GARRY CURRIN

Ga r r y Cu r rin Hints for the Incomplete Traveller 2 - 27 August 2014

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Milford Galleries Dunedin 18 Dowling Street (03) 477 7727 info@milfordhouse.co.nz

In the Last Days in the Forgotten Calendars (2013) storyboard with 12 panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

1

panel i

panel ii

panel iii

panel iv

In the Last Days in the Forgotten Calendars (2013) storyboard with 12 panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

1

panel v

panel vi

panel vii

panel viii

In the Last Days in the Forgotten Calendars (2013) storyboard with 12 panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

1

panel ix

panel x

panel xi

panel xii

In the Last Days in the Forgotten Calendars (2013) storyboard with 12 panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

1

Hints for the Incomplete Traveller (2013/

/14), oil on canvas, unstretched canvas: 2110 x 3045 mm, painted image: 1900 x 2795 mm

2

Hints for the Incomplete Traveller (2013/14) oil on canvas, unstretched canvas: 2110 x 3045 mm, painted image: 1900 x 2795 mm

2

storyboard with 9 panels (av

Hints for the Incomplete Traveller - i - ix (2013/14) vailable individually), oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

3 - 11

panel i

pan

Hints for the Incomplet

nel ii

panel iii

te Traveller i - iii (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

3-5

panel iv

pan

Hints for the Incomplete

nel v

panel vi

e Traveller iv - vi (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

6-8

panel vii

pane

Hints for the Incomplete

el viii

panel ix

Traveller vii - ix (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

9 - 11

storyboard with 9 panels (av

Hints for the Incomplete Traveller - x - xviii (2013/14) vailable individually), oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

12 - 20

panel x

pan

Hints for the Incomplete

nel xi

panel xii

e Traveller x - xii (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

12 - 14

panel xiii

pane

Hints for the Incomplete T

el xiv

panel xv

Traveller xii - xv (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

15 - 17

panel xvi

pane

Hints for the Incomplete Tra

el xvii

panel xvii

aveller xvi- xviii (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each

18 - 20

storyboard with 12 panels (av

Hints for the Incomplete Traveller - xxi - xxxii (2013/14) vailable individually), oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

21 - 32

panel xxi

pane

Hints for the Incomplete Tra

el xxii

panel xxiii

aveller xxi- xxiii (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

21 - 23

panel xxiv

pane

Hints for the Incomplete Trav

el xxv

panel xxvi

veller xxiv- xxvi (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

24 - 26

panel xxvii

pane

Hints for the Incomplete Trav

el xxviii

panel xxix

veller xxvii- xxix (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

27 - 29

panel xxx

pane

Hints for the Incomplete Trav

el xxxi

panel xxxii

veller xxx- xxxii (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

30 - 32

p

Hints for the Incomplete Tra Hints for the Incomplete Travelle

panel xix

panel xx

panel xxxiii

panel xxxiv

aveller - xix - xx (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 330 x 400 mm each er - xxxiii - xxxiv (2013/14), individual panels, oil on aluminium, panels 360 x 420 mm each

33 - 36

Drawing on cinematographic traditions, Garry Currin’s paintings suggest sepia-toned photographs or frames from faded 8 mm film. Each small panel reveals a self-contained world where individual stories overlap and time and place are fluid. Currin directs the framing and focus of each ‘shot’, revealing only parts of the over-arching narrative structure.

The individual paintings are small, intense works. They glow within their painted frames and Currin uses bright points of light as visual signposts that draw the eye into and across the surface of the panels. Using a limited palette, he layers tone upon tone which creates a rich depth of hue, all the more striking for the clean lines of the wide borders. More figurative than earlier bodies of work, Currin has populated the stories with people and places that are almost recognisable; they appear as half-forgotten memories which have warped and changed over time.

Accompanying the ‘storyboards’ is a single large work on canvas which showcases Currin’s skill with his medium. From a raised point of view, the viewer looks down onto a shifting landscape that is touched with light.

Dominating the foreground are shadowed plains and a solid sweep of hillside; Currin captures simultaneously the solidity of the landscape, and its mutability.

The soft ridges of ploughed paddocks draw the eye to the expansive curve of a bay, edged by distant hills.

The exhibition title, Hints for the Incomplete Traveller, encapsulates the experience of Garry Currin’s paintings. The works are suggestive rather than explanatory; Currin tells part of the story but leaves viewers time and space to extend and complete the narrative as it suits them.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1

In the Last Days in the Forgotten Calendars (2013)

16,500

storyboard of 12 panels

2

Hints for the Incomplete Traveller (2013/14)

25,000

unstretched canvas

3 - 36 Hints for the Incomplete Traveller – i - xxxiv (2013/14)

1,750 each

34 individual panels (arranged into storyboards for exhibition)

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

GARRY CURRIN b. 1952, lives Matakana

This Distance (2008/09)

His paintings are "internal landscapes. They have a physicality about them like landscapes, but they also have something more. People see things in them that I don't see". (1) “Currin’s work is …made major by a scope that encompasses not only the edgy physical attributes of its subject, but also the metaphorical implications, so that Currin actually captures the power, the darkness and the malevolence of the very thing that he paints.” (2) “The monochromatic and the atmospheric way forms in his paintings melt into one another exude a sense of mystery.” (3) “He paints as if mixing rare elixirs with rancid oils. He’s a lyricist in paint, coaxing moody landscapes out of tangled streaks and veils of colour. He’s a quester in search of lost time, remembering things past: the fall of shadow at a certain time of day, the spiritualised sunburst, the cloud-splitting vista at dusk.

“His paintings are phantasmagoric because they’re less actual landscapes than they are atmospheric reconstructions… At times his paintings seem to well up from the surfaces they’re painted on like secretions. They’re tinged with a morbid edge, a Gothic resonance verging on the melodramatic.

These are the talismans of skewed memory. Currin teases and disrupts your attempts to establish reality of place by, say, triangulating a few landmarks. … He offers you inventions which tease and tantalise with their elusiveness. The landmarks fluctuate, dissolving back into the paint before re-emerging as cloud, or surf, or waterspout.” (4) Born Wanganui, New Zealand 1952. Currin has been exhibiting his work since 1976. The time he devotes to painting and his exhibiting programme has been gathering momentum in recent years. Currin was a finalist in the Wallace Visa Gold Award in 1999 and a finalist in the James Wallace Awards 10 times since 1995 in addition to winning the ‘people's choice' vote in 2004. In 2008 Currin won the grand prize in the Team McMillan 'Where Brush Meets Bonnet' BMW Art Award and in 2011, a merit in the NZ Painting and Printmaking Award. His work is included in various significant collections.

1. Garry Currin, Artist’s Statement, 2009 2. Paul Field, ‘Seascapes capture power’, Otago Daily Times, 14 June 2001 3. Charmian Smith, ‘Shifting Changing World Inspires’, Otago Daily Times, March 27, 2003 4. David Eggleton, ‘Garry Currin The Painter as Salvage Artist’, Art New Zealand No. 94, Autumn 2000

Garry Currin 2014 CV P a g e |1

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

GARRY CURRIN b. 1952, lives Matakana SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2014 2012 2011

2010 2009 2008 2006 2005 2003 2001 2000 1999 1997 1995 1994 1993 1980 1976

Hints for the Incomplete Traveller, Milford Galleries Dunedin Voices of Earth, Milford Galleries Dunedin This Day, That Hour, milford galleries queenstown Smoke and Dreaming, Whitespace, Auckland Various Distances Apart, Milford Galleries Dunedin New Work, Whitespace, Auckland Inland, Milford Galleries Dunedin This Distance, Statements Gallery, Napier Occupied Territory, milford galleries auckland Quotation of Dream, milford galleries auckland Sea Narratives, milford galleries queenstown Old Language, milford galleries auckland Apertures, Milford Galleries Dunedin Pages from the Book of Balls II, McPherson Gallery, Auckland Seacliff Narratives, Milford Galleries Dunedin New Works, McPherson Gallery, Auckland New Works, Statements Gallery, Napier New Works, Peter Muirs Petford Gallery, Auckland Pages from the Book of Balls, Drawings Gallery, Auckland Impressions I, Drawings Gallery, Auckland Impressions II, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland Emotional Landscape Series, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland Conflict of Conscience, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland Psychological Luggage, Devonport Gallery, Auckland From Dawn Till Dusk, Mollers Gallery, Auckland The Escaped Gnome, Mollers Gallery, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2014 2013

2012

2011 2010

Works on Paper, The Vivian, Matakana Earl Street Journal, milford galleries Queenstown The Small Show, The Vivian, Matakana Three Artists, Whitespace, Auckland The Local Show, The Vivian, Matakana Idyll, New Zealand Steel Gallery, Franklin Art Centre, Pukekohe East The Members Show, NorthArt Gallery, Auckland Small Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Review, milford galleries queenstown Small Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Landscape Show, The Vivian, Matakana Salvage, WHMilbank Gallery, Wanganui The Opening Show, The Vivian, Matakana Significant Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin Drawing the Line, Whitespace Auckland Rear Vision: 6 Artists Looking Back, Northart Gallery Small Works, milford galleries queenstown Large Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Earl Street Journal, milford galleries queenstown Wild Swans, Rayner Brothers Gallery, Wanganui Drawings, Annual Drawing Show, NorthArt Gallery, Auckland Small Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown Mahurangi Group at Matakana My City, Group Show, Whitespace, Auckland

Garry Currin 2014 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2009

2008 2007 2005 2004

2003 2002 2001 2000 1999

1998

1997

1996

1995 1994 1993 1981 1977

Wild Swans, Rayner Brothers Gallery, Wanganui Drawings (Annual Drawing Show), NorthArt Gallery, Auckland Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown Private Viewing, milford galleries queenstown 10 Big Paintings, NorthArt Gallery, Auckland Occupied Territory II, A Fine Line Gallery, Matakana Five By Three, Milford Galleries Dunedin Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown The Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown This Earth: Currin, Edwards and McFarlane, milford galleries auckland Group Show, Statements Gallery, Napier Transit of Venus, Milford Galleries Dunedin Transit of Venus, milford galleries queenstown Devonport Connections, Flagstaff Gallery, Auckland Overview IS AS: ‘Landscape As Metaphor’, Milford Galleries Dunedin Meeting Point, Flagstaff Gallery, Auckland 3 C’s, The Depot, Auckland Winners Show, Westshore Arts Centre, Auckland 100 x 100, McPherson Gallery, Auckland Eight Devonport Artists, Statements Gallery, Napier Beyond Beauty, Peter Muirs Petford Gallery, Auckland Milford Galleries Dunedin Small Works Exhibition, Drawings Gallery, Auckland Spiritual Themes in Art, St. Georges Church, Auckland Terrestrial Forces Exhibition, Statements Gallery, Napier Westshore Exhibition, Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland ASA Working Members Show, ASA Gallery, Auckland Ida Eise Award Exhibition, ASA Gallery, Auckland Art Auction Show, Outreach Gallery, Auckland Spiritual Themes Exhibition, St. Georges Church, Auckland Copy Art Exhibition, Outreach Gallery, Auckland Small Works Exhibition, Drawings Gallery, Auckland Group Show, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland ASA Working Members Show, ASA Gallery, Auckland Ida Eise Award Exhibition, ASA Gallery, Auckland Ida Eise Award Exhibition, ASA Gallery, Auckland ASA Working Members Show, ASA Gallery, Auckland ASA Working Members Show, ASA Gallery, Auckland Ida Eise Award Exhibition, ASA Gallery, Auckland ASA Portrait Exhibition, ASA Gallery, Auckland Group Show, Mollers Gallery, Auckland Group Show, Mollers Gallery, Auckland

AWARDS 2012 2011 2010 2008 2007 2005 2004 2003 2001 2000 1999 1998

The NZ Painting and Printmaking Award, Finalist The NZ Painting and Printmaking Award, Merit Award 19th Annual Wallace Awards, Finalist BMW Bonnet Artist grand prize at the BMW art awards Wallace Award, Finalist Wallace Award, Finalist Wallace Award, Finalist Wallace Award, Finalist Wallace Award, People’s Choice Award Cranleigh Barton Drawing Award, Finalist Cranleigh Barton Drawing Award, Finalist Wallace Award, Finalist Wallace Visa Gold Award, Finalist Wallace Award, Finalist

Garry Currin 2014 CV P a g e |3

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1997 1995 1992

Wallace Award, Finalist Wallace Award, Finalist Westshore Exhibition, two Merit Awards

COLLECTIONS The Wallace Trust Collection Private collections New Zealand, Europe and Australia

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011 2009 2008 2007 2006 2004 2003 2000

Eggleton, David, ‘Various Distances Apart’, Art New Zealand, Winter 2011, #138, p 20 Benson, Nigel, ‘Dark Lands’, Otago Daily Times, August 28 2008 John Daly-Peoples, ‘The Art Of BMW’, New Zealand Business Review, October 16 2008 ‘Paintings Mesh with Poetry’, Art News, Summer 2007 Howard, David, The Word Went Round, (with eight Garry Currin paintings accompanying the title poem), Otago University Press, 2006 Amery, Mark, ‘13th Wallace Awards Travelling Show, Dowse Museum’, Dominion Post, 2004 Smith, Charmian, ‘Shifting Changing World Inspires’, Otago Daily Times, March 27 2003 Eggleton, David, ‘Garry Currin: The Painter as Salvage Artist’, Art New Zealand, Autumn 2000

Various Distances Apart, Kaipara (2010)

Garry Currin 2014 CV P a g e |4

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz