| Born | c. 1939 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Indigenous Australian art |
Angelina Pwerle (pronounced 'Pull-uh') is a famous Aboriginal Australian artist. She was born around 1939. Her beautiful artworks are shown in important museums. These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Australia.
Contents
Early Life
Angelina Pwerle is an Anmatyerr woman. She was born around 1939. This happened at the Utopia homestead. This area is in Central Australia. It is about 250 kilometers northeast of Alice Springs. The land was returned to its traditional owners later on.
Her Artworks
Angelina Pwerle started making art with batik in 1977. Batik is a way of dyeing fabric using wax. She learned from Yipati Kuyata, another artist. In 1986, she helped start the Utopia Women’s Batik Group. Famous artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye was also part of this group.
Later, in 1988-89, Angelina began painting with acrylics on canvas. She has been painting for Delmore Gallery since 1989.
Her first solo art show was in 1996. It took place at Niagara Galleries in Melbourne. She still shows her art there, including new paintings in 2023.
Angelina Pwerle creates art in three main styles:
- Abstract: These paintings use many tiny dots. They look like pointillist art, where small dots create a big picture.
- Naive: These artworks show spirit people called Atham-areny.
- Ritual: This style includes woodcarvings. They show her deep understanding of Aboriginal ceremonies.
Her art has been shown alongside famous artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat. This was at Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco. She also had solo shows there in 2013 and 2018.
A film about her art was made in 2012. It is called Bush Plum: The Contemporary Art of Angelina Pwerle.
Her work was also part of a big exhibition. It was called Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia. This show traveled across the United States and Canada from 2016 to 2019. A curator named Anne Marie Brody said her art is like "deep crystallizations."
Angelina Pwerle says her art is a "constant engagement." She also calls it a "spiritual connection to place."
Bush Plum Paintings
Angelina Pwerle is most famous for her Bush Plum (anwekety) paintings. These artworks show her country's Dreaming story.
She started painting these works in mid-1996. This was soon after Emily Kame Kngwarreye passed away.
These paintings often have many tiny dots. Curator Nici Cumpston says this creates a "shimmering surface." Angelina uses a wooden skewer to make these small marks.
In 2022, Nick Mitzevich from the National Gallery of Australia said her art is amazing. He noted how she has improved the dotting technique. She uses it to make abstract visions that are unique.
Patrick Witton described a Bush Plum painting. He said it looks like "a constellation of minute dots." These dots spread across the canvas. They show both small details and vast spaces.
Art Collections
Many important places own Angelina Pwerle's artworks. These include:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- National Gallery of Australia
- Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- National Gallery of Victoria
- Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Art Gallery of South Australia
Her Names
Angelina Pwerle is sometimes known by other names. These include Angeline, Ngal, Ngale, and Kngale. There used to be some confusion about which names were correct. However, most art institutions now call her Angelina Pwerle. This includes the National Gallery of Australia.
Angelina Pwerle herself explained this in 2016. She said, "Pwerle is the same as Ngale, just in another language." In Alyawarr country, she is called Pwerle. In Anmatyerre country, she is called Ngale.
Personal Life
Angelina Pwerle mostly speaks her native Anmatyerr language. She rarely leaves the Utopia region where she lives.
She is the younger sister of two other artists. Their names are Kathleen Ngale and Polly Ngale.
See Also
