PAUL MARTINSON

Paul Martinson Natural Space

17 November - 12 December 2012

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown

9A Earl Street (03) 442 6896 qtown@milfordgalleries.co.nz

1

Antipodean Light (2012) oil on canvas, stretcher: 850 x 500 x 37 mm

2

Cat Thrill (2012) acrylic on board, frame: 870 x 1292 x 60 mm

3

Screamer Dreamer Misdemeanor (2012) oil on canvas, stretcher: 455 x 358 x 20 mm

4

The Landing of Venus (2012) watercolour, watercolour pencil & gouache on paper, frame: 796 x 980 x 60 mm

5

Electric Dream Forest (2012) acrylic, watercolour & gouache on paper, frame: 960 x 1240 x 60 mm

6

Glass Case Adventurers (2012) oil on canvas, stretcher: 837 x 607 x 34 mm

7

Three Minute Timer (2012) oil on board, frame: 822 x 426 x 46 mm

8

Mechanica (2012) oil on canvas, stretcher: 850 x 500 x 37 mm

The birds in Paul Martinson’s paintings are not of this world: they are packaged in crates, fly on metal wings, they are confined in bell jars and glass vitrines, and dangle from light bulb cords. The surrealism of the settings combines with the accuracy of his portraiture to create works that are unnerving and thought-provoking.

Martinson has always been interested in surrealist ideas of the freedom of the subconscious and its place in the artistic process. The otherworldliness of Electric Dream Forest brings together accurate and beautifully executed depictions of birds, including the saddleback and kakariki, with the completely irrational: a field of lightbulbs complete with swimming tropical fish. There seems neither rhyme nor reason for bringing together such disparate subjects, but the precision of Martinson’s composition and drawing presents the uncommon as something matter-of-fact, and the viewer has no choice but to examine the relationships between what is ‘real’ and what is not.

Using this juxtaposition of the expected and the unexpected, Martinson also continues to address concerns about the environmental impact of human settlement on New Zealand’s birdlife in this new body of works. The extinction of the huia resonates with New Zealanders and in Glass Case Adventurers Martinson pointedly depicts a huia pair, along with the South Island kokako, in the only way we could now ever see them in real life – under glass and frozen in time. Screamer Dreamer Misdemeanour shows the bird as a commodity, packaged up for an Empire that valued its tail feathers for hat trimmings and its beaks as brooches.

The artist couches his uncomfortable messages in lush pictures, using the finest of brushstrokes to create a soft, dreamy atmosphere. The mechanical wings of the kea and the angular landscape of Mechanica are not hard and unyielding, but take on a smooth, velvety texture due to Martinson’s delicate hatching and layering of tone on tone. The rich brown of the background sky is figured with the irregular pleats and folds of creased tissue or fabric, enhancing the incongruity of the painting’s subject.

The bright green of the kea’s plumage, the only ‘real’ element in the work, seems anything but natural in such a setting.

As always, the questions and concerns Paul Martinson raises in his paintings are couched in a framework of delicate line, shading and colour, initially drawing the eye, then engaging the mind.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST 1

Antipodean Light (2012)

6,500

2

Cat Thrill (2012)

9,000

3

Screamer Dreamer Misdemeanor (2012)

3,750

4

The Landing of Venus (2012)

7,000

5

Electric Dream Forest (2012)

8,500

6

Glass Case Adventurers (2012)

6,500

7

Three Minute Timer (2012)

5,500

8

Mechanica (2012)

6,000

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

PAUL MARTINSON b. 1956, lives Masterson

Electric Dream Forest (2012)

“Martinson believes we are, at any time the sum of our entire experience which includes on one hand the connections we make throughout our life with all other creatures on the planet, even fleetingly (this comprises the great range of relationships we make), everyday experience, and the swirling, interlocking personal reality of our subconscious, and all that it comprises.” (1) Martinson’s work is “out of the ordinary, ethereal and often edgy, with a greater emphasis on the psychological, the sensual and the sexual.” (2) “Martinson has created a new aesthetic in which meticulous attention to detail, rich surface texture and beauty co-exists with a definitive and individual point of view.” (3) Martinson, born 1956, lives in Masterton. Prior to taking up painting as a full time career in 1987, he worked as a science technician for DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research).

In 2004 Martinson was commissioned by Te Papa Tongarewa to paint New Zealand’s extinct birdlife, resulting in the publication, Extinct Birds of New Zealand, which was published in 2006.

In 2007 Martinson exhibited a series of new works, marking a significant change of direction in his painting and drawing practice.

1.

2.

3.

Paul Martinson, Artist Statement, 2010 Kim Atherfold, ‘Paul Martinson: Sleep and Trance’, catalogue essay, 2007 Ibid

Paul Martinson 2012 CV P a g e |1

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

PAUL MARTINSON b. 1956, lives Masterson SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012 2011 2010 2009 2007 2006 2004 2002 2001 2000

Natural Space, milford galleries queenstown Electric Zoo, Sanderson Contemporary Art, Auckland Dream Swimmers, milford galleries queenstown Mellomania, Sanderson Contemporary Art, Auckland A Freudian Slip, Sanderson Contemporary Art, Auckland Sleep and Trance, Ferner Galleries, Auckland Te Papa Tongarewa's Extinct Birds of New Zealand publication launch with accompanying exhibition entitled New Work.

Creatures Recreated, Ferner Galleries, Auckland Tide, Ferner Galleries, Auckland Colours of the Wild, Ferner Galleries, Wellington Rare and Threatened Birds, Ferner Galleries, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2012 2009 2009 2009 2008 2007 2007 2007 2005 2003 2002 2002 2001 1994 1993

Figures in the Landscape, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland The Surreal, Milford Galleries Dunedin Advent, Sanderson Contemporary Art, Auckland The Inimitable Mister Hopkins: The Barry Hopkins Art Collection, Waikato Museum of Art & History, Hamilton Mindgames: Surrealism in Aotearoa, Hastings City Art Gallery, Hastings Outsider Art, Ferner Galleries, Taupo Wairarapa Review, Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton Chatham Islands, Southland Museum Auckland Art Fair, Ferner Galleries, Auckland Wairarapa Review, Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton Modern Landscapes, Ferner Galleries, Auckland Crosslinks, Pataka Museum of Art, Porirua Grids and Crosses, Ferner Galleries, Auckland Icons and Kiwiana, Ferner Galleries, Auckland Real Vision, Robert McDougall Gallery Christchurch Huia, Temanawa, Manawatu Art Gallery touring exhibition

AWARDS & COMMISSIONS 2008 2007 2003 1994

Wai Art Awards - Runner Up Montana Book Awards, ‘Extinct Birds of New Zealand’ – Finalist Norsewear Art Awards - Finalist North Shore City Art Awards - Runner Up

COLLECTIONS Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand (Fifty-eight (58) paintings in watercolour portraying New Zealand's extinct birds)

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 1991 1991

McNamara, TJ, ‘More Than a Touch of Strangeness', Auckland Herald, October 2010.

Thornber, Lorna, ‘Bird’s-eye View’, Her Magazine, November 2010, Issue 121, p 116-119.

Atherfold, Kim, Venus in Free Fall: The Art of Paul Martinson 2004 – 2008. Dissertation completed at Auckland, University, Art History Department.

Atherfold, Kim, 'Paul Martinson's work on Aluminium', NZ Art Monthly, March 2008.

Atherfold, Kim, Paul Martinson: Sleep and Trance, catalogue, Ferner Galleries, Auckland.

Martinson, Paul and Alan Tennyson, Extinct Birds of New Zealand, TePapa Press, Wellington.

Martinson, Paul, New Zealand Birds, Grantham House, Auckland.

Gill, Brian and Paul Martinson, New Zealand's Extinct Birds, Random Century, Auckland.

Paul Martinson 2012 CV P a g e |2

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz