About Artist:
Minnie Pwerle was born in the Utopia region approximately 300km north east of Alice Springs. Her country was Atnwengerrp and her language was Anmatyerre and Alyawarr. Minnie had five sisters, Margie, Molly, Emily, Lois, and Galya and one brother called Louis (her other brother is now deceased). Minnie had seven children including Eileen, Betty, June, Dora, Raymond, and Barbara Weir, who is a well-known Aboriginal artist.

Minnie painted the Awelye Atnwengerrp Dreamings (Women's Dreaming). Her distinctive style used linear brush-work based on the body painting used for important women's ceremonies in her native country of Atnwengerrp. She painted with a rich array of colours and her work contained a compelling visual and spiritual power.

All the stories she painted conveyed her deep connection with the land, and knowledge of the foods that it provides. Besides Women's Dreaming, Minnie painted other Dreamings involving the bush melon, and bush melon seed, types of bush tucker traditionally used by her people, once very common, and becoming increasingly rarer. Minnie and the other women used to collect this fruit (that was green in colour and then ripened to a brown colour) and scrape out the small black seeds. They would then eat the fruit straight away or cut it into pieces and skewer them onto a piece of wood and dry them to be eaten in the coming months when bush tucker was scarce.

Minnie's work shared many features with that of other contemporary artists of the central and western deserts: the portrayal of stories or features for which she had responsibility within her family or clan; the strong influence of traditional designs in the art; vigorous use of colour; and the enthusiastic embrace of new techniques, such as acrylic paint on canvas.

One of Minnie's pieces was entered into the 18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2001.

Highest Auction Result:
Highest Auction Result is $78,000
180 paintings have sold since 2002 at auction

Exhibitions:
2000 Minnie exhibited her paintings at various galleries throughout Australia including, Gallery Savah- Sydney, Flinders Lane Gallery- Melbourne and Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs.
2000 DACOU in association with AMP, an official sponsor of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, hosted an exhibition of mixed Utopia artists in the AMP building, Sydney.
2000 "Mother and Daughter", Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, NT.
2001 "Out of Utopia: - Chapman Gallery- Canberra. Exhibited with Barbara Weir.
2001 Combined exhibition in San Anselmo, Marin County, California USA
2001 Group Exhibition at Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, NT.
2001 'Minnie Pwerle","Mary Pantjiti McLean- 'Tumaru Purlykumunu- small stories"- Japingka Gallery- Perth- Western Australia.
2001 "Painting Country"- combined exhibition at Tandanya, Adelaide.
2001 "Desert Colour"- "My Country"- combined exhibition at RaintreeAboriginal Art Gallery- Darwin NT.
2001 Combined exhibition at Dreamtime Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico,USA.
2001 "Women Artists Of The Australian Desert"- combined exhibition Gallery 2021- Auckland, New Zealand.
2002 "United - Mother and Daughter"- exhibited with Barbara Weir at Alison Kelly Gallery, Armadale, Victoria.
2002 Group Exhibition New York City, UTSA, USA.
2002 Group Exhibition, Mbantua Gallery Alice Springs, NT
2002 Mixed Utopia exhibition at Knut Grothe Galeri, Charlottlenlund,Copenhagen.
2002 Solo exhibition, " Recent Paintings", Gallery Savah, Sydney, NSW.
2002 'Paintings From Utopia"- combined exhibition at "Framed- The Darwin Gallery", Darwin, NT
2002 Mixed Utopia exhibition at Galerie a Le Temps Du Reve, France.
2002 'Contemporary Aboriginal Art From The Utopia Region"- combined Exhibition at BMGART, Adelaide, SA.
2002 'Minnie's Country' Dacou Gallery, Adelaide, SA.
2002 'Generations Utopia'- combined exhibition, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, Perth WA.
2002 Selected entrant in the 2002, 19th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.
2002 'A Collectable Aboriginal Art Event"- combined exhibition at Raintree Gallery, Darwin, NT.
2002 'BIG COUNTRY small worlds'- solo exhibition at Fire-works Gallery Qld
2002 'The Utopia Six', Flinders Lane Gallery, VIC.
2002 'Awelye Atnwengerrp' Solo Exhibition at Dacou Gallery, Adelaide, SA.
2002 Heart and Soul Gallery in conjunction with Mbantua Gallery, Nashville, TN, USA.
2002 Urban Wineworks with Mbantua Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA.
2002 Mbantua Gallery - 'In the Cove', Portland, Oregon, USA.
2002 Chapman Gallery Group Exhibition, ACT.
2002 Mixed Utopia Exhibition, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT.
2002 Mixed Utopia Exhibition', Gallery Savah, Sydney, NSW.
2003 'My Grandmother and Me', World Vision, Walkabout Gallery, Sydney, NSW.
2003 'Minnie Pwerle & Mitjili Napurrula', Japingka Gallery, Fremantle. WA.
2003 Group Exhibition, Art & Soul Gallery in conjunction with Mbantua Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
2003 Contemporary Aboriginal Art Event, Mbantua Gallery, Umpqua Bank, Oregon USA
2003 Solo Exhibition, "Sydney Art Fair", Gallery Savah, Sydney, NSW.
2003 'Art from the Dreamtime", Portland Art Museum in conjunction with Mbantua Gallery. Oregon, USA.
2004 'Diva's of the Desert', Gallery Gonwana, Alice Springs, NT.
2005 "Utopia Revealed', Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA.
2005 Annual Group Exhibition 'Shalom', University of NSW, Shalom Department, Kensington, NSW.
2005 'Small Wonders', Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, NT.
2006 Solo Exhibition, "Memorial Exhibition", Gallery Savah, Sydney. NSW.
2006 'The Pwerle Sisters,' Group Exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2006 Group exhibition, APS Bendi Lango Art Exhibition, Rio Tinto Offices, Melbourne, VIC.
2007 'Standing on Ceremony', Tandanya Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA.
2007 'Utopia in New York' Robert Steele Gallery, New York. USA.
2007 Group Exhibition, Australian Embassy, Washington, USA.
2007 Group exhibition, "Desert Diversity", Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
2007 'Treasures of the Spirit', Tandanya Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA.
2007 Group exhibition, APS Bendi Lango Art Exhibition with Rio Tinto, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD.
2007 "New Works from Utopia", Space Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
2008 "Utopia Revisited", NG Art Gallery, Chippendale, NSW.
2008 Colours of Utopia, Gallery Savah, Sydney NSW
2008 "Atnwengerrp: Land of Dreaming", Minnie Pwerle carpet launch, Designer Rugs Showroom, Edgecliffe, NSW.
2008 'Emily and Her Legacy', Hillside Gallery in Tokyo, with Coo-ee Art Sydney in conjunction with the landmark retrospective exhibition 'Utopia - the Genius of Emily Kngwarreye' at the National Art Centre, Tokyo Japan.

Collections:
" Art Gallery of NSW
" Art Gallery of South Australia
" Kelton Foundation
" Kreglinger Collection
" Mbantua Collection
" National Gallery of Victoria
" Queensland Art Gallery
" Thomas Vroom Collection