Lulu Cooley

Lulu Cooley is minyma ulkumunu, a senior Aboriginal woman. She is a consummate carver of many years experience specialising in piti and wira, traditional bowls, as well as walka boards. Lulu remembers learning her carving skills from her mother and other female relatives in the 1960s. Long and close observation and practice has led to her beautiful, distinctive ‘scallop’ style. Lulu and husband Billy Cooley, snake carver extraordinaire, have always worked closely together, raising their six children and making spectacular carvings on their home land, Ulaipa near Amata on the APY Lands of South Australia. They have been long term directors of Maruku, working closely with management for decades. In recent years the couple have spent extended time based at Mutitjulu and have participated in many exhibitions and carving demonstrations at Uluru as well as nationally and overseas. Lulu and Billy now take great pride in passing on their skills not only to their children but grandchildren as well.

Group Exhibitions
2021 Walytjarara Walytjarara – Punu Painta Putukurapa: All in the Family – wood carving, painting, photography, Everywhen Art Gallery.
2021 Maruku Arts: Minymangku Punu Palyani - Women doing Punu at JamFactory/Tarnanthi, SA.
2021 Tarnanthi, Maruku Arts: Minymangku Punu Palyani (Women Doing Punu), Art Gallery of South Australia, SA.
2021 Desert Mob 30, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT.
2021 Walytjarara Walytjarara – Punu Painta Putukurapa: All in the Family – wood carving, painting, photography, June.
Marriott Gallery, Central Craft Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs, NT.
2020 Walka - Design from the NPY Lands and the Central Australian Desert, Hazelhurst Gallery, Sydney, NSW.
2020 Desert Mob 2020, Araluen Art Center, Alice Springs, NT.
2020 Punu-Living Wood, Salon Arts Projects, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin NT.
2019 Nganampa Ngura, Nganampa Tjukurpa, Red Poles Gallery, McLaren Vale, SA.
2019 Desert Mob 2019, Araluen Arts Center, Alice Springs, NT.
2019 Maruku Arts: Stories of Place, Language and Ceremony Exhibition.
2019 Punu - Living Wood, Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW.
2018 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Convention Centre, Darwin, NT.
2018 Malatja tjutangku ara irititja kunpungku kanyini - Old Knowledge, Young Blood, APY Art Centre Collective, Darlinghurst, NSW.
2018 Wiru, Frame88, Willoughby, Sydney, NSW.
2018 Adelaide Meets the Bush, Kaurna Gallery at Live From Tandanya, Adelaide, SA.
2017 Transmission, The Lock Up, Newcastle, NSW.
2017 BLAK MIRROR ll, Gallery Lane Cove, Sydney, NSW.
2017 BLAK MIRROR, 107 Projects, Redfern, Sydney, NSW.
2015 Punuku Tjukurpa Artback NT National Touring Exhibition from the Maruku Collection.
2014 Desert Mob Show, Araluen Galleries, Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, NT.
2014 Fragrant Lands – Exhibition of Chinese and Australian Indigenous Art 2014, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China.
2014 maruku@anu Punu and Paint Exhibition and Market Place, ANU, Canberra, ACT.
2014 Seoul Open Art Fair, Korea.
2013 Desert Mob Show, Araluen Galleries, Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, NT.
2013 Wood: Art Design Architecture, Jam Factory & Botanic Gardens of Adelaide.
2011 Desert Mob Show, Araluen Galleries, Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, NT.
2010 Kuwarita Tjuta Ara Irititja. People today, Old Stories, Outstation Gallery Darwin, NT.
2010 Desert Mob Show, Araluen Galleries, Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, NT.
2009 Desert Mob 2009, Araluen Galleries, Alice Springs Cultural Centre, NT.
2008 Yamatji Pirni: Many Friendships: Sharing Life and Art from the Western Desert, Bunjilaka Melbourne Museum, VIC.
2004 Paprika Coloured Country, Framed, The Darwin Gallery, Darwin, NT.
2004 Desert Mob 2004, Araluen Galleries, Alice Springs Cultural Centre, NT.
1999 Die Welt der Aborigines, Munich, Germany.
1998 Groundwork - new work/old law, Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth, WA.
1998 SOFA, Chicago, USA.
1990 Look at us Now, Tandanya Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA.

Collections
Punu Irititja munu Wiru Tjuta ~ The Maruku Arts Collection.

Commissions
2020 Billy/Lulu/Tony, Collaboration with Altone Design.
2010 Cat Trucks Australia, Art work on truck.
2010 Desert Mob 20th Anniversary print panel.