Susan Marawarr
Biography
Kuninjku artist Susan Marawarr was born in 1967 into a strong artistic family. She is the daughter of Anchor Kulunba and Mary Wurrdjedje, and the sister of acclaimed bark painters James Iyuna and John Mawurndjul. Marawarr is an accomplished printmaker, sculptor, weaver and bark painter. Common subjects of her work include the powerful djang of wak wak, ngalyod and yawkyawk mythologies alongside the imagery of popular everyday items like dilly bags, fish-traps, mats and baskets. She is known for her striking black and white palette. This combined with her use of deep perspective often creates graphic optical effects, movement and energy in her idiosyncratic works.
In 2000, she collaborated with the Waanyi artist Judy Watson in the development of Watson’s public art commission of fish fences and dilly bags cast in bronze for Sydney International Airport. Marawarr toured the United States in 2001 with the exhibition Bush Colour promoting the work of female printmakers as well as supervising bark painting workshops.
Over the last decade Marawarr’s artwork has been shown at numerous galleries and cultural institutions including, Gabrielle Pizzi, Annandale Galleries, JGM (London) and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Her work is held in many national collections including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Victoria and National Gallery of Australia.
Acquired by Bei Wu Collection, Germany.
Past Exhibitions
Solo
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2018 Mandjabu Bark Painting, Vivien Anderson Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
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2009 Susan Marawarr, Suzanne OConnell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD
Group
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2022 Legacy — the influence of Balang John Mawurndjul, Outstation Gallery
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2021 Lineage, Delmar Gallery, Ashfield NSW
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2020 Tarnanthi Art Fair, Lot Fourteen, Adelaide SA
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2020 RESILIENCE: The power of the past today - Maningrida, Aboriginal Signature Estrangin Fine Art
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2020 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2020, Online
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2020 Legacy – the influence of Balang John Mawurndjul, Outstation Gallery, Parap, NT 0820
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2018 ST-ART 2018, ARTKELCH @ ST-ART 2018, Strasbourg, France
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2018 Mardayin - Aboriginal Art von Maningrida Arts, ARTKELCH, Freiburg, Germany
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2018 Mardayin – Aboriginal Art von Maningrida Arts, Art Kelch
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2018 From Coast to Escarpment: Spirit Worlds of Maningrida, Michael Reid, Sydney, NSW
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2018 Ngaldjorlhbo | Mother of Everything | Mère de Toute Création, IDAIA, Paris, France
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2018 Karrang Kunred / Mother-Land, The Crossart Projects, Sydney, NSW
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2017 White Ochre, FORM, Perth, Australia
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2017 Karridjowkke Kunronj (Crossing Streams), Nomad Art, Darwin, NT
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2016 Beyond the Surface, Cairns Regional Gallery, QLD
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2016 Maningrida Arts, Art Atrium, Bondi, NSW
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2016 Maningrida Arts, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT
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2015 Maningrida Works on Paper, Aboriginal Cultural Centre, NSW
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2013 Australia: Prints, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK
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2011 The Dreaming Changes Shape, Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, Australia
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2010 Maningrida: Mimih, Fibres and Feathers, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC
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2008 Weaving around the Traps, Chapman & Bailey, Melbourne, VIC
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2008 Palya Art at Mary Place, Mary Place, Sydney, NSW
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2008 Maningrida Survey, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
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2008 Maningrida Arts, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
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2007 After the Wet, Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin, NT
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2007 Spirit in Variation Part II, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW
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2007 Maningrida group show, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney, NSW
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2007 Selected new works from Maningrida, Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin
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2005 Paris-Djinkarr-Milmilngkan, Maningrida Arts & Culture, Darwin, NT
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2004 Crossing Country - The alchemy of Western Arnhem Land art, AGNSW, Sydney, NSW
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2004 Maningrida recent works, Maningrida recent works, William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC
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2004 Divas of the Desert:Maningrida, Minymaku, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT
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2003 Maningrida Threads, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW
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2003 Weave, NTU Gallery, Darwin, NT
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2003 Weave, Federation Centre for the Arts, Bundoora Homestead, VIC
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2003 Dreamtime, Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Cankarjev Dom Ljubljana, Slovenia
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2003 Threads of time, Burrinja gallery, Upwey, VIC
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2003 SistaActs, Maroondah Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
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2002 Barks in the spotlight, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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2001 Outside in: Research Engagements with Arnhem Land Art, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
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2001 Good Colour : prints from Maningrida Womens Centre, Raft Artspace, Darwin
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2001 In the Heart of Arnhem Land. Myth and the making of contemporary Aboriginal art, Musée del l’Hôtel-Dieu, Mantes-la-Jolie, France
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2000 Land mark : mirror mark, University of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT, Touring regional centres
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1999 Young Kuninjku Artists, Annandale Galleries, Sydney, NSW
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1999 Bushcolour: Works on paper by female artists from the Maningrida region, Northern Territory University Gallery, Darwin, NT
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1999 Claiming Title: Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art and the Land, Touring exhibition
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1999 Art and Place: Collecting Contemporary Art, Northern Territory University Northern Territory University Gallery, Darwin, NT
Collections
- Dr. Colin and Liz Laverty private collection, Sydney, NSW
- Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Maningrida Collection, Sydney, NSW
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
- National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, NSW
- Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, VIC
- UQ Art Collection, University of Queensland, St Lucia,QLD