Kathleen Petyarre was born circa 1940, at the remote location of Atnangkere, an important water soakage for Aboriginal people on the western boundary of Utopia Station, 150 miles north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Kathleen belongs to the Alyawarre / Eastern Anmatyerre clan and speaks Eastern Anmatyerre, with English as her second language.

Kathleen, with her daughter Margaret and her sister's, settled at Mosquito Bore, on Utopia Station near her birthplace. Kathleen now spends part of the year at her residence in Adelaide. Kathleen's mother and seven sisters have managed to hold onto their land near Utopia Station as a group, establishing a camp at Boundary Bore. Kathleen was one of the key Anmatyerre women involved in the successful claim for the freehold title, which led to the 1979 formal hand-over of the Utopia pastoral lease back to its traditional owners.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney held in May-July 2001 the first major survey of work by Kathleen Petyarre Genius of Place. The exhibition featured over 40 paintings, batiks and works on paper spanning the artists career of almost 25 years.

The highest price at auction paid for a Kathleen Petyarre was at Sotheby's Sydney (29/07/2003) when Atnangkere 2000 sold for $42,800. It had an estimate of $6,000-8,000. At Sotheby's Melbourne auction (26/07/2004) My Country / Hailstorm (Bush Seeds) 1998 sold for $40,450. Its estimate was $20,000-30,000.

Kathleen paints several dreamings. Mountain Devil Lizard, or Thorny Devil Lizard (Arnkerrthe), Women Hunting Emu, and Dingo (Atnangkerre). All of her paintings directly refer to these Dreamings and the associated country around Utopia in the eastern central desert of Australia. Kathleen, continues to demonstrate her detailed, accurate knowledge and respect of country through her remarkable paintings.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2005 Women's Dreaming - Contemporary Aboriginal Paintings, Eva Breuer Woollahara, NSW
Utopia & beyond, Maunsell Wickes at Barry Stern Galleries, Paddington, NSW

2004 Spirit & Vision - Aboriginal Art, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Arnkerthe - New Paintings, Cooee Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2003 Kathleen Petyarre & Abie Loy, Recent Paintings, Fire-works Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland
All About Art, Alcaston Gallery, Sydney
Big Country: Masters Exhibition, Gallery Gondwana
Ilyenty  Mosquito Bore, Recent Paintings, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne

2002 Sisters/Yakkananna, Kahui Mareikura Exhibition, Tandanya, Adelaide SA.
All About Art, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne

2001 Genius of Place: The work of Kathleen Petyarre, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
New Paintings by Kathleen Petyarre, Gallerie Australis & Coo-ee Gallery, at Mary Place Gallery, Paddington, NSW

2000 Kathleen Petyarre, Retrospective Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW.
Landscape: Truth and Beauty, Recent Paintings by Kathleen Petyarre, Alcaston Gallery,Melbourne

AWARDS
1996 Winner of the Telstra 13th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin, NT. Australia.
1997 Winner of the Visy Board Art Prize, the Barossa Vintage Festival Art Show, Nurioopta, SA.
1998 Finalist, 1998 Seppelts Contemporary Art Award - Visual Art Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.
The Museum & Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT.
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, S.A.
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide, S.A.
The Kluge-Rhue Collection, University of West Virginia, VA, USA.
The Kelton Foundation, Los Angeles,USA.
The Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle,USA
A.T.S.I.C. Collection, Adelaide, S.A.
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Vic.
Museum Puri Lukisan, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.
University of South Australia Art Museum, Adelaide, S.A. Australia.
Riddoch Regional Art Gallery, Mount Gambier, S.A. Australia.
Edith Cowan University, Perth, W.A. Australia.
Collection de Musee des Arts d'Afrique et d'Oceanie, Paris, France.