Fine Art Auctions

Sally Gabori

Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (c. 1924 – 2015) was an Australian Aboriginal artist, who first began painting at around 80 years old. Born in 1924 on Bentinck Island, Queensland, Gabori’s childhood reflected a traditional way of life and later married a man named Pat. In her twenties, the aftermath of a cyclone contaminated the communities drinking water, forcing them to relocate to a Presbyterian missionary on Mornington Island. At the missionary, she was given the name Sally Gabori, Gabori is thought to have been recreated from her husband’s name.
Gabori began painting in 2005, when the Mornington Island Art Centre established painting workshops. The Kaiadilt community had no two-dimensional art traditions before 2005, so Gabori had nothing to draw on but her memory of her country. Gabori became an avid painter, evolving her signature abstract-like style which she developed into a representation of her Country. Gabori’s painting career lasted only eight years, from 2005 to 2013, producing and exhibiting a significant body of work, many of which were acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, and including AGNSW, AGSA, AGWA, NGV, QAGOMA, MoCA collections as well as the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris.