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Betty Mbitjana / Awelye Atnwengerrp (Body Paint) (BCS115)
SKU: BCS115
190cm x 290cm Acrylic on Linen, 2010
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$10,500.00
190cm x 290cm Acrylic on Linen, 2010
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How Artworks Are Sent
Ochre / Kimberley artworks are shipped on canvas or linen, already stretched, ready to hang unless stated otherwise.
Acrylic artworks are shipped on canvas or linen un-stretched, rolled up in a cardboard tube unless stated otherwise.
These artworks will need to be stretched on a stretcher board before hanging.
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Artist Profile
c.1954 – 2023
Betty is a member of one of the most renowned painting families in Australia. Her mother was Minnie Pwerle (dcd 2006) and her great-aunt was Emily Kngwarreye (dcd 1996), two of our most prominent artists. One of Minnie’s seven children, including the International artist Barbara Weir, Betty emerged as the artist to carry on the particular legacy of colour and design of her mother’s works, so avidly sought after by astute collectors.
The artists of Utopia are known for their clever and free use of colour and brave, bold designs, whilst still executing delicate imaging. Betty’s aunts (Minnie’s sisters), Emily, Galya and Molly who are in their 90’s, began painting with Minnie in 2004, and whilst each lady has their distinctive style, they produce artworks possessing an illusive magic hard to define, full of colour and movement and fluid execution so typical of the Utopian artists.
Betty painted the Body Paint (Awleye) designs, coupled with the small roundels of bush melons and large roundels (soakages) made famous by her mother, but stamping the artworks as her own with flair and recognisable signature strong brush strokes.
In her later years, Betty resided in Alice Springs, and returned to her homelands of Atnwengerrp with her family often. She was a quiet, traditional lady who paid homage to her heritage by depicting the bush tucker, ceremonial body paint and water sources in her country.
In 2022, Betty took up full time residence at an aged care / respite clinic in Alice Springs due to health issues and passed away in early 2023.
Selected Collections
• The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
• Mbantua Gallery Permanent Collection, Alice Springs
• Pat Corrigan Collection, Sydney
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
• Private Collection | Private View: One Collector’s Passion & Soul, Cooee Art, Redfern
2020
• 60 by 60 – Small Paintings, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• Colours of Spring, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2019
• International Women’s Day, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• defining tradition | the colourists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2014
• Desert Song, Japingka Gallery, Perth
2013
• I colori del deserto, Galleria Isarte (in collaboration with Japingka), Milan, Italy
2012
• Heirs and Successors, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• Little Gems, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• Desert Gold, Japingka Gallery, Perth
2010
• Stories from the Centre, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
2008
• Self Representing Artists, Central Art – Aboriginal Art Store, Alice Springs
2004
• Mbantua Gallery USA exhibition; Portland, Nashville and Greenwich, USA
2003
• Mbantua Gallery USA exhibitions: Art and Soul Gallery, Nashville, TN; ‘The Cove Gallery’, Portland, OR; Mary’s Woods, Portland, OR, USA
• Contemporary Aboriginal Art Event, Umpqua Bank in conjunction with Mbantua Gallery, Portland, Oregon USA
• Art from the Dreamtime, Portland Art Museum, Portland OR USA
2002
• Mbantua Gallery USA exhibitions: New City Merchants, Knoxville, TN; Art and Soul Gallery, Nashville, TN; ‘The Cove Gallery’ Portland, OR; Urban Wine Works, Portland, OR; Mary’s Woods, Portland, OR
1990
• Utopia – A Picture Story exhibition of Central Australian Aboriginal Art & Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
Artwork Description
The bold patterns throughout Betty’s painting illustrate women’s ceremonial body paint design. The large roundels depict the waterholes around which the women perform ceremony and the small circles are the bush melons, representing the bush tucker that they live on whilst the ceremonies are taking place, which often take up to week. The women apply the body paint designs onto their breasts, arms and thighs singing as each woman takes their turn to be ‘painted up’. Their songs relate to the dreaming stories of ancestral travel and other totemic plants, animals and natural forces. Awelye – women’s ceremony, demonstrates respect for the land. In performing these ceremonies they ensure well-being and happiness within their communities.
Though Betty enjoys using lots of different colours in her paintings, the traditional colours used during ceremony for her dreaming stories from Atnwengerrp country are red and white. Atnwengerrp lies in the heartland of Alyawarr country, about 200 kilometres to the north-east of Alice Springs.
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