Leaf, 2020
Abie Loy Kemarre

Abie Loy Kemarre was born in Utopia in 1972. This vast region in Central Australia is the territory of people such as the Anmatyerre, the Eastern Anmatyerre et the Alyawarre. Situated in the center of Australia, about 240 kilometers Nort-East of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), in the Northern Territory, the Utopia region is a desert of more than 3000 square kilometers.

There are bout 20 towns in the region, most of them on the Sandover river and on the road that crosses the territory. These villages are the home of large families. These populations have kept their traditional connection with the land and with their culture.

Abie Loy Kemarre started painting in 1994, at the advices of her grandmother, the famous aboriginal painter Kathleen Petyarre, who guided her during her first attempts. These first attempts were inspired by ?dreams? of which she is the spiritual guardian, especially the Bush Hen Dreaming.

Abie Loy has built her own style very quickly, and that explains her remarkable work, her success, her numerous solo and collective shows, at first in Asutralia, starting in 1997 (Perth, Brisbane, Adélaïde, Melbourne or Sydney), but also in the US (Miami, 2003), Indonesia or Europe (Germany, Spain, France). Her works are part of numerous private and public collections in Australia.

Under the sometimes-formidable guidance of her grandmother, Abie Loy's talent has blossomed.  Under Eastern Anmatyerre Law, Abie Loy Kemarre has the right to portray several Dreamings. These include the Bush Hen (Turkey) Dreaming and Bush Leaf Dreaming.  She is renowned for the complex optical effects produced by a rare combination of movement and intricacy. Abie Loy has custodial rights of the Bush Hen Dreaming which she depicts as a metonymic device in her Bush Hen Dreaming and associated Sand-hills and Body painting series of works.

The Bush Leaf Dreaming is an inheritance from Abie's father's side. The bush leaf grows in a swamp near some sandhills close to the Utopia region in Abie's grandfather's country and it is known for its wonderful curative properties.  These bush leaves are able to cure a whole range of illnesses including colds, headaches, and sores.

Abie Loy Kemarre has won many successes in Australia (Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney) but also in the United States, Indonesia or Europe (Germany, Spain, France). One of his works, Dream of Bush Leaf, a special edition on the cover of the work of the Musée des Confluences of Lyon to publish his collection of Aboriginal art.

Awards:

2001. Finalist, 18th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin (Australia)

1997. Finalist, 14th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin (Australia)

Collections: 

Adelaide University Art Collection, Adelaide (Australia)

Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide (Australia)

Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo (Japan)

Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth (Australia) 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (USA)

Musée des Confluences, Lyon (France)

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Australia)

The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica (USA)

The Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle (USA)

Festival of Arts Foundation Collection, Adelaide (Australie)

Main personal and group exhibitions:

2021. Top 20 2021, Art Mob, Hobart (Australia)

2021. “Big Names Little Paintings”, Cooee Art Gallery, Sydney (Australia)

2020. “Sounds of Summer”, Japingka Gallery, Perth (Australia)

2020. “Top 20 Exhibition”, Art Mob, Hobart (Australia)

2019. “Beyond Time, Australian Aboriginal Art”, Booker Lowe Gallery, Houston (United States)

2019. “Defining tradition | black + white ”, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney (Australia)

2018. “My Country”, Salt, Queenscliff, VIC (Australia)

2017. “On Country: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan-Levi Gift”, Metropolitan Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (United States)

2015. “Inspiration Batik”, DZ Galerie Paris (France)

2015. "Vibrations: at the heart of aboriginal art" Arts of Australia, ACABAS, Paris (France)

2014. Singapore Art Fair, DZ Galerie (Singapore)

2014. “Les Flâneries d'Art Contemporain in the Aix garden”, Aix-en-Provence (France)

2012. “Ancestral Modern Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection”, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle (United States)

2010. “Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art: From the Collection of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan”, Washington State University Museum, Pullman Washington (United States)

2010. “Great North-Great South. Inuit and Aboriginal artists ”, Daoulas Abbey, Brittany (France)

2010. “Desert Art”, Gadfly Gallery, Perth (Australia)

2009. “Lands of Enchantment”, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington (United States)

2009. “Contemporary aboriginal creations”, Musée des Confluences, Lyon (France)

2008. “Emily Kngwarreye and her Legacy”, Art Front Gallery, Tokyo (Japan)

2008. “Black and White - an exhibition of Aboriginal works”, NG Art Gallery Sydney (Australia)

2007. “Desert Dreamscapes”, Holter Museum, Helena Montana (United States)

2006. “Prism, Contemporary Australian Art”, Bridgestone Museum, Tokyo (Japan)

2006. “Dreaming Their Way: Australian Aboriginal Women Painters”, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington (United States)

2005. “Aboriginal Vision in Contemporary Australian Art, Levi - Kaplan Collection”, The Wright Exhibition Center, Seattle (United States)

2003. Art Miami (United States)

2000. Australis Gallery, Adelaide (Australia)

1999. “North by North East, Landscape & Ceremonial paintings from Utopia”, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (Australia)