D’Lan Contemporary to Present Paintings by Australian First Nations Artists
Makinti Napanangka and Naata Nungurrayi at Frieze Masters in London, October 2025
Booth B10 |
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Naata Nungurrayi, Marrapinti (2006), Acrylic on linen, 72 in x 60 in (183 cm x 153 cm), Courtesy of D’Lan Contemporary.
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| London, England – August 25, 2025 – D’Lan Contemporary announces its third consecutive participation in Frieze Masters with an exhibition highlighting the work of two pioneering Australian First Nations artists, Makinti Napanangka (c. 1920 – 2011) and Naata Nungurrayi (c. 1932 – 2021). This presentation, on view from October 15 to 19 in Regent’s Park, London, features 11 paintings by the artists, illuminating important contributions of women to the Western Desert art movement. The gallery was the first to present Australian First Nations art at Frieze Masters with a 2023 solo exhibition of works by the internationally renowned artist Emily Kam Kngwarray, whose work is currently on view at Tate Modern until January 11, 2026. This was followed by a solo exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Gija artist Paddy Bedford last year.
Naata Nungurrayi and Makinti Napanangka, both Pintupi women from the Western Desert of Australia, began painting in 1996. This was the year that Emily Kam Kngwarray passed away; her success inspired many women in remote Aboriginal communities to begin painting, including Napanangka and Nungurrayi. With the emergence of Kngwarray and the growing global interest in Aboriginal perspectives, the 1990s were a pivotal period for Australian First Nations art. Through their diverse perspectives, Napanangka and Nungurrayi continued to expand the field of women’s desert art and transform the visual language of the Australian desert landscape, cementing themselves as two of the most original and significant figures in contemporary Indigenous Australian art. |
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Makinti Napanangka, Untitled – Lupulnga (2008), Acrylic on linen, 60 in x 72 in (153 cm x 183 cm), Courtesy of D’Lan Contemporary.
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From the Western Desert region of the Northern Territory, Makinti Napanangka’s painting practice weaves complex Indigenous ontology with themes of memory, nostalgia, and diaspora. Up until young adulthood, Napanangka lived a nomadic lifestyle with her small family unit, travelling vast distances on foot and fulfilling the cultural and ceremonial obligations of her traditional country. Since the mid-1990s, the ancestral narratives embedded in the Western Desert landscape have been the primary subject of her paintings, which are characterized by their sensitive gestural and symbolic approach. For example, the alternation and harmony of desert-hued blues, purples, yellows, oranges, and whites represent the swaying movement of the hair-spun skirts ancestral women wore while engaged in ceremonial dance.
Celebrated as an instinctive, spontaneous painter, Naata Nungurrayi depicted spiritual sites of her desert homeland with a blend of cultural authority, artistic conviction, and eccentricity. She played a key role in transforming gender representation within the Western Desert art movement and led other Pintupi women in elevating contemporary Indigenous Australian art. Expressing her views on the feminine aspect of Indigenous cultural life, she created a distinctive iconography of armlets, grids, and mollusk-like forms submerged in striking layers of mottled colors, illustrating the topographies shaped by ancestral travels and events across her Country.ABOUT D’LAN CONTEMPORARY
D’Lan Contemporary was founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2016 by art advisor and gallerist, D’Lan Davidson, who was previously Head of Indigenous Art at Sotheby’s Australia and who has specialized in Australian First Nations art for more than twenty years.Representing Australia’s most distinctive and dynamic art movement, D’Lan Contemporary presents regular exhibitions by leading First Nations artists at its galleries in Melbourne, Sydney and New York, alongside an international program of educational talks and events that celebrate and promote the rich art and culture of the country’s first peoples.In addition to its international exhibition program, D’Lan Contemporary frequently sources exceptional works of art on behalf of museums, institutions, and noted private collections.D’Lan Contemporary maintains strict ethical practices and is committed to generating positive industry change to create a sustainable marketplace for this important segment of Australian art and culture. The gallery contributes 30% of its net profits back to First Nations artists and their local communities.# # #
FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES
For International Requests:
Max Kruger-Dull
Tel: +1-212-675-1800
Blue Medium, Inc.
max@bluemedium.com
For Australian Requests:
Nicole Kenning
Tel: +44 7739 519 290
D’Lan Contemporary
nicole@dlancontemporary.com.au |
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