Barbara Weir

Barbara Weir was born c.1942 on Bundy River Station in the area of Utopia, Aboriginal Art Regions of Central Australia. Barbara Weir's mother is the late famous Aboriginal Artist Minnie Pwerle. Barbara's father was the Irish station owner, Jack Weir. Barbara was taken from her family and fostered out as one of the 'Stolen Generation' but, in the 1960's Barbara returned to Utopia and stayed with her aunt Emily Kame Kngwarreye. 

Barbara's career as an artist was inspired by the dynamic community of artists at Utopia and the work of her adopted grandmother Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Emily's work had a profound impact on her and in the early 1990's she began seriously to explore her artistic talents. Highly experimental in her approach, she tried many mediums and in 1994 went to Indonesia with other artists to explore the art of batik. This gave her new insights into her own process and she returned full of ideas on how to develop her own style.

Barbara is a highly talented, inventive, creative, energetic and hard working artist, who paints in a number of different styles and who pushes her own artistic boundaries in doing so. Because of this, her important part in the Utopian community, her family connections and her difficult life experiences at the hands of the white administration of the day, she is a highly collectible artist, and one who continues to grow in stature at a steady rate. 

Collections

AMP Collection

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA

British Embassy, Canberr

Ebes Collection, Workum, Netherlands

The Mbantua Gallery Collection, Alice Springs NT

Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, QLD

The University of Adelaide, SA

Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane

Artbank, Sydney

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth

Hitachi Collection

Macquarie Bank Collection

Exhibitions (From 2005)

2005 Barbara Weir and Daughter, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, NT

2005 Invitational Private Exhibition at Madigans Restaurant, Alice Springs with Mbantua Gallery to meet with HRH Prince of Wales

2005 Barbara Weir, Addison Road Gallery, Marrickville, NSW

2005 Small Wonders (A collection of 1'x1' and 1'x1½' paintings), Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, N.T

2005 Evolution of Utopia, Cultural Museum, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs

2006 Evolution of Utopia, Cultural Museum, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs

2007 Group exhibition, Robert Steele Gallery, NY, USA

2007 Standing on Ceremony, Tandanya Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA

2007 Solo exhibition, Blowing in the Wind, Artmob, Hobart, Tas

2007 New Works from Utopia, Space Gallery, Pittsburg, PA, USA

2008 Dreamings the Land, Outback Aboriginal Land, Caulfield, Vic

2009 Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, WA

2009 My Country, Dacou Gallery Melbourne, Vic

2009 Utopia, Colours of the Desert, Gongpyeong Art Space in collaboration with Dacou, Australian Embassy in Korea and Crossbay Gallery, Seoul, Korea

2010 Desert Art from Utopia, DACOU Gallery, Melbourne

2010 Latest Works from Barbara Weir, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs NT

2011 New Beginnings, Brits Arts and Promotions, Uebach-Palenberg, Germany

2014 New to View: Utopia, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2015 Women of Papunya, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2017 Atnwengerrp Revisited | Family Show and Artist in Residence Programme, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2018 Earth's Creation, Emily Kame and Family, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney

2019 Solo exhibition. Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, NT