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Despite its reputation for being a cold and inhospitable location, Dunedin is a hotbed of activity when it comes to the local art scene. Dan Chappell once observed that ‘since the 1960’s the cream of the country’s artists have headed south - some as Frances Hodgkins Fellows and others drawn to a city that has always punched above its weight art-wise.’(1). Otago Otago intends to celebrate the diversity and talent of a number of established artists residing in Dunedin.
For price enquiries please contact Lydia Baxendell: lydia@gallery33.co.nz
For further images and information on artists please visit their individual artist pages (these can be entered directly via the hyperlinks provided).
Whether working in pastel, oil paint, printing or etching on glass, Claire Beynon shows an adeptness of medium and approach. Beynon characteristically layers subtle yet dense bands of muted hues bordering on the monochromatic. Her paintings allude to ephemeral journeys both spiritual and physical. Born and trained in South Africa and now based in Dunedin, Beynon's recent work explores the remote regions of Antarctica and Fiordland.
Beynon investigates the relationship between light and shadow falling on the land, the contour of a hill, the point that differentiates where the sky begins and the sea ends. Her skillful hand pares down the composition to expose the bones of the land. The abstracted forms of mountains and valleys, sky and water emerge from a shrouded vapor, mysterious and yet familiar.
‘There are some exciting new developments in this work, some of which are so subtle and allusive as to make them nigh impossible to photograph. An extra layer of imagery and text is etched into each sheet of glass. Glass is, of course, an absolute necessity when working on paper, but here, it’s treated as an additional positive layer essential to each piece, rather than as a practical framing requirement. Transparency is an ideal I aspire to - both metaphorically and in ‘life lived’ so it’s been interesting to seek out new methods that would allow me to integrate the solidity and weight of drawn and painted images with the ephemeral, quasi-weightless qualities of glass; a different conversation has come into being.’(2)
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Mariners without local knowledge
should exercise caution (2008)
pastel on paper with etched glass,
1020x780mm |
Falter (2007/08)
pastel on paper,
685x685mm |
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Take a small boat down the river (2007/08)
pastel on paper with etched glass,
1020x780mm |
The mountains do not remember (2008)
pastel on paper with etched glass,
1020x780mm |
Alannah Brown recreates imagery from childhood recollection in fervent detail. She evokes the mood and atmosphere of a time gone by, preserving moments in the memory indefinitely. Previously the artist has explored her rural upbringing in Central Otago depicting the land and workings of a farm life. Brown’s recent paintings are a nostalgic glimpse into her childhood years; a young girl growing up on a farm where playing with her beloved toys was an escapist flight of the imagination.
The imagery is painted on wallpaper and recycled wooden board evoking an air of antiquity. Brown bestows human characteristics upon her subject-matter; a rabbit family humorously zooms down a country lane on a scooter, two My Little Ponies gaze amorously at each other beneath a rainbow while a shy doll stands coyly considering her wardrobe.
‘These fresh new works delve ever deeper into my childhood realm, referencing some of my favourite dolls and the interactions that take place in a young girl’s fantasy world of play. They continue to encounter themes of awkwardness, growing up, perhaps not quite fitting in.’ (3)
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Bunnytown (2008), oil on wood, 298x378mm |
Pony love (2008), 306x405mm, oil on wood |
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| Run Rabbit (2008), 298x398mm oil on wood |
Star (2008), 305x406mm oil on wood |
Peter Cleverley has continuously engaged in a dialogue with the Human Condition. Whether depicting the Otago landscape, environmental concerns, human relationships or spiritual and mythalogical journeys; his paintings are a raw and soulful commitment to expressing his personal convictions. Cleverley often celebrates the familiar hills of Otago seen from his Kakanui studio window. The landscape is simplified and layered with a visual a language of signs, symbols and poetic text.
Cleverley utilises a restricted palette, applying layer upon layer of paint to create a textured surface where each individual brush mark can be distinguished. The resulting works are edgy compositions drawing on the artist’s personal experiences and active imagination. Rather than providing answers or explicit meaning, his paintings challenge the viewer to come to their own conclusions.
Recently Cleverley has introduced the dog as a motif in his paintings to represent aspects of the human psyche. ‘I have been using a dogs head for several reasons, but mostly because you can tell how people are by the way they treat other animals. The message and the aesthetic powers remain my primary concern, fore-mostly for me, then for the eye of any other beholders.’ (4)
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Looking for Something (2008),
acrylic on rimu slab, 345x185mm |
Just Little (2006)
oil paint on gesso on wood, 370x450mm |
Dog head hill Ngapara (2007),
acrylic & emulsion on board 510x640mm |
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Box of sea (2007),
acrylic paint & emulsion on board, 300x300mm |
Fortune Teller (2008)
acrylic paint & gesso on linen, 1820x1375mm |
I drink in the park (2006)
acrylic paint & gesso on hardboard, 250x250mm |
Daniel Unverricht paints the darker side of Dunedin. He takes the viewer on a nocturnal tour of the city where street lights glow upon eerily empty streets. His panaoramic view of toward the city from Dalmore provides us with an unusual vantage point of the urban sprawl while his depiction of an old derelict fur factory in North East Vallery imparts a sense of the city’s history. A once booming industrial town’s striking architecture now crumbles in disrepair.
Unverricht’s paintings own a finely tuned sensitivity to the subtleties of texture, light and shadow. Artificial light from cars, street lamps and houses replaces the daytime sunlight we are accustomed to viewing. Crisp imagery in sharp contrasting lines emerges from the dark of night, which pervades all, heightening the atmospheric tone.
‘The relationship between light and dark is interesting: the idea that shadows can physically consume space and objects, that artificial light (from streetlights) can give a false sense of security. Lit up cities have pseudo safety. I want my work to capture that with areas of inescapability and multiple-choice exits. You can't escape the ambiguity of shadow.’ (5)
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Dunedin City (2008),
oil on linen, 560x840mm |
Fur Centre North East Valley (2008),
oil on canvas, 250x250mm |
5am Dunedin (2008)
oil on linen, 200x255mm |
The land and its history imbue the subtle work of Fleur Yorston. Her delicate paintings have a raised surface; fine spider webs of jewel-like dots float on ink black and muted grey groundings. The fine pointillist marks and crackles akin to batik fabric patterns or aboriginal dot paintings link together to form refined and graceful imagery. Birds flock and turn in celebratory flight, like memories, each connected to the next by a string of pearls.
‘My work references the alchemical and relates to jewellery and body adornment. A necklace describes a line and remembers a body beneath. While a piece of jewellery is an object, it can also transcend the everyday descriptive world and become a symbol of another reality. Body adornment is cross cultural; it can represent spirituality, beliefs and ideologies; it can become the vessel of cultural memory. Some ancient symbols such as birds are used, long believed to be symbols of the soul, spirits and manifestations. They are also believed to be communicaters between the worlds and able to enter into higher states of consciousness. The birds in the paintings also reference New Zealand pre-european- as a land of the birds.’ (6)
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Nourishment For The Journey (2007),
acrylic, impasto, oil, water based varnish on canvas
700x500mm |
The Mortals - After The Storm (2006),
acrylic, impasto, oil, water based varnish on canvas
1000x500mm |
(1) Dan Chappell, ‘Southern Men’, Art News, Spring 2005, 62-65
(2) Claire Beynon, Artist Statement, 2008
(3) Alannah Brown, Artist Statement, 2008
(4) Peter Cleverley, Artist Statement, 2008
(5) Daniel Unverricht, Artist Statement, 2008
(6) Fleur Yorston, Artist Statement, 2008
Text by Lydia Baxendell 2008 |
