WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE…
To be an Indigenous art gallery owner
I’m not classically trained; I kind of just fell into the gallery world. I’ve always loved art and did art at school but I wasn’t very good at it. I had plans of becoming a hotel general manager until, through blind luck, I ran into Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty, who is a world-renowned artist I had met years earlier in Darwin. She suggested that I come and work in a studio that she was in at the time and that was my first real insight into the world of Indigenous art. I had come to Alice Springs for the first time in 2007 and hated it. It was 45 degrees and my partner Karl and I waved it off saying we’d explore another time. But on returning in 2010 we completely fell in love with the place. We bought a house and have met amazing people. There’s a very creative community here. In the Top End, not a lot of art really spoke to me.
When I moved here and saw how different the art was to what we were used to in Darwin, I just fell in love with it. You see intricate, very considered dot work here, but then – on the other hand – you see some very textured, messier work, and that’s the sort of stuff I love. In 2011 Karl and I started our own studio on the east side of town. It was basically just a massive space for artists to come in and paint. We focused on building a collection and wholesaling art to other galleries. In 2013 we started opening the space to the public and that built up and up to the point where we realised we could probably open a gallery space closer to the action, in town where we are now. Yubu Napa is a Bulgul phrase from the Top End of the Northern Territory. It has a double meaning – beautiful and to do the right thing. It underpins everything we do.
The biggest challenge for us has been trying to show that we are an ethical gallery. There’s a lot of history with dealers who were referred to as ‘carpetbaggers’, who basically pay as little as possible for as much profit as they can make. It still happens today, but nowhere near the extent that it has in the past. There are art centres that actively say ‘private dealers are carpetbaggers’, and we take exception to that because we’re not on massive salaries; we do as much as we can to help the artists. We work with artists who don’t have access to art centres, or who want to take control of their own careers. People who come here are excited to meet the artists, meet Indigenous people. When we arrive in the morning we have all sorts of artists coming in, wanting to paint. It’s not a big space, so we can’t take every artist, but we try to be fair with giving everyone a little bit of work. Some days we have a dozen artists, and we’re full after half an hour. Other days, we don’t have anyone in. Artists paint for a day-to-day need. They’re in Country, they’re speaking in language, they’re surrounded by traditions and culture; it’s not like an artist builds up their own wealth – what they earn gets shared with everyone. If someone asks how much the artist gets we tell them. We have paintings worth over $50,000 on our wall but we also have small, affordable pieces for under $50, and everything in between. We pay one-third of the price of the artwork directly to the artist on the day they paint. We supply the materials and pay all the bills. Some are beginning to supply us on a consignment basis; they’re trusting us to sell the art, and we’re splitting that profit 50/50. Hopefully in the next decade, we’ll see a lot more artists operating under that model. We used to take a lot of photos of artists working for authenticity but we’ve now built a reputation and it doesn’t feel right. After all, Brett Whiteley didn’t have to [have photos taken of himself] working. We’ve worked with around 150 artists but in the last couple of years we have begun to concentrate on a smaller family of artists. We wouldn’t be here without Helen McCarthy Tyalmuty. She gave us our name and she’s a huge part of Yubu Napa. Her sister Kerry hasn’t had the same level of success but in the last few years, we’ve seen her prices rise. At the moment, she’s painting exclusively for us. We’ve also got some up-and-coming artists like Gwenda Turner Nungurrayi, Denise Johnson and Elsie Granites Napanangka. We like artists who will step outside their comfort zone and try new techniques and new ways of telling their stories. To ensure you’re buying ethical art, you need to ask questions. We don’t hover over the artists when visitors are chatting with them, and people can ask anything they like. What’s your favourite colour? How much do you get paid? The buyer should ask the gallery how much the artist will get, listen carefully to the answers, and trust their gut. I know there are galleries who take offence at being asked that question, but if a gallery does get defensive, think twice. When we opened, it was just Karl and me. We now have a team of five so we’re able to branch out. We’ve been busily putting together an exhibition [held in Melbourne in July] and are planning another in Adelaide in December. Some days it’s hectic, but I’m proud that we’re still here.
In 2011 we were still coming through the global financial crisis. Prices were dropping on Indigenous art and we were told we were crazy, but we’re growing stronger and stronger every year. I’m also proud that Yubu Napa is starting to gain recognition for the work we’re doing. We have seen a lot more interest from international visitors, especially from the US at the moment, with the current story about Steve Martin and his collection [of Western Desert art] being exhibited [at New York City’s Gagosian Gallery between May and July this year]. We even had one of the Hemsworth boys drop by recently – he’s bought a couple of nice pieces from us. Hopefully his brothers will get onboard too.