MARGARET LOY PULA
Hailing from the small, remote community of Utopia (Urapuntja) in Central Australia, award winning artist Margaret Loy Pula paints her culture, tradition, and her father’s dreaming.
Margaret Loy Pula was the first Indigenous artist to win the prestigious Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize and the first female artist to win the Sunshine Coast Art Prize and Paddington Art Prize.
In 2017 Margaret Loy Pula won the Tattersall's Art Prize in Brisbane.
Loy Pula has held exhibitions in New York and exhibited at some of the world’s top art fairs including Art Singapore,Art Miami, NewYork, and Zona MACO in Mexico City.
Exposed to art for all her life, Margaret Loy Pula is the daughter of Kathleen Petyarre (dec).
Her story is ‘Anatye’ or Bush Potato Dreaming, and her fine detailed artworks portray the traditional bush food that has sustained the Anmatyerre people for thousands of years.
A15962
Anatye (Bush Potato), 2009 acrylic on linen
121 x 182 cm
A16302
Anatye (Bush Potato), 2009 acrylic on linen
91 x 92 cm
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2010 acrylic on linen
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2010
acrylic on linen
122 x 181.5 cm
Anatye (Bush
MK17091
Potato), 2010 acrylic on linen
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2010
acrylic on linen
122 x 122 cm
MK17287
Anatye (Bush Potato), 2011 acrylic on linen
MK17303
Anatye (Bush Potato), 2011
acrylic on linen
94 x 124 cm
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2011 acrylic on linen
60 x 122 cm
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2012
acrylic on linen
120 x 121 cm
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2013 acrylic on linen
Margaret Loy Pula paints ‘Anatye’ or Bush Potato dreaming which is portrayed using a series of fine, detailed dots.
“This painting is about my culture. That’s my father’s dreaming. This is from my father’s country, that country is called “Unjangola” . That is north of Utopia, not too far but really desert country”.
The bush potato vine grows after the rains. The women go out to collect the potato. Once collected they are cooked in the hot coals of the fire.
MK17837
Anatye (Bush Potato), 2013
acrylic on linen
122 x 122.5 cm
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2017 acrylic on linen
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2020
acrylic on linen
59.5 x 60 cm
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Anatye (Bush Potato), 2016 acrylic on linen
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020
acrylic on linen
199 x 65 cm
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020 acrylic on linen
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020
acrylic on linen
199 x 65 cm
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020 acrylic on linen
199 x 65 cm
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020
acrylic on linen
60 x 59 cm
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020 acrylic on linen
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020
acrylic on linen
147.5 x 36 cm
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Awelye (Body Painting), 2020 acrylic on linen
Margaret Loy Pula
Born –1956
Tribal / Language Group - Anmatyerre
Area - Utopia, Central Australia
Hailing from the remote community of Utopia in Central Australia, Margaret Loy Pula continues a legacy that dates back millennia. Painting traditional stories handed down from her father she depicts homelands, bush foods and ceremonial designs using a patternation of intricate dot work. An integral part of her culture, Pula’s primary subject matter is ‘Anatye’, the wild yam or bush potato. More than just a source of sustenance the yam holds a deep spiritual significance to the Anmatyerre people of Central Australia.
Pula has been exposed to art her entire life however she did not pursue her own art until 2007. Hers is a culture rich in symbolism and iconography. The Anmatyerre employ a visual and verbal record of ancient belief and custom rather than a written one. As such art is a part of everyday life from dance, ceremony, and instruction to the uninitiated.
In 2012 Margaret was the first Indigenous artist to win the prestigious Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize in South Australia. In 2011, she was the first female artist to win the Sunshine Coast Art Prize and in the same year the first female artist to win the Paddington Art Prize (Sydney).
Margaret spends most of her time in her homelands near Utopia, approx 230kms north of Alice Springs in Central Australia.
Collections
Anglican Church Grammar School
Bendigo Art Gallery
Caloundra Regional Gallery
Cowra Regional Gallery
Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre
Orange Regional Gallery
Redland Art Gallery
South Australian Museum
Tattersalls Club, Brisbane
Awards
2017 Winner, Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane.
2017 Winner, Arthur Guy Memorial Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo VIC.
2016 Commended, Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane.
2014 Winner, Redland Art Prize, Redland Art Gallery, Brisbane.
2014 Winner, Inaugural Grace Cossington Smith Art Prize, Sydney.
2013 Winner, Muswellbrook Art Prize, NSW.
2012 Winner, Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, South Australian Museum, Adelaide.
2012 Second Prize, Outback Open Art Award, Broken Hill, NSW.
2012 Highly Commended, Hawkesbury Art Prize, NSW.
2012 Highly Commended, Bellingen Art Prize, Bellingen, NSW.
2012 Highly Commended, Alice Art Prize, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2011 Winner, Paddington Art Prize, Sydney.
2011 Winner, Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, Caloundra, QLD.
2011 Second Prize, Outback Open Art Award, Broken Hill, NSW.
Selected Exhibitions
2022 End of History, Galerie Nordenhake, Sweden.
2022 The Collection in Focus - Women Artists, Cowra Regional Gallery, Cowra NSW.
2022 Monochrome, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane.
2022 Minimalism in Aboriginal Art, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane.
2022 The Collection in Focus – Women Artists, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW.
2021 Twenty, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane.
2020 Primaveral, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane.
2020 UNTITLED, ART Fair San Francisco, San Francisco.
2019 Anatye – Margaret Loy Pula, Orange, Regional Gallery, Orange NSW.
2019 Zona MACO, Art Fair, Mexico.
2018 Finalist, Stanthorpe Art Festival Prize, Stanthorpe Regional Gallery, QLD.
2018 Women of Utopia, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane,
2017 Margaret Loy Pula Solo Exhibition, Marc Straus Gallery, New York.
2017 Finalist (Winner), Arthur Guy Memorial Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, VIC.
2017 Finalist (Winner), Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane.
2017 Artist Profile Australasian Painters 2007 -2017, Orange Regional Gallery, Orange, NSW.
2017 Ambatye Urpetye – My Family, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane.
2017 Finalist, Hadley’s Art Prize, Hadley’s Orient Hotel, Hobart.
2017 Between I & Thou, Hudson Valley Centre for Contemporary Art, New York.
2017 Art Stage Singapore, Mitchell Fine Art, Singapore.
2016 Finalist, Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane.
2016 Anatye, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane.
2016 Art Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
2016 Finalist, Stanthorpe Art Festival Prize, Stanthorpe Regional Gallery, QLD.
2016 Art Mexico, Marc Straus, Miami, USA.
2016 Art Stage Singapore, Mitchell Fine Art, Singapore.
2015 Pulse Miami Beach, Miami, USA.
2015 Margaret Loy Pula & Lily Kelly Napangardi, Marc Straus, New York.
2015 Finalist, Kogarah Art Prize, Sydney.
2015 Finalist, Lethbridge 10,000 Art Prize, Brisbane.
2015 Finalist, Calleen Art Prize, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW.
2015 Finalist, Churchie Emerging Art Prize, Griffith University, Brisbane.
2015 Finalist, Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, Melbourne.
2015 Margaret Loy Pula, Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth.
2014 Finalist, Inaugural Grace Cossington Smith Art Prize, Wahroonga, Sydney.
2014 Finalist, Redlands Art Prize, QLD.
2014 Finalist, Heysen Art Prize, Handorf, SA.
2014 Salon de Refuses, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney.
2014 Iconic Indigenous Artists, Gallery One, Gold Coast.
2014 Finalist, Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW.
2014 Finalist, Alice Art Prize, Alice Springs, NT.
2013 Visions of Utopia, Muk Muk Fine Art, Sofitel Brisbane Central, Brisbane.
2013 Finalist, Gold Coast Art Prize, Surfers Paradise, QLD.
2013 Finalist, Whyalla Art Prize, Whyalla ,SA.
2013 Finalist, Fleurieu Art Prize, SA.
2013 Finalist, Blake Art Prize, Sydney.
2013 Anatye II, Muk Muk Fine Art, Darwin.
2013 Finalist, Sulman Art Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
2013 Finalist (Winner), Muswellbrook Art Prize, NSW.
2013 Finalist, Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, VIC.
2013 Finalist, Calleen Art Award, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Cowra, NSW.
2012 Finalist (Highly Commended), Bellingen Art Prize, Bellingen, NSW.
2012 Finalist, Paddington Art Prize, Sydney.
2012 Finalist, Hawkesbury Art Prize, Hawkesbury, NSW.
2012 Finalist, Wollotuka Acquisitive Art Prize, The Wollotuka Institute, Newcastle, NSW.
2012 Finalist, City of Swan Contemporary Art Prize, Midland, WA.
2012 Anatye II, Muk Muk Fine Art, Alice Springs, NT.
2012 Finalist (2nd Prize), Outback Open Art Award, Broken Hill Regional Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW.
2012 Finalist (Winner), Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, Adelaide.
2012 Finalist, Mosman Art Prize, Sydney.
2012 Finalist, Kogarah Art Prize, Kogarah, NSW.
2012 Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize, Hobart.
2012 Finalist, Lethbridge 10,000 Art Prize, Brisbane.
2012 Iconic Aboriginal Artists, Gallery One, Gold Coast.
2012 Finalist, Calleen Art Prize, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Cowra, NSW.
2012 Finalist, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
2012 Finalist, John Villiers Waltzing Matilda Outback Art Show, QLD.
2012 Anatye - Margaret Loy Pula, Buratti Fine Art, Fremantle, WA.
2012 Finalist (Highly Commended), Alice Art Prize, Alice Springs, NT.
2012 Finalist, City of Albany Art Prize, Albany. WA.
2011 Small Images - Grand Visions 40/40, Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney.
2011 Finalist, Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast, QLD.
2011 Margaret Loy Pula, Solo Exhibition, Lethbridge Gallery, Brisbane.
2011 Finalist, City of Whyalla Art Prize, Whyalla, SA.
2011 Three Fine Ladies, Muk Muk Fine Art, Darwin.
2011 Finalist, Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, South Australian Museum, Adelaide.
2011 Finalist, Lethbridge 10,000 Art Prize, Brisbane.
2011 Finalist, Muswellbrook Open Art Prize, Muswellbrook, NSW.
2011 Finalist (Second Prize), Outback Open Art Award, Broken Hill Regional Gallery, NSW.
2011 Finalist (Winner), Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery, QLD.
2011 Finalist (Winner), Paddington Art Prize, Sydney.
2011 Finalist, Kenilworth Art Prize, Kenilworth, QLD.
2010 Anatye, Muk Muk Fine Art, Alice Springs, NT.
