Whose Business Is It?

Men’s and Women’s Paintings of Traditional Dreamings

from Warlpiri Country and Beyond

Whose Business Is It? Men’s and Women’s Paintings of Traditional Dreamings from Warlpiri Country and Beyond In traditional Aboriginal culture, “business” or “law” -- the rules by which people live -- are strictly segregated by gender, with centuries of tradition dictating relationships within families, with members of the community, even with the land itself.

In the early 1970s, it was a group of senior men at Papunya, an Aboriginal settlement, who launched the contemporary Aboriginal art movement. It was also a group of senior Warlpiri men, who first painted at Yuendumu. However, in the decades since, female artists have often taken the spotlight, not only in painting, but also in traditionally-male artforms such as carving. Today, indigenous women and men from throughout Australia continue the internationally-acclaimed painting tradition.

Whose Business Is It? features new artworks by both women and men.

Warlpiri men are known for creating complex patterns that represent their Dreamings, or creation stories of their ancestral country. Whose Business Is It? will introduce works by Glen Jampijinpa Martin, Jeffrey Jangala Gallagher, and Kenneth Jungarrayi Martin, for the first time in the U.S.

Warlpiri women artists also use bold patterns, rendering their Dreamings in vibrant colors that recall the brilliant blue skies, richly-hued rock formations, and desert in bloom. Among our new female artists are Gloria Napangardi Gill, Kirsty Anne Napanangka Martin, Kershini Napaljarri Collins, Valda Napangardi Granites, and Priscilla Napurrurla Herbert.

As always, we are thrilled to show new works by Lockhart River’s Silas Hobson. He recently completed five of his signature abstract renditions of spirit figures for Booker-Lowe, so Business will also include these paintings!

Please click here to view our exhibition catalogue!

Booker-Lowe is the leading American gallery for contemporary Aboriginal fine art from throughout Australia. We stock hundreds of paintings from under $300, and often source Aboriginal artworks for those with special interests or requirements.

© Booker•Lowe Gallery 2019, 4623 Feagan Street, Houston, Texas 77007 USA
Tel: 713.880.1541 Fax: 713.862.8364
info@bookerlowegallery.com