Details of Shirley Purdie
About
BIOGRAPHY
Bush name: Birrmarriya
Shirley Purdie's parents are Sandy Thomas and Madigan Thomas. They are originally from Violet Valley, which is close to Mabel Downs cattle station. Purdie was born on Mabel Downs. She is the oldest of six children. As a young woman Purdie worked on Mabel Downs and Texas Downs stations and returned to Warmun to work in the school.
Shirley Purdie is a senior Warmun artist. She is a strong law and culture woman and an important ceremonial singer and dancer. Shirley is also a strong community leader and has been Warmun Community Chairperson for several years. In the early 1990's Purdie began to paint her country, inspired by older Warmun artists including her mother Madigan Thomas, as well as Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie. Purdie's uncle, artist Jack Britten, said to her, "why don't you try yourself for painting, you might be all right."
She says, "It's good to learn from the old people. They keep saying when you paint you can remember that country, just like to take a photo, but theree's the Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) and everything. Good to put it in painting, your country, so kids can know and understand. When the old people die, young people can read the stories from the paintings. They can learn from the paintings and maybe they want to start painting."
Purdie is well known for her use of richly textured natural earth pigments on canvas. These ochres are collected from her own country. Purdie is also adept scupltor. She uses jarlaloo wood and boad nuts to carve sculptures of animals found in Gija coutnry. these carvings are then painted over with ochre colour.
MEDIUM
Natural ochre on canvas
Wooden carving
Etchings
THEMES
Traditional stries for Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming)
Stories of station life
Massacre stories
Norton Bore and Violet Valley stories
SOLO
2004 Boutwell Draper Gallery, Redfern, Sydney, NSW
EXHIBITIONS
2001 Warmun - Our Earth Our Story, Art Images Gallery, Norwood, SA
2010 Kimberley Aboriginal Artists, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin, NT
2009 Sharing Differences on Common Ground: Mangkaja, Mowanjum, Waringarri, Warmun, Holmes a Court Gallery, Perth, WA
2009 Warmun Ochres: Rich earth. Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA
2009 Menagerie: Contemporary Indigenous Sculpture, Australian Museum & Object Gallery, touring nationally
2009 The Youngest One, Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2009 Ochre Dreaming: Stories from the East Kimberley, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
2008 Blake Prize Touring Exhibition, NSW & VIC
2008 New Voices in Gija Art, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
2008 The Women of Warmun, Ten Years On, Gadfly Gallery, Perht, WA
2008 Traces of Country: Indigenous Fine Art Prints, Gecko Gallery, Broome, WA
2008 East of East Kimberley: Warmun in Asia, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
2008 25th Telstra NATSIAA, Musuem & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT
2008 Warmun at Ten, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT
2008 Warmun at Ten: A Decade of Warmun Art, Hogarth Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2008 A Stint of Primts: New Etchings from Warmun Art Centre, Nomad Art Productions, Darwin, NT
2007 Warmun Snapshot, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT
2007 Dog Dreamings, Seva Frangos Art, Perth, WA
2007 Greetngs from Turkey Creek, Mary Place Gallert, Sydney, NSW
2007 Warda Wurraren (all kinds of stars), Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT
2007 Palya Art in Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC
2007 Ochre, Brushes, Canvas: New Work from Warmun, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2007 Ngarrangkarni & Christianity, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2006 Warmun Art Centre Presents, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney,NSW
2005 New Work from Warmun, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA
2005 Warmun Group Show, Framed Gallery, Perth, WA
2005 Best of Warmun, Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith, Perth, WA
2004 Gallery Gondwana Group Show, Alice Springs, NT
2003 Recent works by Warmun Artists, Darwin, NT
2002 The World Luxury Cruise Ship in conjunction with Thornquest Gallery
2002 Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD
2002 Bush painting, Chapel off Chapel, Melbourne, VIC
2002 Collectors Show in assosciation with Seva Frangos, Span Gallery, Flinders St, Melbourne,
VIC
2002 Easter Show, Bett Gallery, Hobart, TAS
2002 Shirley Purdie and Gordon Barney, Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT
2002 Coomalie Culture Centre, Bachelor, NT
2002 Warmun Group Show, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, SA
2002 Women of the East Kimberly, Tandanya, Adelaide, SA
2001 Grand Opening Exhibition of Thornquest Gallery, Thornquest Gallery, Group Show, Gold
Coast, QLD
2001 Past Modern, Short Street Gallery, Australia Square, Sydney
2001 Four Women of Warmun, Artplace, Perth International Festival, WA
2001 New Painting's for warmun Art Centre, Fireworks Gallery, Group Show, Perth, WA
2001 Ochres, Short Street Gallery, broome, WA
2001 Das Verborgene im Sitchtbaren, Staedtische Galerie Wolfsburg, (in cooperation with
Aboriginal Galerie Baehr, Speyer), Germany
2001 Short on Size, Groups show with jiliamara, Balgo Hills and Warmun Artists, Short Street
Gallery, Broome, WA
2001 Beyond Wings, an exhibition of Indigenous Art selected by Helen Read during her travels,
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, SA
2001 Grand Opening Exhibitionof Thornquest Gallery, Group show, Thornquest Gallery, Gold
Coast, QLD
2000 Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2000 Kunst Der Aborigines, Gallerie Baehr, Germany
Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, Sydney, NSW
2000 Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, Sydney, NSW
2000 Galerie Australis, Adelaide, SA
2000 Bett Gallery, Hobart
2000 The Art of Place, National Indigenous Heritage Art Award, Canberra
2000 State of My Country, Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, Sydney
2000 Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney
2000 Melbourne Art Fair (Artbank & Bett Gallery, Hobart)
2000 Commonwealth Institute, London, UK
2000 Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra
2000 Anthropological Museum, Freiburg, Germany
2000 Kunst Der Aborigines, Galerie Baehr, Germany
1999 Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, Sydney
1999 Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, Perth
1999 Hale School Annual Art Exhibition, Perth
1999 East Kimberley Art Awards, Kununurra
1999 Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin
1999 Chamber of Commerce, Wuerzburg, Germany.
1999 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
1998 Span Gallery, Melbourne
1995 Savode Gallery, Brisbane
1994 National Aboriginal Art Award, Australian Heritage Commission
1994 Maintaining Family Tradition, International Year of the Family Conference, Adelaide
Festival Centre
COLLECTIONS
Artbank Australia, Sydney
Edith Cowan University Art Collection, Perth
Northern Territory University Collection
Kerry Stokes Collection
Harvey Wagner Collection, USA
Commonwealth Institute Collection, London, UK
AWARDS
2008 Special commendation, 3D Artworks, 25th Telstra NATSIAA
2008 Winner, Needham Religious Art Prize, Riddoch Art Gallert, Mt Galmbier, SA
2007 Winner, Blake Prize for Religious Art, Syndey, NSW
1999 Special Commendation: East Kimberley Art Awards
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
2011 'Who's WHo', Significant Women
1999 Ngalangangpum Jarrakpu Purrurn: Mother and Child, Margaret Stewart, Magabala Books, Broome, WA
