Audrey Kngwarreye Morton

Artist: Audrey Kngwarreye Morton

Skin Name: Kngwarreye (also known as Ngwarai)

Language Group: Alyawarr

Region: Ngkwarlerlanem and Arnkawenyerr, Utopia, Northern Territory

Vendor: Utopian Aboriginal Art

Dreaming: Awely (Body Paint), Yerramp (Honey Ant), Rainbow (Mpwelarr), Sweet Honey Grevillea (Tharrkarr), Wild Flower Seeds

Born in June 1954 to Mary Kemarre and Billy (Stockman) Pitjara Morton,
Audrey together with her sisters began her artistic career with her introduction into batik making.

She was involved in the important Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) community projects which resulted in Utopia - A Picture Story, 88 silk batiks from the Holmes a Court which toured throughout Australia. Her first foray into painting with acrylic on canvas began when CAAMA initiated Utopia Women’s Paintings the first works on canvas – A Summer Project. She has featured in several group exhibitions since 1977 for her work in batik (during the 1980's) and throughout Australia and America for her work in acrylics.

Audrey paints many subjects including Sweet Honey Grevillea (Tharrkarr), Alpeyt (Acacia flowers) and Awely body designs from Antarrengeny which is her mother's country.

Bibliography:

• Brody, A., 1989, Utopia Women's Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings, Perth. ©
• Brody, A., 1990, Utopia: a Picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth. ©
• 1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings Ltd., Perth.
• 1994, Tyerabarrbowaryaou 2 I Shall Never Become a Whiteman, exhib. cat., Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. ©

Collections:

• Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
• Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
• The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
• The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth.
• Mbantua Gallery Permanent Collection, Alice Springs

Exhibitions:

• 1985 - The Second National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
• 1989 - Utopia Women's Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney.
• 1990 - Utopia - A Picture Story, an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes a Court Collection by Utopia artists which toured Eire and Scotland.
• 1990 - Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, Lake Oswego Center for the Arts, United States of America.
• 1991 - The Eighth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
• 1992/3 - New Tracks Old Land: An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal Australia, touring USA and Australia.
• 1994 - Tyerabarrbowaryaou 2, I shall never become a whiteman, 5th Havana Biennial, Cuba, & Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; The Eleventh National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
• 2005 - Black Ink: Indigenous Prints from the Queensland Art Gallery Collection, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.)
• 2007 - A Brush with Art, Eastern Desert Art Songs, Prairie Hotel, Parachilna