Design and Art Australia Online

Know My Name is an exhibition in two parts at the National Gallery of Australia. It is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of work by women, presented in a thematic rather than chronological form. It reveals relationships between the present and the past, relationships between artists, and common concerns.

Exhibition showcasing highlights from the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art (CCWA), which was gifted to the University of Western Australia in 2007. A companion publication titled 'Into the Light’ that documented the history and key works of the CCWA was released to coincide with the exhibition, which also featured a symposium – 'Are we there yet?’ – discussing women’s participation in art and art history and the future of feminism in the arts.

Julie Dowling is a painter whose work has focussed mainly on the tradition of portraiture. Her cultural heritage as an Aboriginal Australian of Badimaya descent strongly impacts upon her subject matter. Dowling draws upon a wide range of sources within the traditions of European and Indigenous Australian painting. She combines social realism, Surrealism, sixties Pop Art, and motifs from contemporary Aboriginal painting, in her portraiture. Dowling’s art is influenced by the dot and circle motifs in the Papunya and Yuendumu traditions, the rock art of the Kimberley, and the graphic arts of the Torres Strait. The art of Frida Kahlo also directly influences her work.This exhibition is the first survey of this prominent artist, featuring over sixty works.