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Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi

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Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi
NameGallery Gabrielle Pizzi
Established1989
LocationMelbourne, Australia
FounderGabrielle Pizzi
TypeArt gallery

Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi was a Melbourne commercial and curatorial space notable for championing Aboriginal Australian art and for exhibitions linking Indigenous art to international modernism. The gallery mounted landmark shows that connected artists such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Rover Thomas and Yvonne Koolmatrie to collectors and institutions including the National Gallery of Australia, the Tate, the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Through collaborations with curators, critics and cultural institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and the Biennale of Sydney the gallery influenced museum acquisitions, auction markets and academic scholarship related to Aboriginal painting.

History

The gallery opened in Melbourne in the late 20th century against a backdrop of exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia that increased international attention to Indigenous Australian art. Early programming responded to retrospectives and shows at the Tate, the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art, the British Museum and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao while intersecting with regional initiatives like the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Biennale of Sydney and the Adelaide Festival. The gallery fostered relationships with institutions such as the Australian National University, Monash University Museum of Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, and the National Portrait Gallery, and participated in international art fairs where dealers from Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips and Deutscher and Hackett traded works by Central Desert and Western Desert painters. Over decades the gallery navigated policy debates involving the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, the Australia Council for the Arts and state arts funding bodies.

Founder and Leadership

Founded by Gabrielle Pizzi, the gallery’s leadership connected to personalities and organizations including Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Hughes, Wally Caruana, Hetti Perkins and Brenda L. Croft, and maintained advisory ties with curators at the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Pizzi worked with collectors and patrons such as Peggy Guggenheim, François Pinault, Mona Mahler, John Kaldor and Margaret Olley, and collaborated with scholars from the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, the University of Sydney and the University of Oxford. Staff and guest curators liaised with directors of the Tate Modern, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to arrange loans and exhibitions.

Artists and Exhibitions

The gallery represented and exhibited leading Indigenous artists including Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Rover Thomas, Gloria Petyarre, Kathleen Petyarre, Yvonne Koolmatrie and John Mawurndjul alongside significant contemporary artists and estates such as Tracey Moffatt, Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri, Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, Jakupa Nangala, Minnie Pwerle, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa and Barbara Weir. Major exhibitions drew comparisons with works shown at the Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, the Serpentine Galleries, the Walker Art Center and the Centre Pompidou, and prompted loans from institutions including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Museum of Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery. Collaborative projects involved curators and critics such as Nicholas Serota, Chris McAuliffe, Brenda L. Croft, Geoffrey Bardon, Hetti Perkins and Sally Butler, and engaged collectors like John and Sunday Reed, Charles Nodder, John Kaldor and the Roslyn Oxley estate. The gallery participated in fairs and biennales including Art Basel, Frieze, the Venice Biennale and the Sydney Biennale.

Collections and Legacy

Works exhibited and brokered by the gallery entered collections at the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Tate Modern, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and the Art Institute of Chicago. The gallery’s activities influenced acquisitions by university collections at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the Australian National University and the University of Sydney as well as corporate collections held by Wesfarmers, ANZ, National Australia Bank and AMP. Auction records at Sotheby’s and Christie’s for artists such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Clifford Possum reflected market changes traced by commentators at The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and The New York Times. Legacy initiatives connected to the gallery informed exhibitions at Heide Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, the National Museum of Australia and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection.

Critical Reception and Influence

Critical response combined attention from reviewers and cultural commentators including Robert Hughes, Germaine Greer, John McDonald, Nancy Weber and Sally Butler and coverage in journals and outlets like Artforum, ArtAsiaPacific, The Art Newspaper, Frieze, The Guardian and The New York Times. Scholarship by academics at the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of Oxford cited the gallery’s role in mapping Indigenous modernism alongside international narratives involving figures such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Henri Matisse and Willem de Kooning. The gallery’s exhibitions affected curatorial practice at institutions including the Tate, the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the British Museum and influenced market actors at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips, while prompting policy discussions in forums like the Australia Council for the Arts and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board.

Category:Art galleries in Melbourne Category:Australian art galleries Category:Indigenous Australian art collections