Artist Profile for Valerie Napanangka Marshall < Back Valerie Napanangka Marshall Valerie Napanangka Marshall ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE top Anchor 1 PROFILE Valerie Napanangka Marshall ARTIST CV Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

NapaljarriSusie Susie Bootja Bootja Napaljarri Susie Bootja Bootja Napaljarri 1932 - 2003 Suzie, Putja Putja Behind her diminutive frame, Susie Bootja Bootja was a ‘larger than life’ character whose artistic practice epitomized the Balgo women’s panache for experimentation. Her early figurative works predominantly featured waterholes with snake creators spouting ‘living water’ with a dual use of both traditional and western representations of country. At that time she would take the ear of anyone watching her paint and whisper reverently to them 'libbing water, this one…that shin-ake he been making libbing water‘ and then always startlingly, she would emphasise the inherent magic in this by making a gushing whoosh as if the snake was spouting water right there, in front of your eyes. Over time however, these figurative elements gave way to more abstracted forms and late in her career culminated in an innovative style of double-dotted colour fields representing the abundance of bush food. Susie, like all Kukatja people, inherited ownership rights over specific sites and ancestral designs from both her father’s and her mother’s side. Her country lay around White Hills and Helena Springs (Kurtal), and Kangingarra waterhole where she spent her youth. The depiction of water amongst both men and women painters at Balgo is a vital element in passing on knowledge of the location of permanent waterholes (living water) in this often harsh and forbidding landscape. The preciousness of water in the arid desert landscape and its spiritual essence, was a primary theme in the works of both Suzie Bootja Bootja’s and her husband Mick Gill Tjakamarra, an important rainmaker, whose use of acrylic blue to depict water foreshadowed the influence of luminous acrylic colours in the Balgo community. Mick Gill was Susie’s second husband. Her first, whom she met at the old mission at Balgo where she made bread for the dormitory children, was killed on a mustering trip due to inter-tribal conflict. She later eloped with Mick Gill, bearing him six children. A devoted couple, their artistic cross-fertilization was evident from the outset of the painting movement in Balgo, particularly in their avid adoption of blending traditional ochres with new paints available through the adult education centre in the late 1980’s. The women’s desire to employ the full colour spectrum stemmed from their preoccupation with bush food and vegetation in its profusion that accentuates the colours of the desert landscape after rain. While Susie’s concern for her mother and father’s country was paramount in paintings, her depiction of bush food and the emblems of women’s food gathering are speckled throughout her work. The importance of these paintings lie in their culturally regenerative properties, as if the artist were saying, ‘I was born right here, right here,‘ as she did when introducing her works to a crowded gallery in 2002, just six months before her death in January 2003. Of all the female first generation Balgo artists, Suzie Bootja Bootja displayed the freest use of colour and expression in often startlingly beautiful works and could be said, more than any other, to have been a prime mover in the establishment of the art movement in her remote desert community. During her lifetime, Susie Bootja Bootja was one of a handful of women, including Freda Gemma Napanagka and Bridget Mati Mudjidel who were the lifeblood of the art centre at Balgo Hills. All were prolific painters who would not let a day pass without painting and making a daily visit to chat with other artists and pay their respects to the art coordinator of the day. Susie and her husband Mick Gill Tjakamarra had six children, including Mathew Gill, who along with Sister Agnes Dempsey started the art centre in Balgo Hills in 1985. She became one of the first painters at Wirrimanu, creating figurative works in which snakes lay in and emerged from permanent rockholes. While her earliest works were dark in the manner of Kaningarra 1989 which sold at Sotheby’s in July 2004 for $3,600 (Lot 445) she soon became a leader amongst the women that willingly embraced the more highly charged palette provided by art coordinator Michael Rae. By 1991 her paintings were colourful jewel-like renditions of waterholes as in Water Dreaming at Winpa 1991 which first appeared at auction in a Sotheby’s catalogue in 1997. Measuring 100 x 75 cm and estimated at $3,000-4,000 it sold for $4,370 (Lot 261). It was offered again in Phillips July 2001 sale estimated at $4,000-6,000 but would have disappointed the owner when it achieved exactly the same price as had been paid for it four years earlier (Lot 221). Susie’s innovative double-dotted colour field paintings began in 1996 and this style has been responsible for all of her eight highest prices. They reached their zenith creatively toward 2000, the year three of her highest priced works were painted. Her highest price was achieved for a work that is by far the best painting by Suzie Bootja Bootja I have ever seen. The soft delicate palette and brilliance of execution set this painting apart from any other and leaves one wondering how it was possible that just one single work could be so distinctively different from others painted in the same style and manner. Entitled Waterhole, Kurtal Country 2000 it had been originally sold through Gallery Gabreille Pizzi and used to illustrate the cover of the 2002 Jurkupa Diary published by Jukurrpa Books and IAD (Institute of Aboriginal Development) Press. When offered at Lawson~Menzies in May 2004 with an estimate of $8,000-10,000, the 120 x 80 cm work sold for a staggering $43,050. However, five years later the buyer was persuaded by Sotheby’s to reoffer the painting in its July 2009 sale. In what was an a extremely disappointing result it went under the hammer for just $26,400, still the artist’s second highest recorded result. Also painted in 2000, Kaningarra sold in 2010 for $13,200 at Deutscher and Hackett to make a new third place record (Lot 113). A far more vibrant work than the premier record, it heralded a better year for Susie than preceeding ones, with a 2010 AIAM ranking of 101 compared to an overall career rank of 111. Again in 2011 a vibrant Waterhole in Artist's Country 1990 created a new fourth place record, fetching $8,400 at the Sotheby's June Auction. The sale was insufficient, however, to budge her overall ranking form 111th place. From 2012 to 2017, eleven works were offered of which seven sold. Of these seven, only Kaningarra 2000, which sold for only $6,600 in 2014 through Deutscher and Hackett, is noteworthy. The work, which represents the highes result of this 5 year period, had been purchased in 2010 for $13,200 and sold for less than half of that when it was sold off only 4 years later. This would have been a dire dissapointment to the owner. Susie Bootja Bootja painted prolifically for well over a decade and it is likely that her total oeuvre exceeds 400 paintings. Her most dynamic works are those that were painted between 1990 and 1993, which depict Kurtal and other rockholes with permanent water. These ‘living water’ paintings with snakes spouting water are not as numerous as the later works with which most collectors are more familiar, but they are animated dynamic paintings that are sufficiently rare to be worthy of collecting. Her more familiar 1996-2000 paintings are of mixed quality and should be selected with a certain degree of discrimination. Explore our artworks See some of our featured artworks below ! SHOP NOW

WalbidiDanie Daniel Walbidi Daniel Walbidi 1982 “Art is our voice now” says Daniel Walbidi, a young man of impressive creative power.(McManus, 2008) Born in the remote West Australian community of Bidyadanga (250 km south of Broome) in 1982, he grew up listening to the songs and stories of his elders and, encouraged by his high-school art teacher, revealed a natural talent for their visual rendition. He has become the driving force behind a burgeoning art movement that now provides much of the community’s revenue and, in the wider art world, is their ‘keenly collected star’. (Rothwell, 2008) In 1999 he approached Broome gallery owner, Emily Rohr, with the idea of starting a painting group. He recognized the need to paint, not only in himself but also amongst his elders, who carried compelling memories of traditional knowledge and the loss of their desert homelands. Severe drought and encroaching mining and grazing developments during the 1960’s had pushed the Yulparija people coastwards. Along with several other desert tribes, they found refuge at Le Grange Mission and settled amongst the Karajarri, the saltwater estuary dwellers at Bidyadanga. In 2002, the Karajarri won a land claim that brought the different strands of cultural identity within the melded community to the fore. With Walbidi at the helm, the Yulparija ‘way of seeing’ took on a new impetus. Sell-out shows resulted in Melbourne and Sydney, with some of the seventy and eighty year old leading Bidyadanga artists referring to the determined Walbidi as ‘young-boss’. Accompanied by a film-maker David Batty, the painting group journeyed to visit their long missed ancestral lands. (Desert Heart, Rebel Films, 2008) Walbidi’s meticulously detailed and abstracted topographies of once only-imagined places and journeys noticeably relaxed after this real-life encounter. He realized the power and depth of his indigenous inheritance. It is, he said, “…a part of myself. It's not just a story, it’s a living thing.” (Rothwell, 2008) He describes the desert ochres as the warm centre while the coastal turquoise blues and greens provide a contrasting exuberance of life and movement, using familiar yet always striking motifs. Though concerned to keep his culture alive, Walbidi is also inspired by the modern world and contemporary art practises, particularly after a recent trip to London. “We still paint the land,” he says, “but in an evolving way.” Collection: Artbank. Bayou-Myer Collection. Laverty Collection. National Gallery of Australia. National Gallery of Victoria. Parliament House, Canberra Sam Barry Collection. Individual Exhibitions: 2009 - Daniel Walbidi - Recent Works, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA. 2007 - Winpa, Short St Gallery @ Mary Place, Paddington, Sydney, NSW 2006 - Daniel Walbidi, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne. Group Exhibitions: 2019 - Desert River Sea: Portraits of the Kimberley, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA. 2016 - Cooee Art at Australian Galleries, featuring Albert Namatjira, Alma Webou, Bill Whisky Tjapaltjarri, Daniel Walbidi, Djirrirra Wunungmurra, Dorothy Napangardi, Elizabeth Nyumi, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Emily Kngwarreye, Freddie Timms, George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi, Gloria Petyarre, Jan Billycan, John Mawurndjul , Johnny Warangkula, Kathleen Petyarre, Makinti Napanangka, Milliga Napaltjarri, Minnie Pwerle, Naata Nungurrayi, Nyurapayia Nampitjinpa (Mrs Bennett), Owen Yalandja, Prince of Wales , Queenie Nakarra McKenzie , Rover Thomas, Sally Gabori , Suzie Bootja Bootja, Timothy Cook , Tjapartji Bates, Tommy Watson, Trevor Nickolls , Yirawala, at Australian Galleries, Sydney. 2012 - National Indigenous Art Triennial: unDisclosed, featuring the work of Vernon Ah Kee, Michael Cook, Julie Gough, Danie Mellor, Alick TipotiTony Albert, Nici Clumpston, Lindsay Harris, Naata Nungurray, Daniel Walbidi, Bob Burruwal, Fiona Foley, Jonathan Jones, Maria Orsto, Lena Yarinkura, Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Gunybi Ganambarr, Sally Gabori, Christian Thompson, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu, at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia. 2008 - Paintings from remote communities: Indigenous Australian art from the Laverty collection, Newcastle Regional Gallery, Newcastle, NSW; Xstrata Coal Emerging Indigenous Art Award (2008), QAG, Brisbane. 2007 - 24th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin; Yulparija Artists New Works on Board, Short St Gallery, Broome WA; Winpa, Raft Art Space, Darwin; Desert Heart, Nevill Keating Gallery, London, UK; From the Bungalow I: Yulparija Artists, Johnston Gallery, Perth, WA. 2006 - Bidyadanga Men, Art House Gallery, Sydney; 2006 Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW. 2005 - Return of our land, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT; Recent works from Kirriwirri, Art House Gallery, Sydney; Big Country, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT; 22nd Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 2004 New Works by Bidyadanga Artists, Raft Art space, Darwin; Desert to Saltwater, Short St Gallery, Mary Place Gallery, Paddington; Desert Ocean, Short Street Gallery @ Kidogo Gallery, Fremantle; Bidyadanga Artists, William Mora Gallery, Melbourne; Bidyadanga Artists, Art House Gallery, Sydney. 2003 - Manjyiljara, Short Street Gallery, Broome. 2001 - Salon Show, Elizabeth Bay, Sydney; From here to there, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA. 2000 - Stompen Ground exhibition, Goolari Media, Broome, WA; Remote Schools exhibitions, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA; NAIDOC Week exhibition, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA. 1999 - Remote Schools exhibition, Matsos, Broome, WA. Bibliography: Nicolas Rothwell, 'Our Old People Need to Paint', The Australian, Jan.29, 2008. Xavier Dhalluin, 'Contemporary Artist Keeps With Tradition', Broome Happenings, Issue 77, 2006. Patrick Hutchings, 'The Blue Dreams of a Desert Mob at Sea', The Age, 14-15th April, 2006. Julianna Dowling, 'In Living Colour', Notebook, Jan 2006. Clive Aslet, 'Tribal Landscapes', Financial Times, July 7/8 2007 Daniel Walbidi is an artist of immense talent who was the driving force behind the burgeoning art movement at Bidyadanga in Western Australia's northern coastal region. He was just 17 years of age when he first approached Broome gallery owner, Emily Rohr, with the idea of starting a painting group. His elders included Weaver Jack, Jan Billycan and Alma Weibou, all artists who had been pushed toward the coastal mission of La Grange as severe drought and encroaching mining pushed his Yulparija countrymen coastwards. In 2010, the year in which his works first appeared at auction, six works were offered and all six found willing buyers. The next year Kirriwirri sold for $51,240 at the Mossgreen sale of the estate of Anne Lewis AO, and Winpa, 2007 achieved $41,800 in Sotheby's Important Aboriginal and Oceanic Art Sale. The AIAM100 index for any artist is discounted until that artist has reached 20 secondary market offerings. For this reason, in spite of Daniel's phenomenal success since 2010, and the fact that his average price was a very healthy $21,355, he was still listed fairly low on the rankings. By the end of 2016, however, his offerings had transcended the 20 work threshold and, as expected, his ranking jumped (see the section on Overcoming Anomalies, in the About section of this site). In addition, a new record price was achieved in 2016 when Kirriwirri, 2013 sold at Deutscher & Hackett for $79,300. Not bad for an artist whose work first appeared at auction as late as 2010. Collectors take note. Here is an artist moving up the charts with a bullet. Emily Rohr has had a waiting list for Daniel Walbidi's work ever since his first appearances in exhibitions. At the time of his stellar sales in 2011, it was reputed to have been more than 50 collectors long. While the appearance of works on the secondary market should take the heat out of primary market interest to some extent, expect good works by this artist to continue to fetch a premium whenever they appear for sale. He is an exceptional talent and his paintings are destined to become one of the most sought after by any living artist. Explore our artworks See some of our featured artworks below ANGELINA PWERLE NGAL - UNTITLED ( BUSH RAISIN MAN) Price AU$3,000.00 ALISON (JOJO) PURUNTATAMERI - WINGA (TIDAL MOVEMENT/WAVES) Out of stock LILY YIRDINGALI JURRAH HARGRAVES NUNGARRAYI - KURLURRNGALINYPA JUKURRPA Price From AU$13,500.00 BRONWYN BANCROFT - UNTITLED Out of stock JOSHUA BONSON - SKIN: A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE Price AU$8,500.00 BOOK - KONSTANTINA - GADIGAL NGURA Price From AU$99.00 FREDDIE TIMMS - MOONLIGHT VALLEY Price AU$35,000.00 NEIL ERNEST TOMKINS - BURN THERE, DON'T BURN THERE Price AU$7,000.00 SHOP NOW

JOSHUA BONSON - TO CONNECT Cooee Art Redfern - 17 Thurlow St, Redern, NSW 2016 From 23 October to 13 November 2021 JOSHUA BONSON - TO CONNECT Artists: Joshua Benson From 23 October to 13 November 2021 JOSHUA BONSON - TO CONNECT Artists: Joshua Benson From 23 October to 13 November 2021 Cooee Art Redfern - 17 Thurlow St, Redern, NSW 2016 This exhibition is a body of works that have been lovingly created over the past 12 months, a reflection of myself, my feelings, my family, and aspects of the place they were made. I created works to connect and to open windows into other people’s thoughts and to have them tell me what they see and feel. An opportunity for the audience to use their imagination to find something in my work that makes them think, feel, experience, and maybe share that with someone else. I want my artworks to generate stories that people connect over or around; I love hearing what people see in my paintings. Each work is a unique, with its own personality.They are all a part of me, enabling me to express myself, tell a story, start a conversation. The completed works are both contemporary abstractions in appearance but also embody indigenous traditions and meanings that stretch back over time. In our culture, there is a connection between people and families; kinship that can’t be described or translated in English. I capture those ties in my works, with my markings and the strokes of the brush. My heritage guides the stories captured.Textured streaks of acrylic create an element of flow, scaled perfection, they tell a personal story …. a portrayal of uniqueness, solidarity, and an acknowledgement of bloodlines. Thick slabs of paint applied generously float on water y surfaces, alluding to my people and totem, the saltwater crocodile. Sections of landscape, closeups, memories of places and times gone past and family. Each painting is a beautiful contemporary work that reflects my visual language, portraying its own personality with the use of texture, movement and colour. Everyone’s art is different, I try to be me, and create as I want to, the way I choose to. I hope everyone enjoys the works and are able to spend time with each piece.The thickly applied surface allows the painting to change as light shift across the canvas, becoming new and generating a fresh experience for the viewer every day. VIEW CATALOGUE EX 220

Artist Profile for Mick Wikilyiri < Back Mick Wikilyiri Mick Wikilyiri ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE top Anchor 1 PROFILE Mick Wikilyiri ARTIST CV Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

Artist Profile for Lilly Kemarre Morton < Back Lilly Kemarre Morton Lilly Kemarre Morton ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE LILLY KEMARRE MORTON - MY COUNTRY ANTARRENGENY Sold AU$0.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Lilly Kemarre Morton ARTIST CV Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) is the ideal venue for hosting corporate and private functions. Our expansive 480m2 gallery is in the heart of Aboriginal Sydney, Redfern.  The gallery occupies the ground floor of a distinctive and prominently located building only minutes from Surry Hills, Redfern, and Waterloo’s art districts. VENUE HIRE GALLERY TALKS & TOURS VENUE HIRE BUY & SELL PROVENANCE & ETHICS HOW TO BUY ART BUYING FROM GALLERIES Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) is the ideal venue for hosting corporate and private functions. Our expansive 480m2 gallery is located in Redfern, Gadigal / Sydney. The gallery occupies the ground floor of a distinctive and prominently located building only minutes from Surry Hills, Redfern, and Waterloo’s art districts. Originally the headquarters and state-of-the-art factory, 17 Thurlow St later became the studio and assembly for iconic Australian artist Ken Done. The space has been designed with a modern aesthetic whilst retaining elements of its past. A blank canvas, the space offers versatility to cater for a variety of purposes – including private events, art exhibitions, launch events, photo shoots, or performances. Established in 1981, the gallery is an important cultural destination in Sydney. Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) runs a hybrid art model to represent and support artists in an ethical and forward-propelling way, offering a unique and informative insight into the world of Australian First Nations Art. The venue has a neutral interior, natural light, movable walls, gallery lighting, art track hanging system and driveway access for easy bump in & out. Gallery One Gallery Two Gallery One Gallery One + Two Launch Night Gallery Two Gallery One + Two Workshop in Gallery Two View Floorplan Request Venue Hire Package VENUE HIRE SUBMISSION Please take a moment to fill out the form. First Name Last Name Email Telehone Enquiry Choose an option Proposed Start Proposed End I'd like to reveive news and updates Leave us a message... Submit Thanks for submitting!

JOSIE PETRICK KEMARRE - ANWEKETY • BUSH PLUM Cooee Art Redfern & Online From 19 August to 27 August 2021 Viewing Room JOSIE PETRICK KEMARRE - ANWEKETY • BUSH PLUM Artists: Josie Petrick Kemarre From 19 August to 27 August 2021 Cooee Art Redfern & Online Josie Petrick began painting in the early 1990s, when some of the first painting workshops where held for Utopia women. By the early 2000s her paintings had found homes in several prominent collections, both private and public. In 2006, Petrick was included in the National Gallery of Victoria’s important Land Marks exhibition, which raised her profile nationally and led to further success. Angkwerrpme is the Arrernte word for mistletoe, of which there are many types in the bush, though only three are edible. The fruit of these plants is most commonly referred to as Bush Plum, as well as conkerberry or candleberry. Josie inherited this dreaming from her grandmother, Emily Kngwarreye. She is best known for her works depicting the Bush Plum Dreaming. In the Dreamtime, Strong winds carried and scattered the anwekety seed all over Josie’s ancestral country and beyond. The Dreamtime plants grew and bore fruit and further seeds were swept up carried beyond. With intricately layered fields of dot-work, Josie Petrick creates deliberate shapes with precise, sharp edges, softened, however, by the overlap of individual colours crossing borders. VIEW CATALOGUE VIEW INTERVIEW EX 218

Artist Profile for Billy Benn Perrurle < Back Billy Benn Perrurle Billy Benn Perrurle 1943 - 2012 Language: Alyawarre Community: Utopia ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS Billy Benn Perrurle was born in the Harts Range, 200 km north-east of Alice Springs. As a young man, he worked in the local mine and learned to paint from a miner’s wife, who had been a Chinese watercolourist. Later when he began painting professionally, the influence of Chinese painting traditions was reflected in the scale and perspective of his artworks and their self-assured brushstrokes. Though he painted with acrylics, the colours were arranged like a classic watercolour palette. These were applied as washes before thicker impasto paint was added. Soft pinks, golden yellows, bright oranges, velvet purples, and deep browns were used to create landforms and features. He whipped up skies and laid down slopes and escarpments with fluid single movements READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$10,000.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$4,500.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$2,800.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$2,600.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$2,600.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$1,100.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE Sold AU$0.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE Sold AU$0.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$4,800.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$4,400.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$2,600.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$2,600.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE SOLD AU$1,600.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - MOUNT SWAN WAY Sold AU$0.00 BILLY PERRURLE BENN - ARTETYERRE Sold AU$0.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Billy Benn Perrurle 1943 - 2012 Language: Alyawarre Community: Utopia Billy Benn Perrurle was born in the Harts Range, 200 km northeast of Alice Springs. As a young man, he worked in the local mine and learned to paint from a miner's wife, who had been a Chinese watercolourist. Later when he began painting professionally, the influence of Chinese painting traditions was reflected in the scale and perspective of his artworks and their self-assured brushstrokes. Though he painted with acrylics, the colours were arranged like a classic watercolour palette. These were applied as washes before thicker impasto paint was added. Soft pinks, golden yellows, bright oranges, velvet purples, and deep browns were used to create landforms and features. He whipped up skies and laid down slopes and escarpments with fluid single movements. Billy Benn’s art has often been critically located outside of the art world category of fine art. Journalist Nicholas Rothwell was one of many writers to refer to him as an outsider artist, a status conferred due to his stylistically naive approach, his mental condition, and the fact that he was characterised as ‘lost between worlds’. Per Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists: Established in 2000, the Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists studio is the first in Australia to occupy the intersection between supported studios and Aboriginal Art Centres. [...] The Mwerre Anthurre Artists developed out of Bindi Enterprises, which was established in 1978 to provide employment and community engagement opportunities to people with disability. In the 1990’s the late Billy Benn Perrurle started his career painting on off-cuts of timber and sheets of metal from the Bindi workshop. From these humble beginnings, the collective grew into an essential and distinctive Aboriginal Art Centre with several artists creating work that is highly sought after by galleries and private collectors alike. ARTIST CV Collections: Aboriginal Art Museum, The Netherlands. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Solo Exhibitions: 2017 - Artetyerre, Cooee Art , Sydney. 2014 - Billy Benn Returning Home , Coo-ee Gallery, Sydney. 2010 - To Paint Every Hill , NG Art Gallery, Sydney. 2007 - Magic , Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne. 2003 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne; Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin. 2002 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne; Grant Pirrie Gallery, Sydney. Group Exhibitions: 2014 - The hills behond Hermannsburg, from the Gallery's Indigenous Collection , featuring the work of Arnulf Ebatarinja, Conley Ebatarinja, Benjamin Landara, Tristam Malbunka, Albert Namatjira, Keith Namatjira, Lenie Namatjira, Maurice Namatjira, Oscar Namatjira, Claude Pannka, Gloria Pannka, Nelson Pannka, Ivy Pareroultja, Otto Pareroultja, Billy Benn Perrurle, Norman Ratara, Vanessa Splinter, Roland Uburtja, Alison Walbungara, Richard Moketarinja at the AGNSW, Sydney. 2013 - Beautiful Art , featuring Adrian Robertson, Billy Benn, Billy Kenda, Conway Ginger, Jane Mervin, Kukula Mcdonald, Lance James, Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane, Qld. 2013 - New Works , featuring Billy Benn, Dan Raberaba, Jane Mervin, Kukula Mcdonald at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 2013 - Good, strong, powerful , featuring Adrian Robertson, Billy, Benn, Billy Kenda, Kukula Mcdonald, Lance James at Tandanya National Aboriginal Institute, Adelaide, SA. 2013 - Bindi Artists 2013 , featuring Billy Benn Kemerre, Kukula McDonald, Jane Mervin, Dan Raberaba at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 2011 - Good Strong Powerful featuring the work of Lorna Kantilla, Alfonso Puantjimi and Estelle Munkanome, Billy Benn Perrurle, Kukula McDonald, Billy Kenda, Lance James and Adrian Robertson, Dion Beasley and Peggy Jones Napangardi at Arts Project Australia, 24 High St, Northcote Gallery, Melbourne. 2011 - Bindi 2011 , featuring the work of Billy Benn Perrurle, Billy Kenda, Adrian Robinson, Kukulu McDonald and Lance James at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 2010 - A View on Country , featuring Bill Benn Perrurle, Kukula McDonald, Adrian Robertson, Lance James and Billy Kenda at Mossenson Gallery, Perth, WA. 2010 - Looking Back at Country featuring the artists Makinti Napanangka, Billy Benn Perrurle and Martin Tjampitjinpa at Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne. 2010 - Remembering Country includes the artists Adrian Robertson, Kukula McDonald, Seth Namatjira, Billy Kenda, Lance James, and Billy Benn Perrurle, at Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne. 2010 - Emerging Elders , National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 2009 - Bindi 2009 , featuring the following artists: Billy Kenda, Billy Benn and Lance James, at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne; Reunited: Billy Benn Perrurle & Gladdy Kemarre , Mossenson Galleries, Melbourne. 2008 - Visions of Utopia , featuring the following artists: Angelina Ngal, Billy Benn Perrurle, Cowboy Loy Pwerl, Elizabeth Kunoth Kngwarrey, Elizabeth Mpetyan, Gladdy Kemarr, Jean Kngwarrey, Kathleen Ngal, Maisy Petyarr, Nancy Petyarre Kunoth, Pansy Petyarr McLeod, Poly Ngal, Ruby Morton Kngwarrey, Trudy Raggett at Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Sydney. 2008 - Landscape Masters , featuring Billy Ben Perrurle, Adrian Robertson Jangala and Billy Kenda, at Alcaston Gallery, Sydney. 2008 - Bindi Artists 2008 , featuring Billy Ben Perrurle, Kukula McDonald, Adrian Robertson Jangala and Billy Kenda, at Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 2008 - Land, Sea and the Universe , Alcaston Gallery @ the 2008 Melbourne Art Fair, Exhibition Buildings, Melbourne. 2007 - 24th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award , Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 2006 - Treasures from the Desert , Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne; The second Shalom Gamarada Aboriginal Art Exhibition , Shalom College, University of New South Wales, Sydney; Billy Kenda, Kukula McDonald, Adrian Robertson and Billy Benn Perrurle , Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne. 2005 - 22nd Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award , Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin; From little things, big things grow , National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. 2004 - 2004 Australian Culture Now , National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square, Melbourne; Apmere - Country Land and Place , Recent works by artists from Mwerre Anthurre Alice Springs, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi; 21st Telstra National Aborigainal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award , Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin. 2003 - The Bindi Perspective , Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs; 20th Telstra Art Awards , Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. 2001 - Desert Mob , Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment, Alice Springs. 2000 - Desert Mob , Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment, Alice Springs. Awards: 2006 - Winner of the 2006 Alice Prize , Alice Springs. Bibliography: Green, Charles., 2004 Australian Culture Now , National Gallery of Victoria, 2004, Melbourne. Billie Benn Perrurle & Catherine Peattie, 2011, Billy Benn, IAD Press, Alice Springs Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

Artist Profile for Muluymuluy Wirrpanda < Back Muluymuluy Wirrpanda Muluymuluy Wirrpanda 1959 REGION: Dhuruputjpi NT LANGUAGE: Liyagalawumirr ART CENTRE: Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS Muluymuluy Wirrpanda was born at Ngukurr, a significant cultural hub in Arnhem Land. Her father, Molulmi, belonged to the Maḏarrpa clan, a lineage deeply connected to the rich artistic and ceremonial traditions of the region. Her mother’s clan is Maŋgalili, another esteemed Yolŋu group known for its strong cultural and artistic heritage. Muluymuluy was the young wife of Wakuthi Marawili, one of the oldest and most respected elders in Arnhem Land. Known as "Banbay," meaning "Blind one," due to his poor eyesight, Wakuthi was a revered figure and custodian of Maḏarrpa clan knowledge. Together, Muluymuluy and Wakuthi collaborated on important clan paintings, with her artistic work often guided by his deep cultural insight. Wakuthi passed away in 2005, leaving a legacy continued by their sons, Djambawa and Nuwandjali Marawili. Both sons play significant roles in the day-to-day management of Yilpara, the Maḏarrpa clan homeland, a place central to the clan's cultural and artistic life. Muluymuluy has worked alongside her sons, contributing her art to the preservation and celebration of Maḏarrpa identity and stories. Muluymuluy has achieved significant recognition as an artist in her own right. In 2020, we held her first solo exhibition, BULWUTJA – Muluymuluy Wirrpanda. She was a finalist in the 39th and 41st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Most recently, she won the 2023 National Emerging Art Prize – First Nation Artist Award, further cementing her position as an important voice in contemporary Indigenous art READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE top Anchor 1 PROFILE Muluymuluy Wirrpanda 1959 REGION: Dhuruputjpi NT LANGUAGE: Liyagalawumirr ART CENTRE: Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre Muluymuluy Wirrpanda was born at Ngukurr, a significant cultural hub in Arnhem Land. Her father, Molulmi, belonged to the Maḏarrpa clan, a lineage deeply connected to the rich artistic and ceremonial traditions of the region. Her mother’s clan is Maŋgalili, another esteemed Yolŋu group known for its strong cultural and artistic heritage. Muluymuluy was the young wife of Wakuthi Marawili, one of the oldest and most respected elders in Arnhem Land. Known as "Banbay," meaning "Blind one," due to his poor eyesight, Wakuthi was a revered figure and custodian of Maḏarrpa clan knowledge. Together, Muluymuluy and Wakuthi collaborated on important clan paintings, with her artistic work often guided by his deep cultural insight. Wakuthi passed away in 2005, leaving a legacy continued by their sons, Djambawa and Nuwandjali Marawili. Both sons play significant roles in the day-to-day management of Yilpara, the Maḏarrpa clan homeland, a place central to the clan's cultural and artistic life. Muluymuluy has worked alongside her sons, contributing her art to the preservation and celebration of Maḏarrpa identity and stories. Muluymuluy has achieved significant recognition as an artist in her own right. In 2020, we held her first solo exhibition, BULWUTJA – Muluymuluy Wirrpanda. She was a finalist in the 39th and 41st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Most recently, she won the 2023 National Emerging Art Prize – First Nation Artist Award, further cementing her position as an important voice in contemporary Indigenous art ARTIST CV Solo Exhibitions: 2020 BULWUTJA - MULUYMULUY WIRRAPANDA - Cooee Art, Sydney Group Exhibitions: 2024 Gathul’puy- Belonging to the Mangroves, December 2024 - January 2025, Art Leven 2023 41st Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards-Finalist - Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), NT 2023 Mundurr - The Gift - Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney NSW 2022 RISE 3: Mangrove Thinking - The Cross Art Projects, Sydney, NSW 2021 39th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards-Finalist - Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), NT 2020 Salon des Refuse 2020 - Charles Darwin Univiersity Art Gallery, Darwin NT 2019 SYDNEY CONTEMPTORARY 2019 | BOOTH A11 - COO-EE ART, Sydney NSW 2019 Gapan Gallery 2019 - Gapan Gallery, Garma Festival, Gulkula, Northeast Arnhem Land NT 2019 Top End Ochre - Everywhen Artspace, Mornington Peninsula VIC 2019 ABORIGINAL BARK PAINTING AND LARRAKITJ FROM YIRRKALA, NORTHEAST ARNHEM LAND - Purple Noon Gallery, Freemans Reach NSW 2018 Gapan Gallery 2018 - Gapan Gallery, Garma Festival, Gulkula, Northeast Arnhem Land NT Awards: 2023 National Emerging Art Prize - First Nation Artist Award Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS IMAGE CREDIT: Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

Artist Profile for Lloyd Kwilla < Back Lloyd Kwilla Lloyd Kwilla ARTIST PROFILE ARTIST CV MARKET ANALYSIS READ FULL ARTIST PROFILE LLOYD KWILLA - KULAWA - RAINY SEASON SOLD AU$6,200.00 LLOYD KWILLA - BUSHFIRE SERIES - KULYAYI SOLD AU$3,500.00 LLOYD KWILLA - DESERT WIND AT KULYAYI SOLD AU$4,800.00 LLOYD KWILLA - BUSHFIRE SERIES - KULYAYI WATERHOLE Sold AU$0.00 top Anchor 1 PROFILE Lloyd Kwilla ARTIST CV Market Analysis MARKET ANALYSIS Disclaimer: At Cooee Art Leven, we strive to maintain accurate and respectful artist profiles. Despite our efforts, there may be occasional inaccuracies. We welcome any corrections or suggested amendments. Please contact us with your feedback .

KarruwaraWatti Wattie Karruwara Wattie Karruwara 1910 - 1983 Wattie Karruwara was born in the Hunter River basin in the far north west of Western Australia c1910. In 1921 two shipwrecked sailors stole a canoe from a clansman and, in an attempt to cross the Hunter River, became swamped. On their return to shore, the owner of the canoe speared and killed them, and as a consequence the police detained four women and two men, of whom Wattie was one. After a period in Wyndam jail and a trial in Perth, Wattie Karruwara was eventually released as a minor, set free in the alien surroundings of Perth. It took him some twenty years to return to Broome and his home at Mowanjum, during which he worked with the police as a tracker in the gold fields of Western Australia. In Mowanjum, Wattie lived with his uncle Micky Bungkuni a senior Wunambal elder who painted infrequently and, under his guidance, Wattie also began painting works. A few of these have been found over the years through various anthropologists who studied in the Kimberley area at that time. The earliest record of one of his paintings is a work titled Wandjina Man with long neck which was collected by anthropologist Norman Tindale in 1953. A number of Wattie’s works were donated to the University of Western Australia in the 1960's by linguist Peter Lucich, while Wandjina paintings created during the 1970's for Helen Groger Wurm are now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia. Wattie’s Wandjina figures fall within the traditional genre of the region. The Wandjina are unique to the rock art of the Kimberley. They are said to have lain down in the caves and turned into a painting after their activities on earth. These spirit ancestors usually appear with a large face and dark eyes, but without a mouth. The Wandjina takes many forms according to the exact location and tribal group that are its custodians. Images can usually be identified across artists as they have strong individual traits. Wattie Karruwara and Charlie Numbulmoore were among the first artists to emerge as individual artistic identities prior to the 1970's. Karuwara’s Wandjinas are distinctive with long rays emanating vertically from the headdress, small eyes, nose, and delicate hands and feet. However, Wattie is most famous for a series of watercolours quite different from these Wandjina paintings, and his occasional boab nut carvings. His works on paper were the result of a friendship developed between the artist and American anthropologist John McCaffrey who, in the early 1960’s, noting Wattie’s genius, provided him with small flat painting surfaces. Initially these took the form of portable barks, which McCaffrey had flown from Arnhem Land through Professor Roland Berndt as bark painting was not a Kimberley tradition. However the difficulty in obtaining the bark led the anthropologist to look for a simpler medium and, in Perth, he purchased the best quality paper and Windsor and Newton watercolour paints (Flynn 2003). The results were astounding and McCaffrey noted that Wattie painted 'sometimes up to eight hours straight, in a trance like state with eyes open' (cited in Flynn 2003: 10). Karruwara completed the series at the Derby Leprosarium after being diagnosed with leprosy. His friend McCaffrey 'spoke sadly of his leave-taking of Wattie, and was pleased to learn in 1997… that Wattie had later been released, and had lived until 1983' (Flynn 2003: 10). In all, more than 38 watercolours resulted from their exchange, the beauty of which resides in the naive charm of the colourful semi-naturalistic depictions of the flora and fauna of his country. Wattie Karruwara is an art figure largely untied to a particular community. Being one of the first individual artists recognized in the Kimberley, his career did not follow the trajectory of many other Kimberley artists who only began receiving recognition post 1970s, with particular promotion from key figures such as Mary Macha. Instead his career was firmly entwined with early anthropological research in the Kimberley area. As a consequence many of the finest examples of his Wandjina figures are now in museums and national art galleries. Moreover these works are rare, bark being a tradition originating in Arnhem Land and a medium difficult to source in the Kimberley. Only four of his Wandjina barks have surfaced on the secondary market including: the impressive c.1962 work that sold for a considerable $26,350 against a presale estimate of $15,000-20,000 at Sotheby’s in July 2004; the 76 x 30 cm bark created in 1959 that achieved $13,200 as lot one in Lawson~Menzies May 2006 sale; and the more diminutive Wandjina c.1962 standing only 41 cm tall that was sold for a respectable $7,200 despite being estimated at $12,000-18,000 by Sotheby’s in July 2003. It has been Wattie’s watercolours however, that have achieved his highest prices. In 2002 four watercolours from the McCaffrey collection were sold for more than $29,000 at Sotheby’s including one which set his record at $59,250. No doubt this result prompted the legendary sale of the entire remaining McCaffrey’s collection in 2003 through Sotheby’s at the request of John's widow Winifred. The sale, unprecedented of its kind, was catalogued under separate cover and looked to be enormously successful. None of the watercolour works sold for any less than $8,000 and the majority achieved prices in excess of $20,000. While several of the works passed their top estimates and one in particular achieved his third highest price ever at $40,450, other results were disappointing and the auction average for his watercolours fell by nearly half to $22,109. A relatively small proportion remained unsold, due to their optimistically high estimates rather than their quality. However when three of these were included again in Sotheby’s 2005 sales, they were once again passed in despite their obvious quality and a hefty drop in the estimates. The sale of such a large body of work that was so beautifully documented positioned Wattie Karruwara as an important figure in Kimberley art history. His record on the secondary market is distorted by this one-off event, in much the same way as the records for works that occur in occasional sales of major collections tend to over inflate their values. Due to all the hype, the prices paid would have been at a premium, and it should be some years before any of the buyers of these works will be able to sell their pieces at a profit. This is evidenced by the fact that very few works have appeared since 2003 and those that sprang up in 2005 were passed in at auction. A few of his boab nuts and carved works have sold since the 2003 auction, but few significant watercolours have done well and have failed to rival the 2002 record prices. Indeed, in 2010, Untitled c.1965 resold for $30,000 seven years after it had originally been presented in the McCaffrey's collection, a loss of nearly $6,000. However 2010 results were not wholly disappointing, both works offered selling at an average of $27,000. This is in contrast to previous years. No works appeared during 2007 and in 2008 only two of the four works on offer were successful both of which were watercolours, with the highest price paid being $9,000 for a McCaffrey provenanced work measuring 56 x 76 cm that had been estimated by Sotheby's at $7,000-10,000 in their October sale (Lot 271). In 2006 a Wandjina slate nearly doubled its estimate selling for $13,200 at Sotheby's Melbourne, while in the same year Lawson-Menzies also achieved $13,200 in their May sale for a Wandjina on bark. 2015 was a disappointig year for works by this artist. While 3 of 5 lots on offer sold, the highest price achieved was for a painting on sandstone which sold for $14,966 at Sotheby's Thomas Vroom Collection sale in London. The only work that appeared in 2017 was an untitled watercolour on paper with McCaffrey provenance, which sold for just under $2,000. The work had last been sold in a 2008 Sotheby's auction for $8,000. With just a few year’s results and recent falls in the value of his watercolours, it is difficult to predict the short-term future of works for this artist. Good bark paintings are rare and will always sell well if in good condition when they infrequently appear on the market. Of his 77 auction records, only 10 works have appeared for sale during the last decade, and those that have appeared to date are likely constitute the bulk of his artistic output. It is these works that are most likely to re-appear time and again in the market over the coming years. Nevertheless, Wattie Karruwara’s works are rare treasures, and despite the high estimates they are likely to carry, they should be thought of as integral to any serious Kimberley collection. Explore our artworks See some of our featured artworks below ANGELINA PWERLE NGAL - UNTITLED ( BUSH RAISIN MAN) Price AU$3,000.00 ALISON (JOJO) PURUNTATAMERI - WINGA (TIDAL MOVEMENT/WAVES) Out of stock LILY YIRDINGALI JURRAH HARGRAVES NUNGARRAYI - KURLURRNGALINYPA JUKURRPA Price From AU$13,500.00 BRONWYN BANCROFT - UNTITLED Out of stock JOSHUA BONSON - SKIN: A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE Price AU$8,500.00 BOOK - KONSTANTINA - GADIGAL NGURA Price From AU$99.00 FREDDIE TIMMS - MOONLIGHT VALLEY Price AU$35,000.00 NEIL ERNEST TOMKINS - BURN THERE, DON'T BURN THERE Price AU$7,000.00 SHOP NOW