Gladdy (Gladys) Kemarre (1937-2016) was an Alyarrawe artist who lived at the outstation of Camel Camp, Utopia. Her paintings featured that of her Dreaming – Bush Plum and are highly sought after for their fluid quality built up by layers of small dots.
Her career in painting began in the late 70s when the Utopia Women’s Batik Group was formed. Under the expert guidance of CAAMA and Rodney Gooch the first major communal project – a series of eighty eight works entitled Utopia – A Picture Story was launched onto the Australian and international stage. The Holmes a Court Collection sponsored these art projects from Utopia projects which toured Australia and worldwide. This was followed by the first foray into acrylic paint on canvas in the summer of 1988-9 as part of CAAMA’s “The First works on Canvas, a Summer Project”. This first body of paintings was exhibited – and enthusiastically received – at the SH Ervin Gallery in Sydney. Gladdy Kemarre has continued to use this medium to express her Dreamings and since 1985, she held a number of exhibitions in Australia, Belgium and Germany. Her work is held in a many private and public collections throughout Australia inncluding the Aboriginal Art Museum, The Netherlands, NGA, NGV, AGNSW, MAGNT, Artbank, AGSA, Flinders University Collection, Adelaide, South Australia, The Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth, Maitland Regional Gallery, Maitland, NSW, Redland City Art Gallery, Cleveland, Queensland.