Gladdy Kemarre
Artist’s Statement
As part of Gladdy’s Dreaming, the women perform awelye (women's ceremonies), paying homage to the bush plum and ensuring further germinations in years to come.
Gladdy also painted many figurative works depicting women in ceremony and Bushmen in battle and at play. These figurative works are an important rendition of the history of the Anmatyerre and Alyawarre lifestyle.Biography
Gladdy (Gladys) Kemarre (1937-2017), an Anmatyerre woman, was born on Mount Swan Station, north east of Alice Springs. Gladdy started painting on silk and cotton in the batik technique in 1977, along with Angelina Ngala and Emily Kngwarreye.
Gladdy lived at Camel Camp in the Utopia region, where she resided with her close relatives including her sister, Ollie (Ally) Kemarre, and artists and sisters - Kathleen, Polly and Angeline Ngala. The practice of painting was sociable and harmonious for these women and they were often painting and chatting together.
Influences
Gladdy and her sister Ollie were inseparable, painting their Dreamtime story Bush Plum which had been passed down to them both by their grandmother. The fine dot work of Gladdy’s'paintings depicts the various ripening stages of the plum. Gladdy’s artworks simultaneously provide a topographical view of the landscape around Ahalpere, Utopia in Central Australia.
Awards
Over the years Gladdy participated in multiple exhibitions around Australia and overseas including India, Germany, Korea and across Europe. Her paintings are held in prestigious collections around Australia. Her works have been acquired by many major public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In 2009 she was a finalist in the Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was awarded first prize in both the Mount Buller Art Awards and City of Swan Art Awards. In 2012, Gladdy was selected as a Finalist in The King’s School Art Prize, The Stanthorpe Art Prize, The Albany Art Prize, The Fletcher Jones Painting Prize and The Waterhouse Natural History Prize.
Gladdy Kemarre continued to regularly exhibit all over the world until she passed away in 2017.
2015 Finalist NATSIAA Awards
2013 Finalist (H/C) Waterhouse Natural History Prize SA Museum
2013 Winner Calleen Art Award
2012 2nd Place Redland Art Awards
2012 Finalist Togart Prize
2010 Finalist City of Albany Art Prize
Exhibitions
After ten years of producing batik, with the training and encouragement of Jenny Green and Julia Murray, Gladdy, along with other Utopia women took part in an exhibition at the S. H. Ervin Gallery in April 1989 on small canvas boards. This was organised by Rodney Gooch of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA). Gladdy also took part in the foundational exhibition 'A Summer Project: Utopia Women's Painting 1988-89', then participated in a watercolour survey in early 1989 which was acquired in its entirety by the Holmes a Court Collection.
Showing the single artwork
