Cowboy Louie Pwerle

Select Works Archive

Cowboy Louie Pwerle

Cowboy Louie Pwerle 1941-2022 [also spelt Cowboy Loy Pwerle] creates paintings based around three Dreamings from the Utopia homelands located about 250 kms north-east of Alice Springs. These Dreamings are from Eastern Anmatyerr country, which lies on the western side of the Sandover River. The Dreamings are the Bush Turkey, Emu and Lizard Dreaming. The most painted of these stories is the Bush Turkey Dreaming, where the tracks of the Ancestor Being are imprinted upon the country as he journeys between the major Creation sites in his quest for food. Cowboy Loy builds up the continuous journey of the Ancestor spirit with fields of tiny dots that make up a mesmerising pattern of Creation and movement. Cowboy Loy Pwerle has lived all his life on and around his traditional country. He was born on Old McDonald Station in 1941 and derived his name ‘Cowboy’ from his role as a stockman. He began his painting career during the 1980s when the great surge of art production began at Utopia, and has maintained the quality of his painting and story narratives. Aboriginal art status – Established artist. Selected Exhibitions

2006 ArtParis 2006, Grand Palais, Paris FRANCE
2007 Visions of Utopia, Cooee Aboriginal Art, Sydney NSW
2007 Memory As Landscape, Masterpiece @ IXL, Hobart TAS
2007 Utopia Today, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art
2007 ArtParis 2007, Grand Palais, Paris FRANCE
2008 Impulse to Paint: The Artists of Iylenty, Utopia, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art
2008 Moscow World Fine Art Fair, Manege, Moscow, Russia
2008 Annual Collectors’ Exhibition, Lauraine Diggins Fine Art, Melbourne VIC
2008 Sydney Art & Antiques Fair 2008, Sydney NSW
2009 Blake Prize, The Blake Society, National Art School Gallery, Sydney (finalist) City of Albany Art Prize, 4 – 27 April 2009, Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany
2009 An Individual Perspective: From the Collection of Lauraine Diggins, Deakin University Art Gallery, Burwood VIC
2010 59th Blake Prize, National Art School Gallery, Sydney NSW
2010 Salon des Refuses, S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney NSW
2012 Sandover River Stories, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2013 Landmarks and Law Grounds: Men of the Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2014 Dot Code: Desert Artists, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA
2016 Camel Camp & Beyond, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA