SIMON EDWARDS

SIMON EDWARDS BURN OFF

7th May - 1st June, 2011 UPSTAIRS GALLERY

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown 9A Earl Street

(03) 442 6896

qtown@milfordgalleries.co.nz

1. SIMON EDWARDS, Front Line and Firelight (2011) oi

oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 805 x 1600 x 37 mm

2. SIMON EDWARDS, Burn Off (2011), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 847 x 1231 x 30 mm

2. DETAIL VIEW SIMON EDWARDS, Burn Off (2011)

3. SIMON EDWARDS, Wildfire (2011), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 847 x 1231 x 30 mm

3. DETAIL VIEW SIMON EDWARDS, Wildfire (2011)

4. SIMON EDWARDS, Scorched Plain (2011) oil on

canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1140 x 1800 x 40 mm

5. SIMON EDWARDS, Old Flames II (2002/11) oil on canvas on board, panel (v x h x d): 227 x 182 x 8 mm

6. SIMON EDWARDS, Entropy (2011) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 250 x 305 x 38 mm

7. SIMON EDWARDS, Blue Blazer (2011) oil on board, panel (v x h x d): 300 x 400 x 10 mm

8. SIMON EDWARDS, Smoke and Cloud (2011) oil on board, panel (v x h x d): 200 x 300 x 10 mm

9. SIMON EDWARDS, Clearing the Gorse (2011) oil on board, panel (v x h x d): 200 x 300 x 10 mm

10. SIMON EDWARDS, Old Flames (2002/11), oil on canvas on board, panel (v x h x d): 225 x 182 x 8 mm

In this latest exhibition, ‘Burn Off’, Simon Edwards returns to the expanse of the Canterbury plains. He looks down and across a heavily cultivated landscape in this case, one which is literally ‘under fire’.

Flames scour the surface of Edwards’ painted lands and, in many works, smoke billows up and across the canvas, obscuring sky and cloud. In a work such as ‘Scorched Plain’, Edwards uses the strong contrast between darkened, burnt foreground and incandescent fire-wall to transmit the intensity and immediacy of the blaze to the viewer. The twilit sky is captured with luminous, soft washes of colour; clouds and smoke become almost indistinguishable as they fade into one another. The land itself is worked in a palette of jewel-like tones that suggest lush, rural productivity in a patchwork of paddocks.

Controlled fire is used as a tool used to rejuvenate tired farmland and clear the ground ready for planting. In these works Edwards asks the viewer to consider not only the continuation of an age-old agricultural practice but also the impact of this human intervention. Environmental degradation, appropriate land use and the relationship between man and earth are all issues raised with these works of compelling, if unsettling, beauty.

Front Line and Firelight (2011)

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1

Front Line and Firelight (2011)

11,500

2

Burn Off (2011)

9,500

3

Wildfire (2011)

9,500

4

Scorched Plain (2011)

5

Old Flames II (2002/11)

2,500 *

6

Entropy (2011)

3,500

7

Blue Blazer (2011)

4,500 *

8

Smoke and Cloud (2011)

3,500 *

9

Clearing the Gorse (2011)

3,500 *

10

Old Flames (2002/11)

2,500 *

14,500

* Price includes framing. For frame details, please enquire.

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

SIMON EDWARDS lives Christchurch

Purple Haze (2010)

“The landscape has been the source of my work…The work places itself somewhere between a modernistic reliance on the essential qualities (of the materials and methods of painting), and an awareness of traditional forms of the landscape. I use this as a departure point, for entering into a process of layering and rubbing back, setting up a dialogue between myself, the medium and the landscape. The work becomes a result of reacting to what is happening on the surface at the time, and building on chance effects that present themselves, contributing to a sense of space, distance and movement.” (1) "Forms revealed as being as vaporous and ephemeral as the air itself, and the work a play with the sublime, the atmospheric effects of nature able to reflect and inspire imagination". (2) Edwards’ earlier work clearly showed the influence of 19th century landscape artists like Friedrich and Turner but this influence was mediated by a 20th Century modernist and postmodernist perspective. "Sliding between modernist abstraction and the tempestuous 19th Century Painter Turner, they also felt utterly of their region, recalling two inportant Cantabrian forebearers, Van der Velden and Sutton." (3) Born Christchurch, New Zealand 1975. Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts 1997. Finalist in the 1997 Cranleigh Barton Drawing Award. Simon has exhibited regularly since 1998. He lives and works in Christchurch. He is represented in numerous New Zealand collections including the Christchurch Art Gallery.

(1) Simon Edwards, Artist’s Statement.

(2) Mark Emery, 'Cantabrians Building on the Past', Dominion POst, 2007.

(3) Ibid

Simon Edwards 2011 CV P a g e |1

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

SIMON EDWARDS lives Christchurch EDUCATION Bachelor of Fine Arts University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts (painting)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2011 2009 2008 2007 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999

Burn Off, milford galleries queenstown Transalpine, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch New Works, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch Demister, Milford Galleries Dunedin Westpark, milford galleries auckland New Paintings, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Private Wilderness, milford galleries auckland Field Work, milford galleries auckland New Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin Silver Lining, Milford Galleries Dunedin From the Road, Canaday Gallery, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch Silver Lining, Milford Galleries Dunedin Detours, Milford Galleries Dunedin Backward Glance, Milford Galleries Dunedin A Second Nature, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch Recent Painting, Solo Exhibition, The Chamber Gallery, Waimakariri Recent Paintings - Solo Exhibition Milford Galleries Dunedin

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2010 2009 2008 2007

2006 2005

2004 2003

2000 1999

1998

Winter Show, milford galleries queenstown Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown Summer Show, Milford Galleries Dunedin Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown Summer Show, milford galleries auckland Summer Show, milford galleries queenstown Selected Works By Gallery Artists, milford galleries auckland Looking South, Milford Galleries Dunedin Essence, milford galleries Auckland Location South, milford galleries queenstown The Southern Landscape Dunedin, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown This Earth - Currin, Edwards, McFarlane, milford galleries auckland Seven, The Art House, Christchurch Clouded Hills: Gerda Leenards & Simon Edwards, CoCA, Christchurch OverView - Is As: Landscape as Metaphor, Milford Galleries Dunedin Grant Whibley, Damien Kurth, Simon Edwards, milford galleries auckland Summer Show, milford galleries auckland Art on Tour, Mayoral Touring Exhibition in conjunction with the Robert McDougall Art Gallery and Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch Northern Lights; Simon Edwards & Dennis de Visseraman, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch Blind Date, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch New Works, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch Under 25 Exposure, Guest Artist at the Selwyn Gallery 20/20 Re-Visioned, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch 3 Canterbury Men, Gallery Sixteen, Auckland Opening exhibition for the Selwyn Gallery

Simon Edwards 2011 CV P a g e |2

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

AWARDS 2006 2001 1997

Parklane Art Award Premier Exhibit, Malvern Art Week Finalist Cranleigh Barton Drawing Award

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2008 2007 2007 2006 2006

Carrick, Chanelle, ‘Subverted portraiture questions roles of redundant men’, Otago Daily Times, April 17, 2008 McNamara, TJ, ‘Compelling Visions of Childhood’, New Zealand Herald, September 6, 2007 Amery, Mark, ‘Cantabrians building on the past’, The Dominion Post, May 8, 2007 Hanton, Jamie, ‘Satisfying Resonance’, The Press, September 26, 2006 Coley, John, ‘Alive with Paint’, The Press, October 18, 2006

Navigator (2008)

Simon Edwards 2011 CV P a g e |3

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz