Pwerle Family

Pwerle Family: Minnie Pwerle was a very important Australian First Nations artist. She came from Utopia, Northern Territory a cattle station in the Sandover area of Central Australia 300 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs. Minnie was one of the traditional owners of Utopia station recognised in the 1980 Indigenous land claim made over the property, her country was known as Atnwengerrp. Minnie began painting in 2000 at about the age of 80, and her pictures soon became popular and sought-after works of contemporary Indigenous Australian art. In the years after she took up painting on canvas until she died in 2006, Minnie's works were exhibited around Australia and collected by major galleries, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Queensland Art Gallery. Minnie's work is often compared with that of her sister-in-law Emily Kame Kngwarreye, who also came from the Sandover and took up acrylic painting late in life. Minnie's daughter, Barbara Weir, who was a highly respected artist in her own right. Barbara Weir was an Australian First Nations artist and politician. One of the Stolen Generations, she was removed from her aboriginal family and raised in a series of foster homes. After becoming reunited with her mother in the 1960s and divorced in 1977, Weir eventually returned to her family territory of Utopia. She became active in the local land rights movement of the 1970s and was elected the first woman president of the Indigenous Urapunta Council in 1985. Barbara began painting in 1989 and soon became recognised as a very notable artist. Her work has been exhibited and collected by major institutions worldwide. Emily, Molly and Gayla Pwerle are sisters to Minnie. Emily was born at Utopia station in approximately 1922. She and Molly lead a mostly traditional Aboriginal lifestyle, and both have remained on their home community lands for much of their lives. Gloria Petyarre was an Australian First Nations artist from the Anmatyerre community, just north of Alice Springs. Her mother Maggie was a sister to Minnie Pwerle. In 1999, the Australian magazine Art Collector called her "one of our most collectable indigenous artists". As of 2014, her overall career rank on the Australian Indigenous Art Market was 13. Petyarre won the Wynne Prize in 1999 with Leaves, being the very first First Nations person to win one of the Art Gallery of New South Wales's major prizes. She travelled to Ireland, England, and India in 1990 as part of the Utopia – A picture story exhibition. She held her first solo exhibition in 1991. She is represented in Australian galleries such as the National Gallery of Australia. She is the niece of Emily Kngwarreye and the younger sister of Kathleen Petyarre, who is also a renowned artist. Jade Torres Akamarre and Mariah Torres Akamarre, Jade and her younger sister Mariah have inherited all the talent of their famed family predecessors. They are the great granddaughters of Minnie Pwerle and daughters of Fred Torres, highly respected Australian First Nations Artist and Art dealer. Jade is 29 years old and one of South Australia’s most prominent, emerging First Nations artists. She and her sister Mariah have a dynasty of artistic ancestry, painting is in their blood. Their family, globally renowned Aboriginal artists Minnie Pwerle, Barbara Weir, Gloria Petyarre and Emily Kame Kngwarreye to name a few have played a huge roll in their artistic style and the initial success of the business founded by Jade in 2015. With the artists being family members and stakeholders in the company.