Kaylene Whiskey, Flying over Indulkana, 2022. Photo: NPG.
Super Kaylene Whiskey celebrates one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, proud Yankunytjatjara woman Kaylene Whiskey. This major survey brings together works from across Whiskey’s career, showcasing her dynamic practice that is grounded in stories of First Nations joy and strength. Drawn from public and private collections, the exhibition features over 80 paintings, video work and installation from her early career to now, as well as a newly commissioned portrait.
With irreverent humour, Whiskey playfully combines everyday life, Aṉangu culture and beloved pop culture icons in her work. Dolly Parton, Cher and Wonder Woman share centre stage with Whiskey and other strong kungkas (women) as together they hunt and collect bush tucker. Through her rich visual stories, Whiskey joyfully connects cultures, Country and celebrity and invites us along for the ride.
National Portrait Gallery presents Super Kaylene Whiskey. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Born in 1976 in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Kaylene Whiskey is a Yankunytjatjara artist who works out of Iwantja Arts, an Indigenous owned and governed Aboriginal art centre in the Indulkana Community on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the remote north-west of South Australia. In 2018, Whiskey won the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Sulman Prize for her work Kaylene TV, 2018 and she is a three-time Archibald Prize finalist. Her now famous 2020 work, Dolly visits Indulkana, was projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House for Badu Gili: Wonder Women, in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2021.
Check out the Super Kaylene Whiskey language glossary to discover translations and recordings of Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara words featured in her works.
Super Kaylene Whiskey is supported by the National Portrait Gallery’s ICONS Syndicate and Strategic Partner VisitCanberra.
The details
What: Super Kaylene Whiskey
When: Daily from Saturday 15 November 2025 to Monday 9 March 2026
Where: National Portrait Gallery
Cost: Adults $16 / Concession $14 / Circle of friends $10 / Mob free (limit 2 per person) / Under 18 free. Book tickets.
