Thursday, 24 September - Saturday, 14 November 2009

Ancient Lands/Modern Landscapes

Aboriginal Paintings from Sandover River Country

Opening Reception with artists Jilly Holmes Apetyarr and LuLu Teece, and Shane Miller, coordinator, Ampilatwatja Art Centre:

                               5:30 – 7:30 pm
                               Thursday, 24 September 2009

Booker-Lowe Gallery is thrilled to host the first American exhibition of paintings by the artists of the Ampilatwatja group from the Sandover River area in Australia’s central desert. The artists have recently had a near sell-out show in Sydney, and artist Edie Holmes Akemarr is currently among the painters featured in the pretigious Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Art Awards exhibition in Darwin. Many of you saw two paintings by Ampilatwatja artists in the Williams Tower Gallery exhibition in January-February 2009, and were as excited by the work as we have been ever since 2002, when we landed at the dirt air strip a few miles from their community, then met the artists and saw their paintings!

The Sandover River serpentines through the Northern Territory desert and the sprawling homelands of the Alyawarra people. From the air, this ancient land seems virtually untouched, its rust red sands dotted with ghost gum trees and, in season, with explosions of wildflowers set against piercing blue skies. The population is sparse, gathered in simple outstations or villages, near the river.

The small group of artists from this remote area have captured on canvas both the sacred spirit and their personal visions of their ancestral country. Their paintings have been described as portraying complex traditional knowledge in a progressive, modern way, unfolding their country to reveal details of the landscape.

The exhibition features paintings by Michelle Holmes Apwerl, her mother Jilly Holmes Apetyarr, LuLu Teece, Murphy Teece Akemarr, Rosie K Morton, Rita Beasley Apetyarre, Joyrene Holmes Kngwarrey, Edie Holmes Akemarr, Lilly Morton Akemarr, Sandra Teece Pwerle, Selina Teece Pwerle, and Alana Holmes Kngwarrey.

coming in November . . .

Uncrated V: New Works from the Owner’s Recent Travels to Australia

Our annual show features works selected by owner Nana Booker during her travels in Australia in July and August will include a variety of paintings on canvas and paper and carvings from Arnhem Land (mimih spirit poles!), delivered to Houston just in time for your holiday shopping.

Always at Booker-Lowe . . .

Pippin Drysdale's World-Acclaimed Porcelains

Booker-Lowe is proud to represent Australian ceramist, Pip Drysdale, and shows her work on a regular basis. Pip has won countless awards, and has had solo exhibitions in Japan, Germany, Belgium, France, India, Hong Kong, London, New Zealand, Russia, and throughout Australia.

The Australian Embassy in Washington DC, in conjunction with Booker-Lowe Gallery, will host Pip's major US exhibition 12 February – 2 April 2010! We are disappointed that the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft will be unable to host the Embassy show as planned, due to its financial difficulties, but Booker-Lowe will bring a substantial portion of the Embassy exhibition to Texas in late spring 2010! Nana Booker just returned from visiting Pip at her studio in Fremantle, Western Australia, and reports that “The new work is absolutely stunning, with elegant forms and extraordinary color ranges.”

Look for the cover story on Pip's work in the fall edition (Sept/Oct/Nov) of the international magazine, Ceramics: Art and Perception, now available. Download a PDF of the article.

Nana Booker
Honorary Consul of Australia