Doreen Reid Nakamarra (1955 – 20 October 2009) was an Australian

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

artist and painter. Reid was considered an important artist within the Western Desert cultural bloc. She was a leading painter at the

Papunya Tula Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...

artist cooperative in Central Australia.

Personal life

Reid was born in Mummine near Mirlirrtjarra /

Warburton, Western Australia Warburton or Warburton Ranges is an Aboriginal Australian community in Western Australia, just to the south of the Gibson Desert and located on the Great Central Road (part of the Outback Way) and Gunbarrel Highway. At the , Warburton had a po ...

in the mid-1950s. In 1984, Reid and her husband George Tjampu Tjapaltjarri, who subsequently established himself as a Papunya Tula painter, settled at the new community of

Kiwirrkurra Kiwirrkurra, gazetted as Kiwirrkurra Community, is a small community in Western Australia in the Gibson Desert, east of Port Hedland, Western Australia, Port Hedland and west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Alice Springs. It had a popul ...

, to be closer to her husband's country. In 2007, Reid's work was displayed at the National Gallery of Australia's inaugural

National Indigenous Art Triennial The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

: ''Culture Warriors'' exhibition. The exhibit, including Reid's pieces, toured Australia state galleries before opening at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington D.C. in September 2009. Additionally, Reid's work was featured at the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2009. She was awarded the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award general painting prize in 2008 for an untitled work. The work depicts designs associated with the Marrapinti rockhole site, west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia. In September 2009, Reid travelled to New York City for the opening of a

art exhibition which included her work. The New York exhibition was opened by Hetti Perkins, the curator of

and Torres Strait Islander art at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

in Sydney.

Death

Reid died a few weeks after returning from a major exhibition in the United States of America (USA). On 18 October 2009, Reid was admitted to the hospital for treatment of pneumonia. She was flown from

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

to Adelaide, where she died in the hospital on 20 October 2009, at the age of 50.

Paul Sweeney Paul John Sweeney FIES ( gd, Pòl Eòin Mac Suibhne; born 16 January 1989) is a Scottish politician. A member of the Scottish Labour and Co-operative Party, he currently serves as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region ...

, the general manager of Papunya Tula, praised Reid as an important artist and spokesperson.

Exhibitions

* 2007 ''National Indigenous Art Triennial '07:Culture Warriors - 13 October 2007 - 10 February 2008 -'' The National Gallery of Australia. * 2009 ''National Indigenous Art Triennial '07:Culture Warriors''. The National Gallery of Australia - Katzen Arts Centre, Washington, USA *2009 ''Icons of the Desert -'' Early Aboriginal Paintings from Papunya - 1 September - 5 December, New York University Grey Art Gallery, USA, 2009 * 2009 ''Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art''. * 2010 ''Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art - Before and After Science'' - Art Gallery of South Australia - 27 February - 2 May 2010

Prizes

* 2008 - ''Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award'' - $4,000 general painting award - for an untitled work about a rockhole - ''Marrapinti''.

Collections

* Seattle Art Museum * Metropolitan Museum of Art *

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art ("The Johnson Museum") is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its collection includes two windows from Frank Lloyd W ...

References

External links

Doreen Reid Nakamarra accepting the NATSIAA General Painting Award in 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamarra, Doreen Reid Year of birth uncertain 1950s births 2009 deaths Australian Aboriginal artists Artists from the Northern Territory 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian painters 21st-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian painters Indigenous Australians from Western Australia