Women's Ceremonial Bodywork- Aboriginal Art Australia - Josie Kunoth Petyarre
This canvas was used in a woman's ceremony and considered sacred, therefore the symbols in the work are not interpreted for outsiders. Her paintings represent "awelye"- women's ceremonial stories and dreamings.
Acrylic on large canvas 42 1/2" x 62" or 3 1/2 feet x 5 feet 2 inches. 108cm x 158cm. This is referred to as an investment piece/ investment size. Will be mailed rolled in a mailing tube. Free postage within the US.
PLEASE NOTE: Message me with any questions as the artwork is non-refundable. Also, pardon the inelegant background - I borrowed someone's office. Not a lot of good light here in Maine this time of year. The photos of the overall work aren't as vibrant as in-person - look at the close-up photos for a sense of the colors.
Josie has inherited from her family, her tribe, and along gender lines the right to use certain symbols and colors to create this art for this ceremony. Body painting is one of the earliest forms of Indigenous art. Bodies are painted for ceremonial reasons and traditional dances. The preparations can take many hours and is the role of certain artists within the group. The designs drawn on the body are traditional designs with mythological meanings which are owned by the clan of the person who is being decorated. The symbols can also be depicted on objects such as bark paintings and, in more recent history, canvas. Josie was a part of the dynamic origins when traditional art lept off of traditional sources and onto canvases.
"In 1989 Josie was involved in the Utopia: A Picture Story which introduced a small group of Utopian women (and one guy) to batik silk. The group designed silk batiks telling traditional stories and sharing scenes from their lives and Dreamtime stories. This particular project was such a success that the entire collection of 88 pieces was acquired by the Holmes a Court Collection and toured around Australia and overseas. The following year another art project was brought to Utopia called A Summer Project. The project introduced canvas and acrylics; a quick-drying medium which was very welcome. This saw the beginning of an explosion of artistic talent, color, and creativity" that evolved to be the contemporary Aboriginal art we're now used to seeing.
This work depicts the relationship between women and their natural landscape, most probably describing the role of women as healers and providers within society.
On occasion, the group will allow ceremonial work to leave the tribe -- this is one such unusual work. It has been stored rolled up and is in like-new condition. The dirt on the back is from the desert when the canvas was used.
This work was acquired directly from Josie's clan by an Australian named Bob who told me he lived among them although not with them. Josie does not speak much English. He helped the group sell several canvases. Then someone died and the group went into mourning and stopped selling canvases indefinitely. Bob, himself, ran a dating service and worked (very) remotely. I asked him to cross out his dating service contact info (that was his number) at the bottom of the canvas.
More about Josie and Australian Aboriginal Art:
Josie Junoth Petyarre is an Anmatyerre woman from the eastern desert region of Utopia. Josie's mother is Polly Ngale, a well-known and respected artist from Utopia. She lives at a remote outstation on traditional Anmatyerre land surrounding Utopia with her husband, their children, and grandchildren. Josie began producing art in the early 1980s as part of the Utopia Women's Batik Group, began painting in the late 1980s, and since 2000 she has been sculpting. She has emerged as a leading artist in the Aboriginal community and her paintings and sculptures have been recognized in several prestigious art competitions and shows in Australia.
In 2009, Josie had several of her paintings featured in the Indigenous Law Bulletin. In 2008 she was a finalist for the Stanthorpe Art Prize, a finalist for the Basil Sellers Art Prize (Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne), and a finalist for the Xstrata Coal Emerging Indigenous Art Award (Gallery Of Modern Art, Brisbane). Also in 2008, she was a Selected Entrant, 25th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin). In 2007 she was a Blake Prize finalist and her painting toured the country with the traveling exhibition (National Art School, Sydney). That year she also received a Highly Commended (2nd place) at the Willoughby Art Prize competition for her work "Figure In Ceremonial Body Painting", and she was a slo a finalist for the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, New South Wales. Her work has also been exhibited at Art Sydney (2005), Art Melbourne (2006 & 2007), and in countless shows in Australia and Europe since the 1990s.
Josie's art is part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of Australia (Canberra) and the Berndt Museum of Anthropology (Western Australia), Artbank, The Holmes a Court Collection (Perth), The Kerry Stokes Collection (Perth), Murray Bridge Regional Gallery (Murray Bridge, South Australia), and La Culture en Couleur in Paris, among others.