MORE = https://www.wentworthgalleries.com.au/artist/freddy-purula

Freddy Purla

Biography:

Fred Torres is a man of worlds. Rarely in one place more than a week at a time. He is equally at home negotiating deals with art galleries in Paris and New York as he is hunting in the wild and painting with family members in his homeland of Utopia, in Northern Territory. But there is one factor that is common to all of his worlds and that is art.

Freddy was born in Darwin, to a family of accomplished artists. His mother is Barbara Weir and grandmother Minnie Pwerle, both highly respected artists from Utopia, a community located 240 kilometres north east of Alice Springs known for its quality art. Freddy would regularly visit Utopia with his relatives and was fascinated by the scorpion. When Freddy began to paint, he chose to depict the Scorpion Dreaming, which was passed down to him by his grandmother’s family. His works represent the courtship dance between the male and female scorpion. The two animals interlock their pincers and travel back and forward. The tracks that are left in the ground form the basis for Freddy’s works, which powerfully represent the energy and vigour of the many movements made by the scorpions. Fred’s work is included in many collections in both Australia and overseas.

Résumé:

Exhibitions
1998 Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney.
1999 Quadrivium Gallery,Sydney.
2000 Major exhibition of Dacou artists, sponsored by AMP.
2002 Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane.
2003 Telstra Award Nomination.
2003 Tandanya Institute, Adelaide.
2004 Utopia Dreams, Dacou Gallery, Adelaide.
2005 Solander Gallery, Canberra.
2006 Gallery Savah, Sydney.
2007 Gallery Savah, Sydney.
2008 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne.
2008 Gallery Mbantua, Alice Springs.

FreddyPurla.pdf

Aug 25, 2025

FREDDY PURLA, Australia (c1968 -), My Grandmother’s Country, 2021, synthetic polymer paints on Belgian linen (ready to hang), 127 x 88.5 cm. (50 x 34.8 in.), frame: 130 x 91 x 6 cm. (51.1 x 35.8 x 2.3 in.)

Lawsons

Passed

Jun 23, 2025

Lawsons

Passed

Apr 28, 2025

FREDDY PURLA, (c1968 -), My Grandmother’s Country, 2021, synthetic polymer paints on Belgian linen (ready to hang), 127 x 88.5 cm. (50 x 34.8 in.), frame: 130 x 91 x 6 cm. (51.1 x 35.8 x 2.3 in.)

Lawsons

Passed

Jun 04, 2023

FREDDY PURLA “SCORPION DREAMING” C 2021

Phillip Caldwell Auctioneers

Sold: AUD2,000

Jun 04, 2023

FREDDY PURLA “MY GRANDMOTHERS COUNTRY” C 2021

Phillip Caldwell Auctioneers

Sold: AUD3,900

Jun 04, 2023

FREDDY PURLA “MY GRANDMOTHERS COUNTRY” C 2021

Phillip Caldwell Auctioneers

Sold: AUD650

Jul 25, 2021

Freddy Purla. Scropion Dreaming. Acrlyic on Linen. 125 x 202. $10,000 – $15

Christian McCann Auctions

Sold: AUD8,000

Jul 08, 2021

FREDDY PURLA, MY GRANDMOTHER’S COUNTRY 2020, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 80 X 123CM, ACCOMPANIED BY A COPY OF A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY F..

Leonard Joel

Sold: AUD800

February 15, 2022