KATHLEEN PETYARRE - MOUNTAIN DEVIL LIZARD DREAMING
KATHLEEN PETYARRE
MOUNTAIN DEVIL LIZARD DREAMING, 2008
182 x 243cm
synthetic polymer paint on belgian linen
PROVENANCE
Utopia, NT
Commisioned by Coo-ee Gallery through Gallerie Australis 2008. Adrian Newstead's Comments:It is, in my opinion, along with no more than 2 others, foremost amongst the finest paintings that Kathleen has painted since her solo retrospective at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art in 2000. It is breathtaking in its detail and took the artist almost 2 months to create. It is unlikely that another work of this supreme quality will be produced by this artist. She will primarily stick to smaller works, especially due to the difficulty in selling major works in the current market. By the time the art market recovers it is highly unlikely that she will be physically capable of approaching a canvas on this scale.
STORY
The artist has depicted the ceremonial site where two of the artists' ancestors' songlines meet. Eastern Anmatjerre men and women conduct important initiation ceremonies here. Each group is forbidden from entering that of another. The centre of the painting is a site associated with the green pea (Antweth). Depicted throughout the painting are the sandhills in the surrounding country. Kathleen, in common with all Aboriginal people in Utopia, believe that it was Arnkerrth, the small mountain devil Lizard, who created the desert as it is today by moving the sand, grain by grain since the time of the Dreaming.
EXHIBITED
Dream Catchers - Featuring Maningrida, October 2012, Coo-ee Art Galleryhome is where the art is, September 2012, Coo-ee Art GalleryAIAM100.com Exhibition Launch , August 2010, Coo-ee Art GalleryShalom 2009, July 2009, Shalom Institute,UNSWUnearthed, December 2008, Coo-ee Art Gallery
