News & Events

Congratulations to Shirley Macnamara for winning the prestigious Telstra Wandjuk Marika Memorial Three-Dimensional Award at the 34th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, for her work Nyurruga Muulawaddi.  

Shirley Macnamara draws inspiration from her beloved bush country in far west Queensland. She uses natural materials to create objects such as guutu (vessels), baskets and large installations that reflect forms in nature. Macnamara works mostly with Spinifex, a native grass that grows in abundance throughout remote Australia, which she weaves to create objects and sculptures that reflect her environment, and their association with climate, earth and life, past and present.

Follow this link to view available artworks by Shirley Macnmara

The Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA) is Australia’s longest running and most prestigious Indigenous art award. Since its genesis in 1984, NATSIAA has provided a platform for the diverse practices of Indigenous artists and is now firmly established as a critical event on Australia’s cultural calendar. 

Congratulations to all winning and finalist artists. The 34th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards exhibition will be on show at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory untill the 26 November. 

For more information, please visit their website. 

Congratulations Betty Kuntiwa Pumani for winning the prestigous Wynne Prize 2017, as announced today at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.  

Betty Kuntiwa Pumani won the prize with her submission Antara, 2017 (pictured).  Congratulations to all shortlisted finalists. 

Alcaston Gallery is proud to present new work by Betty Kuntiwa Pumani at Sydney Contemporary 7 - 10 September 2017. Contact us for further information. 

Antara in South Australia is an extremely important site for Betty Kuntiwa Pumani and her family. Antara is her mother’s country. This place and its significant maku (witchetty grub) tjukurpa were a constant in the paintings of her mother, the late Kunmanara (Milatjari) Pumani. Today, Betty and her older sister Ngupulya Pumani are proud custodians of this country; they map its significance and hold its stories strong in their paintings.

Betty’s signature reds evoke the rocky desert country of Antara, while simultaneously suggesting blood or viscera and an unmistakable energy. The contrasting areas of white and its subtle tonal shifts are a quiet and patient counterpoint to the pulsating reds.

Mimili Maku Arts, 2017

Congratulations to Dean Smith who has just been announced a finalist in the Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award 2017. The biennial acquisitive award and accompanying exhibition celebrates the best in contemporary Victorian ceramic art practice from across the state.

Having won the prize in 2015, this is the second time that Dean has been has been selected as a finalist. 

To read more about the prize and to view the complete list of finalists, visit the Manningham Art Gallery's website. 

The exhibition opens Wednesday 16 August and will run until Saturday 23 September at Manningham Art Gallery, Doncaster, Victoria. 

To view available artworks by Dean Smith, please visit our website. 

Image: Dean Smith, Sister Element, 2016, fine stoneware, micro crystalline glazes, glass enamels and applied gold leaf. © The Artist and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2017

A recent graduate of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art at Griffith University, Claudia’s incredible body of work to date reflects a strong connection to country, having spent the first seven years of her life on Bentinck and Mornington Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria until relocating to Aurukun (far North Queensland) in 2003. Claudia’s bold and colourful paintings are greatly influenced by her language, tribe, history, and family, including her late great-grandmother May Moodoonuthi and the late Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda (Mrs Gabori). The artist’s relaxed style allows her to create intimate close-up portraits that reflect her experiences in remote communities.

As the recipient of the fifth annual commission, Claudia will receive support to create a new, large scale work on paper for the Artbank collection, initially placed on display at QPAC’s Russell Street Wine Bar for a period of twelve months from late 2017.

Stay tuned for more updates on the commission as plans develop. A huge congratulations to Claudia and big thanks to all the talented Queensland artists who applied!

Alcaston Gallery is thrilled to broadcast Iwantja artist Peter Mungkuri as winner of Hobart's inaugral Hadley's Art Prize, the world's ritchest landscape art prize. 

Mungkuri will take home $100,000 for his painting Ngura Wiru, which means good country. The painting depicts his birth place in Fregon, in central Australia.

"This is my story about that creek at Fregon. I was born there," he said in a statement. "I love this country, it has watched us Anangu [people] for many years. It is a wise country."

Hadley's Art Prize Judge Lisa Slade said the judging panel was continually drawn back to the beauty and vitality of Peter's piece.

There were more than 380 entries in the competition, with 41 finalists being hung in the new galleries of Hobart's Hadley's Hotel.

Alcaston Gallery artists Alec Baker and David Frank were also finalists in the prize.

To read the full ABC news article, head over to their website. 

Photo of Peter Mungkuri by Alex Craig