Mythology & Reality: Contemporary Aboriginal Art From The Gabrielle Pizzi Collection

Gabrielle Pizzi began collecting contemporary Australian Aboriginal art in 1978. The year Gabrielle began travelling in Northern Australia was only seven years after the contemporary painting movement which began in Papunya in 1971, when Geoffrey Bardon introduced several Indigenous artists to a variety of new materials with which to record and preserve the meaning of their Dreaming, Mythology and Country. Initially, Gabrielle focused on acquiring sculpture from Bathurst Island in the Tiwi Islands, as well as Maningrida, Yirrkala and Ramingining in North East Arnhem Land. From 1981, she included paintings from Papunya and later from Haasts Bluff, Lajamanu, Yuendumu and Utopia.

In 2005, Gabrielle’s collection of paintings was exhibited at Heide Museum of Modern Art in the show Mythology & Reality – Contemporary Aboriginal Desert Art From The Gabrielle Pizzi Collection. This exhibition was one from a series of exhibitions from her collection of sculptures and paintings—shown in Italy, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain and Switzerland. Sadly, Gabrielle passed away just after Mythology & Reality opened at Heide. This exhibition at TWMA, mounted with the assistance of Gabrielle’s daughter Samantha, is a tribute to Gabrielle’s dedication to expanding the knowledge and understanding of contemporary Aboriginal art, by seeking out and acquiring the finest possible works. Mythology & Reality includes paintings and sculpture by artists Jimmy An.gunguna, England Bangala, Emily Kam Kngwarrey, Boxer Milner, Narputta Nangala, Makinti Napanangka, Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi and many others.