Polly NGALE - Bush Plum
ADG: 6175
DescriptionBush Plum - Story of Painting
Polly Ngale and her sisters, Kathleen,Maggie and Angeline Ngale are the senior custodians of the Bush Plum Dreaming stories. Their paintings are vibrant, with an exuberant use of colourful dots, to portray the Bush Plum Seeds and landscape. Many of Polly's paintings depict the bush plum with its bright yellow seeds, in its various stages of ripening.
Polly NGALE
Born c.1936-
Language Anmatyerre
Location Utopia Northern Territory
Country Alhalpere – Boundary Bore – Camel Camp
Stories Anwekety (Bush Plum – Conkerberry), Awelye (Women’s Ceremony)
Polly started her career in the 1980s with the making of silk batik before venturing into painting in the late 1980s.
Polly Ngale and her sisters, Kathleen and Maggie Ngale and Angeline Ngale are the senior custodians of the Bush Plum Dreaming stories. Their paintings are vibrant, with an exuberant use of colourful dots, to portray the Bush Plum Seeds and landscape. Many of Polly's paintings depict the bush plum with its bright yellow seeds, in its various stages of ripening. She also paints the topography of the land in varying shades of red, orange and yellow, to reflect the changing colours of the seasons.
Exhibitions
1993 Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1988 Aboriginal Dot Painting, Melbourne, VIC
1989 Utopia Women's Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
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
1992 ‘Modern Art – Ancient Icon’, World Bank, Washington
2000 Arts d’Australie, Stephane Jacob/Espace Mezzo, Avenue des Champs- Elysees, Paris.
2002 Two Sisters, Kathleen and Polly Ngale, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne, VIC
2003 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
2006 Cicada Trading, Paris, Bahrain, Milan, Dubai, Houston
Achievements
2000 Arts d' Australie, Stephane Jacob/Espace Mezzo - Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris
2003 Finalist. Honourable Mention. 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
Collections
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
The World Bank, Washington USA
Ranking - Most Important Aboriginal Artists
2011 Rank amongst Living Artists: 91