Shirley Purdie

Shirley Purdie is a senior artist working from the Warnum (Turkey Creek) Art Centre in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. She began painting her country in the early 1990’s inspired by the older and highly regarded Kimberley artists that included her mother, Madigan Thomas, uncle Jack Britten as well as Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie.
She was born at Maple Downs Station where she later worked. The artist is senior member amongst her Kitja people, an important law and culture woman and ceremonial singer and dancer.
Purdie is well know for her richly textured natural earth pigments on canvas. The ochres she uses are collected on her own country which is the subject of many of her paintings.
Subject & Themes
Her country, Dreamings and culture
Collections
Edith Cowan University Art Collection, Perth
Northern Territory University Collection, Darwin
Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth
Commonwealth Institute Collection, London, UK
Individual Exhibitions
2014 Gilban, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney
Group Exhibitions
2001 Warmun – Our Earth Our Story, Art Images Gallery, Adelaide
2010 Kimberley Aboriginal Artists, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin
2009 Sharing Differences on Common Ground: Mangkaja, Mowanjum, Waringarri, Warmun, Holmes a Court Gallery, Perth
2009 Warmun Ochres: Rich Earth. Gadfly Gallery, Perth
2009 Menagerie: Contemporary Indigenous Sculpture, Australian Museum & Object Gallery, touring nationally
2009 The Youngest One, Chapman Gallery, Canberra
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
2008 The Women of Warmun, Ten Years On, Gadfly Gallery, Perth
2008 Traces of Country: Indigenous Fine Art Prints, Gecko Gallery, Broome
2008 East of East Kimberley: Warmun in Asia, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
2008 25th Telstra NATSIAA, Musuem & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
2008 Warmun at Ten, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin
2008 Warmun at Ten: A Decade of Warmun Art, Hogarth Gallery, Sydney
2008 A Stint of Primts: New Etchings from Warmun Art Centre, Nomad Art Productions, Darwin
2007 Warmun Snapshot, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin
2007 Dog Dreamings, Seva Frangos Art, Perth
2007 Greetngs from Turkey Creek, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
2007 Warda Wurraren (all kinds of stars), Raft Artspace, Darwin
2007 Palya Art in Melbourne, Melbourne
2007 Ochre, Brushes, Canvas: New Work from Warmun, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2007 Ngarrangkarni & Christianity, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
2006 Warmun Art Centre Presents, Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
2005 New Work from Warmun, Gadfly Gallery, Perth
2005 Warmun Group Show, Framed Gallery, Darwin
2005 Best of Warmun, Gadfly Gallery, Perth
2004 Gallery Gondwana Group Show, Alice Springs
2003 Recent works by Warmun Artists, Darwin
2002 The World Luxury Cruise Ship in conjunction with Thornquest Gallery
2002 Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast
2002 Bush painting, Chapel off Chapel, Melbourne
2002 Collectors Show in Assosciation with Seva Frangos, Span Gallery, Flinders Street Gallery, Melbourne
2002 Easter Show, Bett Gallery, Hobart
2002 Shirley Purdie and Gordon Barney, Framed Gallery, Darwin
2002 Coomalie Culture Centre, Bachelor, NT
2002 Warmun Group Show, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
2002 Women of the East Kimberly, Tandanya, Adelaide
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, Perth
2001 New Painting’s for warmun Art Centre, Fireworks Gallery, Group Show, Perth
2001 Ochres, Short Street Gallery, Broome
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
2001 Beyond Wings, an Exhibition of Indigenous Art selected by Helen Read,
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
2000 Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra
2000 Kunst Der Aborigines, Gallerie Baehr, Germany
2000 Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2000 Galerie Australis, Adelaide
2000 Bett Gallery, Hobart
2000 The Art of Place, National Indigenous Heritage Art Award, Canberra
2000 State of My Country, Hogarth Galleries, 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, Sydney
1999 Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
1999 Hale School Annual Art Exhibition, Perth
1999 East Kimberley Art Awards, Kununurra NT
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
1994 Artists of the East Kimberley, Canberra Grammar School
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, Sydney
1999 Special Commendation: East Kimberley Art Awards
Bibliography
2011 ‘Who’s WHo’, Significant Women
1999 Ngalangangpum Jarrakpu Purrurn: Mother and Child, Margaret Stewart, Magabala Books, Broome, WA