Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala

Publication Details Format: Hardback; Dimensions: 260 mm x 190 mm (portrait); Pages:160 pp (fully illustrated in colour). ISBN:9781925432916

Author and/or Editor name/s Myles Russell-Cook

Author and/or Editor bio/s Myles Russell-Cook is currently Senior Curator of Indigenous Art at the NGV. Myles has undertaken research and held curatorial fellowships throughout Australia and internationally, with a focus on developing exhibitions and programming that give agency to culturally diverse artists within a contemporary art context. He has published extensively on Indigenous art, design and fashion, and has curated and co-curated several major NGV exhibitions, including Colony: Frontier Wars (2018), From Bark to Neon (2019), DESTINY (2020), Maree Clarke: Ancestral Memories (2021), Found and Gathered: Rosalie Gascoigne | Lorraine Connelly-Northey (2021), and Bark Ladies (2021). Myles is currently the co-editor of the NGV’s annual scholarly publication, the Art Journal of the National Gallery of Victoria, and is part is a team of curators who oversee major contemporary art exhibitions at the NGV, including NGV Triennial and Melbourne Now.

Year of Publication 2021

Publisher National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Abstract Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala celebrates eleven daring artists – all women who, throughout their lives, have collectively pushed the boundaries of contemporary Australian painting. This publication by Myles Russell-Cook accompanies the exhibition Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala, which celebrates the National Gallery of Victoria’s extraordinary collection of work by Yolŋu women artists who have worked at Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre (Buku), in North-East Arnhem Land. Included in this publication are works by Nancy Gaymala Yunupiŋu, Gulumbu Yunupiŋu, Barrupu Yunupiŋu, Ms N.Yunupiŋu, Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu, Noŋgirrŋa Marawili, Dhambit Munuŋgurr, Mulkuṉ Wirrpanda, Naminapu Maymuru-White, Malaluba Gumana and Dhuwarrwarr Marika. By bringing together these eleven artists, this book highlights the extraordinary tonality, scale, diversity and materiality of their work.