Let's liven up the weekend!  The weather looks dodgy and it's only going to get worse.....

What about a piece of warm, glowing  FAB-ORIGINAL ART  to fend off the winter chills in your home or workplace!  We are giving a 25% discount on hundreds of artworks from 10am Saturday 28th April to 6pm Sunday 29th April.  That's it.

These are gallery quality artworks, they are great value for the price - and there are plenty of them to choose from.....  

If you can't make it to the gallery, we will be doing phone sales.   

Tip: find your painting on line using our new Advanced Search page, write down the artist and inventory number, then call us on 02 9555 5283 to check the sale price and secure  your piece.

Here are just a few examples of works on sale:

•     Fabulous, bright and affordable.....
•     Excellent value artworks....
•     And our favourite, Kudditji Kngwarreye
      (discounted temporarily in an unprecedented move!)

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Read these interesting snippets of information about Australian Indigenous Art.   While you are there, have a look around the new content on our website;  Aboriginal Art Styles, Types of Aboriginal Art, and much more.  Let me know what you think, and if there are any other types of information you think we should add, please reply here or contact me direct.   I'll be very happy to hear any constructive feedback!  Kate

 He was invited to Oprah Winfrey's private party, welcomed her to Australia with a smoke ceremony, painting, dance and digeridoo music; he has danced for Bill Clinton's daughter, received a standing ovation from the Saudi Arabian National Guard and performed at the Sydney 2000 Olympic games! 

Now his impressive resume will be complete as he will paint and perform at Kate Owen Gallery this week!!!

Kurun is a renowned artist, digeridoo player and dancer, but most of all he is known for his iconic Aboriginal Artwork.  He will be painting new works in the gallery, is happy to be photographed and you may even be lucky enough to buy an artwork you have seen him paint.  Kids especially will enjoy this experience.

Most of all, Kurun is a warm and friendly guy who is great to talk with - he straddles Australia's cultures with true Indigenous-Aussie spirit, and loves to talk about his art, his culture and his music.  View some of Kurun Warun's Aboriginal Art or read his biography. 

The two paintings below are 'Lee Moo Pareeyt (Dry Water)' and 'Black Boy', both 72 x 200cms.

We are pleased to invite you to join us for a Christmas drink and to watch/meet with Kurun, tomorrow and Saturday (23 & 24 December), from 12 - 5pm for a little break from the silly season whirlwind.  All are welcome.

 Here's a great opportunity to buy yourself a special Christmas present!   ... or I guess you could even buy one for someone else.  This year we are discounting all  works in the gallery by varying degrees, but every artwork is discounted.  Just ask our friendly staff or call or email us for a price.

Enjoy a break from the melee with a visit to the gallery to explore your options, or stay at home and use our Advanced Aboriginal Art Search on line, where you can search by colour, size, shape, artist, price, style, region, and a pile of other keywords.  Website searchers can add their favourites to their 'wish list' and email it to us for the best prices we can manage.

Works from our prestigious Aboriginal Art Collectors' Gallery are also on sale, but don't be daunted by the price:  Original Indigenous paintings range from $110 upwards - over 1500 artworks, many artists and styles, and from affordable through to utterly collectible and special pieces by the masters of Aboriginal Art..

New opening hours are 10 - 6pm every day except Christmas and New Year's day, or by appointment!   680 Darling Street, Rozelle (Sydney)  NSW,  2039.

Enjoy a complimentary glass of wine while you explore our delicious gallery! 

This beautiful and mysterious 120 x 180 cms Angeline Ngale painting has been reduced in the sale from $9900 to $6600.  It is an excellent example of the Utopian style first pioneered by her famous relative Emily Kame Kngwarreye, and a superb work by Angeline.  The painting alters subtly with the light conditions;  at times floating and airy layers of colour beguile the eye, while at others, the deeper hues recede into the artwork, visually creating depth and mystery to the piece. 

Have a look at just some of the works to be auctioned!

Mystery Auctions are fun and exciting, with great opportunities to win excellent artworks with low reserves and NO buyers' premium.   Get involved in some 'MYSTERY' bidding - and be in the draw to win awesome prizes.  This is an auction with a difference, and a great new way to buy art.  No tricks, no traps, and no obligation (and if you are new to auctions, there will be an introduction session at 12.45).  Beginners are most welcome.  All works fully authenticated with documentation available at the viewing, and chat with our knowledgeable and friendly staff who will answer your questions. 

 CLICK HERE for more details or scroll down to our previous blog.

Hope to see you there!

Something different for art lovers - come along and bring your friends to a MYSTERY Aboriginal Art Auction!   Enjoy the informal style of our debonair auctioneer Daniel Goldshaft, and win for yourself some serious quality Aboriginal artworks.

First time auction attendees are very welcome and if the whole thing is new to you, you can attend our informal 'Auctions 101- introduction to the proceedings' at 12.45pm, and all your questions will be answered. 

There will be no costly add-ons like buyer's premium at this auction, and GST and the 5% Artist's Resale Royalty are all included in your bid price.  What you bid is all you pay.   All 100+ indigenous paintings being auctioned have been selected for their contemporary 'wow factor' energy, most are very affordable, many major Aboriginal artists are represented, and all artworks come with full authenticity documentation and photos where they are available.  And yes, for your benefit and entertainment, it is a 'MYSTERY' auction.  To find out what that means, you'll just have to come along.....

Aboriginal artists represented in the auction include Judy Watson Napangardi,  Dorothy Napangardi, Makinti Napapangka, Gloria Petyarre,  Kudditji Kngwarreye,  Barbara Weir,  Lena Pwerle,  George Ward Tjungarrayi, Anna Price Petyarre, Shorty Jangala Robertson, Charmaine Pwerle,  Esther Bruno,  Emily Pwerle,  Willy Tjungarrayi, Polly Ngale,  Angelina Ngale, Anna Petyarre, Elizabeth Marks Nakamarra,  Nellie Marks Nakamarra,  Betty Mbitjana, Jeannie Mills Pwerle, Evelyn Pultara, Kathleen Ngale, Lily Kelly Napangardi, Patrick Tjungarrayi,  Narabri Nakamarra, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa,  Walala Tjapaltjarri,  Thomas Tjapaltjarri, Walangkura Napanangka and many more.

You can preview the artworks from 12 Noon on the day, the Auction starts at 1pm, and an on line preview will be available on our website from 1 December, so you can check out most of the works in advance.

 When and where?  12noon, Saturday 3rd December at the Coogee Diggers Club Auditorium, corner of Carr and Byron Streets, Coogee.

For enquiries, please call (02)95555283, 0413653909 or email info@kateowengallery.com.

Absentee bids will be accepted - but you definitely won't have as much fun if you stay at home!

Warmun artist Patrick Mung Mung with a valuable painting by his father that was salvaged from the town's flooded art centre and restored to its former glory.
Picture: Stuart McEvoy Source: The Australian

AS floodwaters raced through the remote West Australian community of Warmun in March, the manager of the local arts centre thought its collection of historic paintings would be safe.
"We just couldn't imagine the water would go that high," said Maggie Fletcher, manager of Warmun Art Centre in a remote region of the Kimberley.

"There were about 400 (works from Warmun's pioneering artists) in a back room and just about everything got some kind of water damage. Some paintings ended up on the ground in the mud, and they were pretty badly damaged."

Shortly after the floods, the University of Melbourne transported 187 damaged paintings from Warmun to its Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation, where they were stabilised.

In Melbourne this week, Patrick Mung Mung said he was happy to see one particular work, painted by his father, restored to its original state.

 ...The untitled painting, by George Mung Mung, is part of the archival collection of works by Warmun's early artists, including Hector Jandany, Queenie McKenzie, Paddy Jaminji and Jack Brittain.

Patrick Mung Mung, himself an artist, said the staff at the centre had done a good job of repairing his father's painting, which had been covered in mould and mud after the floods.

"I think it's all right. They washed all of it off and it's still the same," he said.

The work tells the story of a massacre at Horse Creek, east of Warmun. "In that place a lot of people got killed -- they were burned," Mung Mung said.

On Tuesday night, Mung Mung and three other Gija elders arrived in Melbourne to give cultural advice on the restoration of the works.

The elders will also attend a fundraising dinner at the University of Melbourne tonight.

Ms Fletcher said about $100,000 was needed to finish restoring the collection and return it to Warmun.

"(The paintings) were done to show the children. They want them back to keep telling their children because now those old people who did them aren't with us any more," she said. "They're talking about having a big corroboree when the collection comes back to Warmun."

A work by Patrick Mung Mung will also go under the hammer on November 13 at Stills Gallery in Sydney, in an auction held by the Aboriginal Benefits Foundation to raise money for the art centre.

"We are getting a new building put up for the collection, so it's up high and safe," Ms Fletcher said.

"But we need money to fit the building out."

Mung Mung was working as a stockman when his father was painting. He started making his own art in 1998.

When the art centre was inundated, a number of Mung Mung's works were in the main gallery, which was flooded. "None of (Patrick's) works were actually lost and there's been a few that he's been able to repair," Ms Fletcher said. "There was one that I thought was gone but I found it stuck in between a table and a fence. He has fixed it up and it looks terrific."

Article by: Bridget Cormack From: The Australian, October 21, 2011 12:00AM

Good, Strong, Powerful!  National Gallery of Australia is showing works by Kukula  and others from Mwerre Anthurre artists in this show which runs until 15 January 2010.  Check out these fascinating naive artworks by indigenous artists across Australia - all with some form of disability.  You might like to check out the NGA's downloadable fact sheet too.

At Kate Owen Gallery, we have a number of Kukula's artworks in stock... and being very impressed by her works and those of fellow artists Adrian Robertson and Billy Kenda, we featured an exhibition of works from her art centre earlier this year.  Kukula McDonald's works are presently focused on the wild black cockatoos of the Australian bush, and she captures the character and spirit of these unique birds perfectly  (not an easy task, as many an artist who has attempted it can tell you!) 

Kukula spends her life in a wheelchair and the first focus of her artwork was just that - Wheelchairs!  She painted them relentlessly and it is said that she knows every make and model of every wheelchair owned by an aboriginal person throughout the country!

Now her focus is on the black cockatoos and their environment.  A poignant subject as well, given that birds in artworks often represent a subconscious yearning for freedom.  Her works are a unique and delightful representation of these cheeky outback characters by a gifted and plucky artist.  

see article at http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2011/s3167770.htm
where artists paint a series of collaborative works in memory of Kumunara Raymond, the young footballer who tragically died in a car accident.

Our government allows us to invest in art as long as we don't look at it!  And we voted for these people.

Pretty weird huh?

Do Julia Gillard & Co think that art is unAustralian?  Do they think paintings wear out under an appreciative gaze?  Or more likely, perhaps they don't think at all - even about how Australia is laughed at for such nonsense!  We are Hicks!  We are Rednecks!

More evolved Australians investing their superannuation funds quite sensibly in quality art, will soon have to either rent the evil artifact to someone or pay for its professional storage.  How does this make it a better investment?
The art rental market is on its knees, and paying for fine art storage is an unnecessary cost which undermines the investment value.  But even if investors promise to avert their gaze when passing their artworks in the hall, or to sit in chairs with their backs to the painting, it is STILL - NOT - OK!  It is also apparently not OK to safely and sensibly store the artworks in their alarmed, insured and secure spare room. 

No.  Investors must pay to store their art somewhere else - after all, they might succumb.  They might creep into the spare room in the dead of night,  peel back the bubble wrap and guiltily indulge in forbidden visual pleasures.  And where would we all be then?

The government must protect us from the pleasures of fine art at all costs, even if it does mean breaking a still warm election promise! 

And even if it does put yet another bullet in the heart of Australia's once fine art industry!