Big Colour - Gloria Solo

REDOT FINE ART GALLERY presents

Big Colour Gloria Solo A Collection of Fine Spinifex Hills Indigenous Art

08 July – 31 August 2020

For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.

c o n t e m p o r a r y

i n d i g e n o u s

a r t

Once the moment was over and she stood back from what she had done, Gloria whispered “Big Colour�.

Gloria working in the studio Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Spinifex Hill Artists

Gloria Birth Date Language Skin/Clan

29/05/1975 Martu Wangka Martu

Born in 1975, Gloria is a Martu painter within a powerful matriarchal tradition that emerged in the Western Desert in the early 2000s, largely through the establishment of Martumili Artists.

Gloria is an emerging artist, only learning to paint in late 2015. Since then she has exhibited her work broadly across Western Australia, winning major prizes in the As We Are Art Awards (2017), the Hedland Art Awards (2017) and the prize for Best Overall Artwork in the Cossack Art Award (2019). Her first, self-titled solo exhibition took place at The Goods Shed in Perth in 2018.

Her loose brushwork and pastel palettes have drawn critical attention for their highly affecting presence. Gloria paints one day a week at Spinifex Hill Studios in South Hedland.

She effortlessly moves her paintbrush all around and over the canvas with smiles that light up the room and everyone in it.

Awards 2019 2018

2017

Best of all Artwork - Cossack Art Award, Cossack, WA, Australia.

Finalist - Hedland Art Awards – Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Finalist - Cossack Art Award - Cossack, WA, Australia.

Finalist - Hadley Art Award – Hadley’s Orient Hotel. Hobart, TAS, Australia.

Finalist - Hedland Art Awards - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery - Best Work by an Indigenous Artist, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

As We Are - Merenda Gallery - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award, Central Park, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2020 Big Colour - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2018 GLORIA - The Goods Shed, Perth, WA, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2019

2018

2017

Salon des Refusés - Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Cossack Art Award - Cossack, WA, Australia.

Paru [Spinifex] - Artitja Fine Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Born Strong - Harvey Art Projects, Sun Valley, ID, USA. Hedland Art Award - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Cossack Art Award - Cossack, WA, Australia.

Hadley Art Award – Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart, TAS, Australia.

Revealed 2018 - Fremantle Art Centre, WA, Australia.

Good Enough! The Art of Spinifex Hill Artists - Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Conversations, Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Hedland Art Award - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

As We Are Award, Merenda Gallery, Central Park, Perth, WA, Australia.

An introduction to Gloria Gloria’s trajectory as an exhibiting artist has been swift and remarkable. Her first painting was not completed until November 2015 and the following year she managed to finish 11 small canvases.

In this first year of a very casual practice there were, however, some shimmering signs of what was to come. A basic marker was that all of these paintings sold: a promising sign no doubt for any early career artist. Yet it was also that each of these early paintings was distinctly of and by Gloria. By this I mean that she had a very rare quality: her signature was in her mark making.

Indeed 2017 proved a breakout year for Gloria both in terms of her practice and her critical reception. Working with a consistent studio time and on larger canvases saw her develop, improve and refine her work and in a very short space of time Gloria surged into a promising future only faintly illuminated by those early canvases. In June she was awarded the Merenda Gallery Award at the As We Are Awards and, more significantly, in October, she won ‘Best Artwork by an Indigenous Artist’ at the Hedland Art Awards at the Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery. In their presentation of the latter, the judges described Gloria’s entry as “an energetic, bold, vibrant work full of energy, a commitment to the brush and mark making.”

In the wake of these first successes was a flurry of work by an artist who clearly enjoyed the act of painting.

In February 2018 Gloria held her first solo exhibition at The Good Shed in Perth, something which a year earlier would have seemed absurd. Gloria also was featured in Revealed at Fremantle Art Centre and was selected as a finalist in the Hadley’s Art Prize.

Gloria’s work may draw stylistic comparison to other contemporary Australian abstract artists such as Todd Hunter, Sally Gabori, and Gemma Smith. Gloria is perhaps best located, however, as an artist within a powerful matriarchal tradition that emerged in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in the early 2000s. Her loose mark making and palettes are connected to Nora Nungabar, Nora Wompi and others from Martumili Artists, artists whom Gloria is likely to have seen work.

Greg Taylor

Gloria in the studio Source: © Photo Courtesy of Spinifex Hill Artists

Notes on process: Gloria typically works on an easel with fifteen paints next to her. She practices a ‘wet on wet’ technique. The compositions are essentially unplannable. The larger works all show a kind of scratchy arcs that were the limits of the artist’s reach at a particular moment. Her limited eyesight means she can only see a very close distance in front of herself. It’s likely that Gloria does not see the completed work as a viewer might see it.

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 152 x 152cm 18-1110

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 152.5 x 152.5cm 18-172

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 152.5 x 152.5cm 18-933

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 122 x 181cm 19-1060

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 122 x 122cm 18-940

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 122 x 122cm 18-941

Gloria’s Process

In conversation with Nicole Leuchter, Spinifex Hill Studio coordinator For the past six years Gloria has visited Spinifex Hill Studio once a week with her carer.

Spinifex Hill Studio coordinator Nicole Leuchter, who has worked with Gloria over the past five years, discusses her process: I have worked with Gloria for five years and it has been a joy seeing her evolve.

Gloria first came into Spinifex Hill Studio in 2014 and began painting on 20 x 30cm canvas boards. She started painting over and over on top of the surface, mixing the colours directly onto the surface as she went along. Towards the end of 2015 we began to realise Gloria’s potential, and started giving her larger canvases. You could see her enjoyment in creating larger paintings.

When Gloria comes in, we are all excited and have several canvas sizes for her to choose from. Gloria will point towards the one she wants to approach on that particular day with a smile on her face, expressing her excitement. In the studio we have a ‘paint station’ where artists can choose their paints. The colour palette she selects is always unpredictable, which we are always curious to watch. The style she is uses to express herself is so unique and vibrant.

Everyone loves seeing Gloria at the Studio. The other artists are really proud that she, as a disabled artist, is able to come into the space and express herself in a safe environment.

It is a big achievement for any artist to host a solo exhibition, especially for Gloria, who only accesses the studio on a weekly, sometimes fortnightly basis. We are so proud of Gloria and her creative journey which has led to outcome of this exhibition.

Left page: Gloria in the studio Source: © Photo Courtesy of Spinifex Hill Artists

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 91.5 x 152cm 18-220

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 91.5 x 152cm 18-1236

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 101.5 x 122cm 17-1223

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 101 x 122cm 19-46

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 101.5 x 122cm 19-232

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 76 x 152.5cm 18-335

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 76 x 152.5cm 18-336

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 76 x 152.5cm 18-690

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 91.5 x 122cm 19-788

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 76 x 101.5cm 18-787

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 76 x 101.5cm 18-1109

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 61 x 122cm 19-1272

Gloria

(Detail)

Untitled Acrylic on Linen 91.5 x 61cm 18-590

Gloria

(Detail)

Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 91.5 x 61cm 18-731

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 61 x 91.5cm 19-1245

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 61 x 91.5cm 19-1246

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Canvas 71 x 71cm 18-9

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 71 x 61cm 18-779

Gloria

(Detail)

Untitled Acrylic on Linen 61 x 45.5cm 18-780

Gloria Untitled Acrylic on Linen 45.5 x 40.5cm 18-346

Spinifex Hill Studio Source: © Photo Courtesy of Spinifex Hill Artists

Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Spinifex Hill Artists

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For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.