arts

Michael Reid Art Gallery to present major exhibition of First Nations artworks in Washington D.C.

Phoebe Blogg - August 15, 2025

The Stars Before Us All will exhibit more than 30 First Nations artworks in Washington's Golden Triangle district this October. (Image: supplied)

Leading contemporary art gallery Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin has announced The Stars Before Us All, a major exhibition of First Nations artworks to be presented in Washington, D.C., USA, from the 15th – 25th of October 2025.

A bold articulation of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, The Stars Before Us All will present more than 30 works by 20 artists, including Gaypalani Wanambi, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Regina Pilawuk Wilson, Owen Yalandja, Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra Yukuwa, Nici Cumpston OAM, Dr Christian Thompson AO, and Betty Chimney.

This presentation in Washington, D.C.'s Golden Triangle district honours the enduring cultural legacy of Indigenous Australia spanning more than 65,000 years. It will mark the United States debut of several exhibiting artists, including this year's Telstra Art Award-winner, Gaypalani Wanambi.

The Stars Before Us All will be Michael Reid Galleries' first foray into the US market in advance of the opening of a new Los Angeles location later this year.

The upcoming exhibition will also bring together leading contemporary First Nations practitioners working across diverse disciplines and spanning the breadth of the Australian continent, including the Tiwi Islands, Arnhem Land, Far North Queensland, the Torres Strait, the Central Desert, the Kimberley, and beyond.

With most works being shown publicly for the first time, the paintings, photography, sculpture, weaving and bark works are drawn directly from living artists, respected community custodians, and distinguished private collections.

Each stroke, mark, and woven thread in the exhibition offers an intimate revelation, an exploration of the profound visual and cultural impact of First Nations contemporary art within the Australian landscape.

Michael Reid Galleries chairman and director, Michael Reid Galleries, said he is thrilled to see First Nations art and culture celebrated overseas in the United States.

"Michael Reid Sydney + Berlin is delighted to present The Stars Before Us All in Washington, D.C. and celebrate First Nations art and culture in the United States," he said.

"This exhibition will coincide with the National Gallery of Victoria's landmark touring exhibition, The Stars We Do Not See at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, emphasising new and collectable works as a contemporary counterpart to the NGV's historical survey.

"As the world recognises the rightful place of Indigenous voices in art history, we are privileged to share the work of these remarkable artists as a powerful celebration of Australia's cultural roots and living heritage."

At the forefront of the exhibition is Gaypalani Wanambi, a Yolŋu artist from Yirrkala in northeast Arnhem Land and recent winner of the 2025 Telstra Art Award at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, valued at $100,000.

The daughter of the late, great Mr. Wanambi (1962–2022), with whom she worked for many years, Gaypalani is the pre-eminent practitioner within the Found Movement, which reimagines scrap metal road signs salvaged on Country as raw surfaces for extraordinary works of art.

Gaypalani's intricate etchings on metal explore themes relating to Wuyal, the ancestral honey hunter, and the life cycles of bees and stringybark blossoms, elements vital to the Marrakulu clan's homeland of Gurka'wuy.

Currently showing at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the historic exhibition Yolŋu Power: The Art of Yirrkala, Gaypalani's art embodies resilience and renewal, situating her at the forefront of an ascendant generation of Yolŋu artists advancing cultural knowledge and contemporary visual practice.

Also featured in the program is Indigenous art luminary Emily Kam Kngwarreye, who began painting in her late 70s, drawing on her cultural life as an Anmatyerre Elder and custodian of women's Dreaming sites in Alhalkere.

Over an extraordinary eight-year period, she laid the groundwork to become Australia's most celebrated and sought-after artist of the late 20th century.

Her lyrical, gestural paintings reflect the cycles of nature and the spiritual significance of her Country, shaped by the desert environment.

In 2025, her work is the subject of a landmark solo exhibition at Tate Modern, further cementing her artistic legacy.

Award-winning painter, master weaver, and 2025 Sir Sulman Prize finalist Regina Pilawuk Wilson adds to the line-up with her impressive paintings, which channel the core tenets of a generations-spanning weaving tradition into complex painterly compositions which pulse with reverberating, rhythmic movement.

Born in 1948 in the Daly River region of the Northern Territory, the Ngan'gikurrungurr artist's paintings and weavings are held in leading collections throughout Australia, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria and National Gallery of Australia, as well as a significant number of international institutions, including The Seattle Museum and The British Museum.

Her contribution to contemporary Indigenous art is significant, as she continues to blend ancestral knowledge with modern materials, ensuring cultural continuity through visual storytelling.

Wilson is regarded as a leading figure in the preservation and elevation of First Nations art traditions on a national and global stage.

Regina Pilawuk Wilson will travel to Washington, D.C., for the opening of The Stars Before Us All.

The trip will mark her first visit the room named in her honour at the Australian Embassy to the United States, where architects Bates Smart commissioned a custom golden carpet based on her painting, Syaw.

Other artists participating in The Stars Before Us All include Owen Yalandja, Timo Hogan, Charlie Tjapangarti, Rover Thomas Joolama, Wik and Kugu Arts, Djirrirra Wunuŋmurra Yukuwa, Nici Cumpston OAM, Dr Christian Thompson AO, Betty Chimney, Maningrida Weavers, Danie Mellor, Emily Cullinan and Vicki Cullinan.

The exhibition of Australian First Nations Art - The Stars Before Us All will exhibit from October 15th-25th, opening daily from 12-6pm.

For more fashion, arts, culture and lifestyle news subscribe for free to the Style Up newsletter.