8 Hele Gallery

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8 Hele Gallery 8 Hele is a commercial gallery in Mparntwe / Alice Springs.

As part of Chapman & Bailey's art services hub, we present monthly exhibitions of contemporary First Nation Australian Art for our broad community.

Also introducing Wesley Wh***ey…Wesley’s work is loud, imaginative and immediate. His paintings continue the irreverent ...
09/10/2026

Also introducing Wesley Wh***ey…

Wesley’s work is loud, imaginative and immediate. His paintings continue the irreverent momentum established by artists including Vincent Namatjira, Tiger Yaltangki and Kaylene Wh***ey (Wesley’s cousin), while developing a visual language distinctly his own. Nostalgic characters from television and popular culture inhabit landscapes alongside native animals, humour and the everyday realities of contemporary community life. Rough, energetic and assured, Wh***ey’s paintings are a reminder that Anangu culture is not fixed in time, it is strong, resilient and alive within the contemporary world. “I’ve been drawing since I was young but painting on canvas is a new thing for me. I love movies and cartoons. Watching them makes me laugh and makes me happy. It’s good fun painting some of the characters that I grew up watching on the old tv- like Gumby, the Smurf’s and Garfield. I used to imagine them on Country and think of all the things they would get up to together. Using colour on canvas makes them come alive.”

Introducing Johnny Ulah…Johnny’s paintings emerge from a different but equally grounded place. Before recently beginning...
08/10/2026

Introducing Johnny Ulah…

Johnny’s paintings emerge from a different but equally grounded place. Before recently beginning to work on canvas, Johnny dedicated himself to performing and teaching inma (dance and ceremony). His painting practice is new, but the knowledge carried within it is not. It extends his longstanding relationship with Country and culture into another form. Johnny is from Tjuntjuntjara in Spinifex Country, his mother’s Country, and belongs to a significant artistic lineage that includes his uncle’s Kunmanara (Bill) Anderson and Kunmanara (Patju) Presley. His paintings of Punu Pulka (Big Tree) speak to the importance of trees not simply as forms within the landscape, but as sources of material, cultural and practical knowledge.
“I’m from Spinifex Country, my mother’s Country- Tjuntjuntjara, in WA. Some of my family there were big painters. I paint Punu Pulka (Big Tree). I’m proud to paint punu and show how special punu is; all the things it gives- nulla nulla (hunting stick), punu mpilypa (clap sticks), piti. I am enjoying coming in each day and working beside the other men, chatting and drinking tea. I like working hard with the other fellas making good canvas.”

Kuwaritja – New/Fresh presents the work of two emerging Iwantja artists, Wesley Wh***ey and Johnny Ulah. Working side by...
08/10/2026

Kuwaritja – New/Fresh presents the work of two emerging Iwantja artists, Wesley Wh***ey and Johnny Ulah. Working side by side in the Iwantja studio, the two men have developed their respective bodies of work concurrently, supporting and encouraging one another with dynamic conversation about the contemporary world, drawing upon Country, Tjukurpa, popular culture and lived experience to create work that is distinctive, inventive and continually evolving. Kuwaritja, meaning new or fresh, introduces two new voices within this continuum.

Formally, Wesley and Johnny’s paintings could hardly be more different. Yet both understand their practices as part of a longer lineage of strong and diverse Iwantja work, established by pioneering artists including Wh***ey Tjukangku (Wesley’s grandfather), Peter Mungkuri, Alec Baker and Jimmy Pompey. Their emergence together speaks to the way artistic knowledge at Iwantja is continually carried forward, not through repetition, but through new voices, experiences and ways of seeing.

Kuwaritja – New/Fresh brings these two artists together at the beginning of their painting careers. Both are storytellers, and both draw upon the strength and knowledge of Anangu culture from distinctly different positions. Seen side by side, their works celebrate its breadth and resilience - grounded in Country and cultural knowledge, while remaining open, inventive and alive to the contemporary world.

Now we’re getting ready for two new shows opening this Saturday at 10:30am. The first is two members of the Tennant Cree...
07/10/2026

Now we’re getting ready for two new shows opening this Saturday at 10:30am. The first is two members of the Tennant Creek Brio coming together in Plus / Minus ➕➖🤍

Now to know, artist and storyteller, Kunmanara Woodforde (1974-2026).“Those who knew Kunmanara will know he shone bright...
06/10/2026

Now to know, artist and storyteller, Kunmanara Woodforde (1974-2026).

“Those who knew Kunmanara will know he shone brightly and fiercely. A deep thinker, musician, radio presenter and artist, he carried stories across many forms - from music and spoken word to sculpture, printmaking and video.

His work looked to the Milky Way, to the relationship between land and sky, and to the histories that must continue to be told. He spoke with urgency and honesty, but always with generosity.

Mr Woodforde was a founding force behind the Mimili Wati Group and a strong advocate for a recording studio in Mimili, so music and stories could be recorded here on Country. That studio is being built now with Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Media and will forever carry his legacy.

Our deepest love is with his family and loved ones across Mimili and far beyond. Rest peacefully amongst the stars.”

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku…Richard Nelson is a Pitjantjatjara artist, gardener and senior arts worker living...
05/10/2026

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku…

Richard Nelson is a Pitjantjatjara artist, gardener and senior arts worker living and working in Mimili Community on the APY Lands. Born in Perth in 1978, Richard has family connections to Mparntwe and Kurdnatta and has lived in Mimili for more than twenty years. He is a deeply committed member of Mimili Maku Arts, where his quiet leadership, reliability and cultural knowledge contribute to the everyday strength of the studio.

Richard’s paintings and prints celebrate family places near Parawalpi (Victory Well) and Sandy Bore. His works recall camping trips, running water, rockholes, shared meals and the experience of spending time together on Country. Rather than separating art from daily life, Richard’s practice grows from looking after family, community and the land. His work as the art centre’s gardener is another expression of this care, creating and maintaining a welcoming place for artists. Richard is also a key member of the Mimili Maku Wati Group, a growing movement of men working collectively across printmaking, painting, sculpture and found materials.

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku… Shane Dodd is a contemporary Pitjantjatjara artist living and practicing in Mimi...
03/10/2026

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku…

Shane Dodd is a contemporary Pitjantjatjara artist living and practicing in Mimili Community on the APY Lands. Encouraged by his late grandmother and grandfather, Shane started creating art in 2022. Shane comes from a family renowned for their craftsmanship in traditional practices such as spear-making, grass weaving and woodcarving. Whilst he never took up those practices himself, he grew up accompanying his family on bush trips to collect supplies, and later continued to work in land management. Shane worked as a teaching assistant at Mimili Anangu school for several years, supporting bush trips for the young generation and advocating for
the use of Pitjantjatjara language in the classroom.

In 2024 Shane discovered a new way of creating art which connects his family’s tradition of collecting and gathering supplies on country with his mark-making and techniques as an artist. Today, Shane is best known for his sand-blasted sculptural works on fuel caps and found car parts as well as creating innovative prints as part of the Mimili Wati Group.

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku…Robert Fielding is a contemporary artist of Pakistani, Afghan, Western Arrernte a...
02/10/2026

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku…

Robert Fielding is a contemporary artist of Pakistani, Afghan, Western Arrernte and Yankunytjatjara descent who lives in Mimili Community on the APY Lands. He combines strong cultural roots with contemporary perspectives, exploring the tensions between community life and global concerns. Moving confidently across mediums – from new media and photography to painting and traditional craftsmanship – Fielding creates dynamic intersections of story, politics and process.

His work is deeply informed by his experience of reclaiming culture as a son of the Stolen Generations. While he has spent time in major cultural institutions across Australia, he remains grounded in knowledge passed down by Elders on the APY Lands. This dual learning brings clarity and force to his practice, one that insists on truth-telling while advocating for unity and cultural resurgence.

Recent projects include residencies at Canberra Glassworks and McClelland Sculpture Park (both 2023), and inclusion in On Country at the renowned Les Rencontres d’Arles photography festival in France (2025). In 2025, he was Artist in Residence at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection at the University of Virginia (USA), exploring new international pathways for Mimili artists.

Fielding held his first international solo exhibition at Fondation Opale (Switzerland, 2018), was a featured artist in the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial at the National Gallery of Australia (2022), and presented a major print survey at Maitland Regional Art Gallery (2024). He has guest lectured at the Victorian College of the Arts as part of the Stuart Black Fellowship, and is the 2025 recipient of the University of South Australia’s Jeffrey Smart Commission at Samstag Museum of Art, with a major presentation forthcoming in late 2026.

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku…Umatji is a Yankunytjatjara woman born in Indulkana Community on the Anangu Pitja...
01/10/2026

Get to know the artists of Mimili Maku…

Umatji is a Yankunytjatjara woman born in Indulkana Community on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the far north-west of South Australia. Umatji’s mother, Kunmanara (Kathleen Injiki) Tjapalyi was one of the founders and senior artists at Mimili Maku Arts. Growing up, Umatji learned from her mother and father about their country and their storylines. Today, Umatji paints her mother’s country around Iltur, which forms part of the Antara storyline, and is celebrated in Women’s Ceremony.

Whilst Umatji only commenced painting in 2021, she has already been recognised as one of the most talented emerging painters at Mimili Maku Arts and was a finalist in the Hadley’s Art Prize for landscape painting in 2022. In 2023 she was a finalist in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, following in her late mother’s footsteps, whom also was a finalist in the prize in the last year of her life.

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8 Hele Crescent
Alice Springs, NT
0870

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm

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