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 1+ 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.  

Please join us for a very special occasion!

Next Thursday 13th October, from 6 - 8pm, we will quietly be opening our exciting new indigenous art COLLECTORS' GALLERY. The spacious top floor of 680 Darling St. Rozelle, will be transformed to showcase secondary market fine art by a host of Australia's greatest master artists.