aboriginal artist: Angelina Kngale (Ngale)

View artworks by Angelina Kngale (Ngale).

Born in the arid desert area of Utopia Station in 1947, Angelina Ngale has become an Australian renowned aboriginal artist, with her work held in collections throughout the world. Initially Angelina began in the medium of batik when this begun in the late 1970’s at Utopia. When acrylics swept the Utopia region about a decade later, Angelina made the transition and has continued using this medium like other Utopia artists.

Angelina is famous for her fine dot representations of the Anwekety (conkerberry, also known as conkleberry and bush plum).  Angelina quickly became a household name amongst Australian Indigenous galleries. Like most other women, Angelina can paint the women’s ceremonial body paint designs (Awelye) which she does so with bold and colourful feel, though she paints much less of this. Angelina also enjoys painting another subject, the story of Atham-areny. Atham-areny are small creatures that live where there is no fire. These are quirky, joyous artworks.  Her Atham-areny paintings depict the women prepared to sing and dance with witch doctors to draw sickness out of those touched by the atham-areny creatures.

COLLECTIONS – selected

Mansion Hotel, Melbourne
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Sydney
The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
Laverty Collection

Allen, Allen and Helmsly Collection, Sydney
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Artbank, Sydney
Commonwealth Law Courts, Melbourne
Holt Collection
Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth
Latrobe University Collection, Melbourne

SOLO EXHIBITIONS – selected

2011  E(merge): two spiritualities, Space Station Art Space, Beijing and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2010  Desert Country, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide and touring Korea International Art Fair, COEX Korea Exhibition Centre, Seoul, Korea
2009  Utopia – Bush Plum and other Delicacies, Honey Ant Gallery, Noosa, QLD
2008  Utopia Revisited, WG Gallery, Sydney
2005  Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
2001  Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1999  Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1997  Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1996  Niagara Galleries, Melbourne

GROUP EXHIBITIONS- selected

2017  Sacred Marks, JGM Gallery, London, U.K.
2017 The Golden Age of Utopia, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2016  Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia, Nevada Museum of Art. Tour included Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA; Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ; Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; and the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Canada
2009  Utopia Artists, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London
2009  Utopia Group Exhibition, DACOU, Melbourne
2008  Power of Place, Paintings and Sculpture from the Eastern Desert, Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide
2008  Emily Kngwarreye and her legacy, Art Front Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2007  Eastern Desert Dreaming – Artists from Utopia, GalleryG, Brisbane
2007  Delmore Gallery – a new Selection of Utopia Art, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
2004  Explained, A closer look at Aboriginal Art, Aboriginal Art Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2002  Indecorous Abstraction: Contemporary Women Painters, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide
1999  Blue Chip 2: The Collectors Exhibition, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1998  Sixth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
1997  14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
1994  Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
1994  The Oval Board Collection, Hawaii
1994  This Land, Utopia Art, Sydney
1993  Utopia Women, MCA, Sydney
1993  Utopia Sculpture, Niagara Galleries, Melbourne
1993  Camp Scenes, Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney
1992  Aboriginal Painting, Austral Gallery, St Louis, USA
1992  Bubbles, Baubles & Beads, Utopia Art, Sydney
1992  Little Friends, Utopia Art, Sydney
1991  Long Hot Summer, Utopia Art, Sydney Utopia, Utopia Art, Sydney Men and Dogs, Utopia Art, Sydney
1990  The Last Show, Utopia Art, Sydney Art from Utopia, Orange Regional Gallery, NSW
1989  Utopia Women’s Paintings, the first works on canvas, Sydney

EXHIBITION OF BATIK SILKS

1988  Time Before Time, Austral Gallery, St Louis, USA
1988  Painting and Batik from the Desert, Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW
1988  Utopia Batik, Craft Council Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1988  Utopia Batik, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD
1987  Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA
1987  Darwin Museum Gallery, Darwin, NT
1987  Yirrkala Community Centre, Northern Territory
1987  Jogyakarta Fine Art Academy, Indonesia
1987  Sydney Expo, Craft Council Gallery, Sydney, NSW
1987  The Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1986  Craft Council Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1986  Bundaberg Art Gallery, Queensland
1986  The Araluen Centre, Springs Craft Festival, Alice Springs, NT
1985  Black Women in Focus, Adelaide Festival, Adelaide, SA
1985  Burnie Gallery, Tasmania
1985  Tasmanian Craft Gallery, Hobart, TAS
1984  Craft Council Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1984  Queensland University Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
1984  Fireworks Gallery, Adelaide, SA
1984  Sydney Craft Expo, Sydney, NSW
1984  Darwin Craft Council Gallery, Darwin, NT
1984  The Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, NT
1983  Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, SA
1983  Alice Springs Craft Council, Alice Springs, NT
1982  Sydney Craft Expo, Sydney, NSW
1982  Brisbane Commonwealth Games Exhibition, Brisbane, QLD
1981  Floating Forests of Silks – Utopia Batik from the Desert, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA
1980  Artworks, Alice Springs, NT

AWARDS
1997  Finalist in 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA)
2008  Finalist in the Wynne Prize for Landscape painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney