ELIZABETH REES

Elizabeth Rees A Short Walk From My Brother’s Bach

12th March - 6th April, 2011 UPSTAIRS GALLERY

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown 9A Earl Street

(03) 442 6896

qtown@milfordgalleries.co.nz

1. ELIZABETH REES, Blue Beyond (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 503 x 508 x 37 mm

2. ELIZABETH REES, Slender Pines (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 508 x 506 x 37 mm

3. ELIZABETH REES, Through the Pines (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 598 x 700 x 21 mm

4. ELIZABETH REES, Through the Thickets (2010), oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 598 x 698 x 21 mm

5. ELIZABETH REES, Pastel Evening (2010), oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 503 x 602 x 37 mm

6. ELIZABETH REES, Pausing Tide (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 495 x 600 x 37 mm

7. ELIZABETH REES, Rivulets After Rain (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 603 x 1217 x 37 mm

8. ELIZABETH REES, Reflections After Rain (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 610 x 910 x 37 mm

9. ELIZABETH REES, Bright Tide (2010) oil on ca

anvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 603 x 1218 x 37 mm

10. ELIZABETH REES, Gathering Clouds (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 503 x 600 x 37 mm

11. ELIZABETH REES, After Sunset (2010), oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 452 x 452 x 37 mm

12. ELIZABETH REES, Sepia Light (2010) oil on c

canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 700 x 900 x 37 mm

Elizabeth Rees’ new exhibition is a twelve part poem to summer, light and being at the beach.

In the past Rees work has characteristically been atmospheric in character. This exhibition demonstrates a broad range of skills and (again) her virtuoso handling of paint.

“Bright Tide” (2010) demonstrates remarkable abilities. Leafed branches carve the work into pieces. They dominate the foreground and set the visual agenda. The aptly named “Sepia Light” (2010) captures the essential moments of a day’s beginning – where darkness still inhabits the bush and light arises in the air. “Reflections after Rain’ (2010) and “Rivulets after Rain” (2010) likewise reveal the breadth of her representational command and the silent silvery slide of tides.

The contrast of light and dark is fundamental to all Rees paintings. “Pastel Evening” (2010), “Through the Pines” (2010) and “Through the Thickets” (2010) reprise this, with the sense of looking, from and to, focally dominant.

Three inter-related works (Blue Beyond, Slender Pines, Gathering Clouds) return to the bright light of day and the broader palette of “Bright Tide”. ‘A Short Walk from My Brother’s Bach’ takes us to the simplicity of summer, the personal joy of being at the beach and how we come to remember, building the specifics of location through a process of glimpses, moments and private journeys.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1

Blue Beyond (2010)

4,500

2

Slender Pines (2010)

4,500

3

Through the Pines (2010)

6,500

4

Through the Thickets (2010)

6,500

5

Pastel Evening (2010)

5,000

6

Pausing Tide (2010)

5,000

7

Rivulets After Rain (2010)

9,000

8

Reflections After Rain (2010)

7,500

9

Bright Tide (2010)

9,000

10

Gathering Clouds (2010)

5,000

11

After Sunset (2010)

3,500

12

Sepia Light (2010)

8,500

All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

ELIZABETH REES b. 1959, lives Auckland

Idyll (2008)

Rees’ works explore the relationship between the body and mind and the environment in which we exist. Within her recent canvases she depicts the body in motion, moving toward or away from the unknown. “What are we fleeing from? What are we hurtling towards? What are we leaving behind and what do we hope to find? Each to one's own path and motivation we are in motion in the passage of life and time. Each painting freeze-frames a moment; the last step has gone and the next is yet to come.” 1 Previous bodies of work show figures at intersections, within moody and still landscapes. “They are…about people at intersections or crossroads of life. What we are witnessing are epiphanies, times of decision and apprehension. The works become analogies for points of change and transition in the stretch of human life, the physical, psychological and spiritual.” 2

As with her figure works, her landscapes have a psychological element. Each enigmatic space conjures the feeling of isolation, potential and mystery. She achieves this through a controlled and unique use of paint. Rees works on carefully primed canvases, enhancing the luminous qualities of oil paint. At times she has created divisions in the picture plane which are either both real and imagined. “Light is a major component of her work. The light of the skies and backgrounds flood around the dark scumbled figures, providing them with brilliant auroras …which adds to the mystery of the works”. 3 Rees was born in Palmerston North in 1959. She completed a Diploma in Fine Arts, Queen Elizabeth College in 1976 and a Diploma in Fine Arts [Painting], University of Canterbury in 1980. She has exhibited regularly since 1989. She is represented in major private collections nationally and one of the most significant private collections in the USA.

1. Artist Statement, 2009.

2. John Daly-Peoples, ‘Artist Rees conjures up sense of isolation’, National Business Review, 12 April 2002.

3. John Daly-Peoples, ‘Southern view is full of foreboding.’ National Business Review, 14 May 1999

Elizabeth Rees 2011 CV P a g e |1

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

ELIZABETH REES b. 1959, lives Auckland EDUCATION 1977 1976

Diploma of Fine Arts (Painting Major), University of Canterbury, Christchurch Preliminary Diploma of Fine Arts, Queen Elizabeth College Palmerston North

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2000 1999 1998 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1989,90,91

A Short Walk From My Brother’s Bach, milford galleries queenstown In Motion, Milford Galleries Dunedin Rapture, milford galleries auckland Second Sequence, Milford Galleries Dunedin Sequence, milford galleries auckland Selected Paintings, milford galleries auckland Mood & Memory, Milford Galleries Dunedin Recent Paintings, milford galleries queenstown Figure and Landscape, milford galleries auckland Traffic, milford galleries auckland Intersection, milford galleries auckland Painted, Milford Galleries Dunedin Journey, milford galleries auckland Momentum, Milford Galleries Dunedin Low Light, Peter Muir Petford Gallery Here and Now, Milford Galleries Dunedin Special Effects, Chiaroscuro Gallery Second Stage, Chiaroscuro Gallery Small Stage, Chiaroscuro Gallery Recent Paintings, Chiaroscuro Gallery Elizabeth Rees, Auckland Society of Arts

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2010 2009 2007

2006 2005 2004

2003 2002

2001 2000 1999 1998

The Earl Street Journal., milford galleries queenstown The Royal Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown Take 5, MG, Auckland Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown Moments, milford galleries auckland Looking South, Milford Galleries Dunedin Essence, milford galleries auckland Location South, milford galleries queenstown The Southern Landscape, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown Transit of Venus, milford galleries Auckland Transit of Venus, milford galleries queenstown Notable Works, milford galleries queenstown Is As: Landscape As Metaphor, Milford Galleries Dunedin Chosen, milford galleries auckland Portrait Exhibition, milford galleries auckland The Cloak: A Group Exhibition, milford galleries auckland PNGHS Te Manawa, New Zealand Ballet Exhibition, Parnell Cathedral Rees/ Cleverley/ Binding, milford galleries auckland Artists Chairs, milford galleries auckland Looking South, Milford Galleries Dunedin A Special Place, Warwick Henderson Galleries New Zealand Now, Warwick Henderson Galleries

Elizabeth Rees 2011 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992

The Subject of Object, Milford Galleries Dunedin New Zealand Real, Milford Galleries Dunedin Buy By Tender, Chiaroscuro Gallery Aids Foundation, Chiaroscuro Gallery Modern Myth, Chiaroscuro Gallery Portray Portrait, Morgan LeFay Gallery Chiaroscuro Show, Chiaroscuro Gallery

AWARDS 1989

Birkenhead Art Award (Merit)

COLLECTIONS Kensington Swan Private collections within New Zealand and internationally including a major private collection in the USA

SELECTED ARTICLES (as attached) 1999 1994 1994

Kerr, Elizabeth J, ‘Momentum: New Work by Elizabeth Rees’, Art New Zealand, issue 93, Summer, 1999/2000 Unger, Pat, ‘The Theatre of Disintegration: The Paintings of Elizabeth Rees’, Art New Zealand, issue 73, Summer, 1994/95 Mannion, Robert, ‘Painting a Bright Future’, The Dominion, Saturday October 22, 1994

Light Air (2009)

Elizabeth Rees 2011 CV P a g e |3

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz