Bing Dawe & Peter Cleverley 18 Sept - 9 Oct 2009 Preview: Friday 18th at 5pm Artist talks will take place at the opening We welcome you to come too!

Head On speaks of the forthright way in which prominent artists Bing Dawe and Peter Cleverley approach subject matter. Each has chosen the animal head as a central focus; Dawe creating sculptural bird and eel carvings, while Cleverley paints his well known dog motif. The allegorical nature of Head On alludes to an ongoing concern for the human condition and its various impacts on the environment we live in. The honesty and passion of Dawe and Cleverley makes for a refreshingly immediate exhibition.

Bing Dawe’s sculptures are a development from his Vagrants, Stragglers and the Unloved series recently exhibited at the Suter Gallery, Nelson. Carved in Rimu, exposing both detail and construction, Dawe’s convincingly life-like bird and eel heads set on the wall are suggestive of hunting trophies. Like mournful prophets, the spoonbill, shag or eel stare at the viewer, articulating the uncertainty and value placed upon certain species within the environment.

Peter Cleverley’s paintings in watercolour and oils are both seen and felt. Often framed by a wrought iron fence, cave or boundary, the profiled head of a dog floats on a sea of vivid colour. Throughout history the dog has been used as a mythical signifier. With connotations varying from a threatening wolf to mans best friend. In Cleverley’s hand, it becomes an emblem to express his concerns regarding the human condition. ‘In conversation, a friend, who is a vet, said to me, “one can tell a lot about the human animal by the way we treat other animals.” Recently I have taken to including dogs in the composition of my paintings; they stand in to represent themselves and all other animals including the human.’(1)

Bing Dawe Detail - Head of a Curlew Hand carved and painted Rimu 350 x 315 x 135mm	Bing Dawe Detail - Head of an Ibis Hand carved and painted Rimu 370 x 410 x 175mm

Bing Dawe Detail - Head of a Royal Spoonbill Hand carved and painted Rimu 270 x 435 x 100mm	Bing Dawe Eel Across a Hoop Hand carved and painted Rimu 1 metre round	Bing Dawe Detail - Long Finned Eel Hand carved and painted Rimu 700 x 435 x 250mm

Bing Dawe Detail - Head of a Shag Hand carved and painted Rimu 390 x 315 x 130mm	Bing Dawe Shag Shoot (2009) Hand carved and painted Rimu and steel 1100 x 700 x 460mm

Peter Cleverley Untitled II (2009) A.S. Water colour & Acrylic Medium under Black Glitter on Arches Paper Image size: 240 x 400mm	Peter Cleverley Navigator (2009) Oil on Gesso on Canvas 1830 x 1540mm	Peter Cleverley Untitled (2009) A.S. Water colour & Acrylic Medium on Arches Paper Image size: 285 x 380mm

Peter Cleverley Cry Wolf (2009) A.S. Water colour & Acrylic Medium under Black Glitter on Arches Paper Image size: 250 x 450mm	Peter Cleverley The Devil in You (2009) A.S. Water colour & Acrylic Medium on Arches Paper Image size: 260 x 370mm	Peter Cleverley Telling Lies (2009) A.S. Water colour & Acrylic Medium on Arches Paper Image size: 240 x 410mm

Peter Cleverley Lap Dance (2009) A.S. Water colour & Acrylic Medium under Black Glitter on Arches Paper Image size: 230 x 40mm	Peter Cleverley Wonderfulness (2009) A.S. Water colour & Acrylic Medium under Black Glitter on Arches Paper Image size: 230 x 40mm

A shared ethos is communicated through the art of Bing Dawe and Peter Cleverley. While each has established a unique visual vernacular, there are numerous symmetries that have repeatedly brought these artists together. In 2004-2005 they were paired in the touring exhibition Provenance, and their current exhibition Head On at Gallery Thirty Three offers a continuation of this dialogue. The artists both grew up in North Otago, Dawe by the fresh water of the Waitaki River and Cleverley by the salt water of coastal Kakanui. Cleverley recalls, ‘we met undertaking Fine Arts Preliminary at Waitaki Boys High, in the 70's. Graduating with a couple of the highest credits in the country, we both had the choice of Art Schools, Bing off to Christchurch and I went to Dunedin.’(2) Both Cleverley and Dawe similarly, now teach at leading institutions providing guidance, instruction and support to their pupils. While each works in a distinctly different medium and style, their philosophy, experimental studio practises, directness and an uncompromising love of what they do, has remained an integral strength to their practices.

Bing Dawe:

Since graduating from the University of Canterbury, School of Fine Arts in the mid 1970s, Bing Dawe has exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand and overseas. He has held over 40 solo exhibitions including a major survey exhibition at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in 1999. His work is represented in many public and private collections, both in New Zealand and overseas, including public commissions in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Rotorua. Dawe has also influenced subsequent generations of sculptors in his role as tutor and Programme Co-ordinator for the Diploma of Craft Design (now Bachelor of Design) at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

For further images and information on the artist please click on the link: Bing Dawe

Peter Cleverley:

Since graduating with a Diploma in Fine and Applied Arts from the Otago Art School in the mid 1970s, Peter Cleverley has exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand. He has held over 30 solo exhibitions and is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Aigantighe Art Museum, Timaru, Forrester Gallery, Oamaru, The Suter, Nelson, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, Parliament House, Wellington,Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, Dunedin Public Hospital and the Dunedin Public Library. For over a decade Cleverley has held the role of Painting and Drawing Lecturer B.F.A. and M.F.A. programmes at Otago Polytechnic Art School in Dunedin. Recently he completed a residency at Weston School, as part of the Artists in Schools programme. A finalist in the 2009 James Wallace Trust Awards Cleverley, was also nominated for the prestigious Wallace Fulbright Award.

For further images and information on the artist please click on the link: Peter Cleverley

(1) Peter Cleverley, ‘Sea Dogs’, Junctures, 12, June 2009.

(2) Peter Cleverley, Email correspondence, September 2009.

Catalogue essay by Lydia Baxendell 2009