BLAKE / THATCHER

INTRODUCING MARC BLAKE & TIM THATCHER 9th OCTOBER - 3rd NOVEMBER, 2010

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

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

18 Dowling Street

MARC BLAKE

1. MARC BLAKE, Everything I've Ever Known (2009) acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigm

ment ink & UVLS varnish on board, diptych; panels overall (v x h x d): 1203 x 2400 x 46 mm

1. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Everything I've Ever Known (2009)

1. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Everything I've Ever Known (2009)

2. MARC BLAKE, Waking Up [JC] (2010), acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 601 x 1201 x 47 mm

2. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Waking Up [JC] (2010)

3. MARC BLAKE, Fucking Paradise (2010), acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 598 x 597 x 47 mm

3. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Fucking Paradise (2010)

4. MARC BLAKE, Fleeting (2009), acrylic, colour pencil, pigment ink, posca & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 500 x 530 x 46 mm

4. DETAIL VIEW MARC BLAKE, Fleeting (2009)

5. MARC BLAKE, Look Out (2010) acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 196 x 200 x 46 mm

6. MARC BLAKE, La Danse des Casseurs (2010) acrylic, graphite, colour pencil, pigment ink & UVLS varnish on board, panel (v x h x d): 196 x 200 x 46 mm

MARC BLAKE b. 1974, lives Sydney, Australia

Waking Up [JC] 2010

“Memories of what was are left as shadows, rubbed out, scratched off, fuzzy and disappearing into the coloured wood grain. In areas the background becomes the foreground or the sea becomes the sky but all of the elements seem to work together, finding grounding in the grain of the wood. The illusion of three-dimensional space is only suggested by light stains in a natural grain or in the size of the specific elements in the work.” (1) “All of my pictures come partly from my own life or experience, but I’m also influenced by external or global media events too… it’s a combination of what is directly around me in real life, as well as what we can hunt down intentionally or just stumble across accidentally.” (2) “I have been predominantly interested during this period in my own local environment of Kings Cross, as well as a reflection on New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific region during a period of financial instability and relative future social, political and environmental uncertainty.” (3) 1. Eva Burns, Marc Blake- New Text, 2010 2. Marc Blake, 2009 3. Marc Blake, 2010 Marc Blake was born in Auckland where he lived and studied gaining a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Auckland. In 2002 he moved to Japan where he lived for four years before returning to New Zealand and on to Sydney where he now lives and works. Blake has exhibited regularly since 2002. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions at private galleries and public institutions including the Kyoto Cultural Museum, BankART Yokohama, and the Auckland Art Gallery. He has been a finalist in a number of awards such as The Wallace Trust Award and Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art. His works are in private collections throughout New Zealand and abroad as well as part of the Wallace Trust Collection.

Marc Blake 2010 CV P a g e |1

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

MARC BLAKE b. 1974, lives Sydney, Australia EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts (English Literature), University of Auckland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2008 2007 2006 2000

‘Nothing Like This’, Backspace, Christchurch ‘Condensed History’, Aveia Gallery, Auckland ‘Where It All Begins’, Backspace Gallery, Christchurch ‘Watergarden’, Arts Council Koganecho, Yokohama, Japan ‘New Paintings’, EON, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2010

2008

2007

2006 2005

Introducing Marc Blake and Tim Thatcher, Milford Galleries Dunedin Wallace Art Awards, Auckland Anna Pappas Gallery, Melbourne Wallace Art Awards, Auckland New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award, Auckland Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art, Christchurch New Zealand Fashion Week, Auckland ‘Off The Wall Project’, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland ‘Light and Dark’, Satellite Gallery, Auckland Backspace, Wellington, New Zealand ‘In the Midst’ (with Jos Wheeler) (independent), Auckland 3rd Annual Amuse Artjam, Kyoto Cultural Museum, Kyoto, Japan FIVE (with Ko Masuda), BankART Studio NYK, Yokohama, Japan

AWARDS 2010 2008

2005

Finalist, Annual Wallace Art Awards Finalist, New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award Finalist, Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art Finalist, Annual Wallace Art Awards Two month studio residency & exhibition, BankART NYK, Yokohama, Japan Finalist, 3Rd Annual Amuse Inc. Artjam, Kyoto Cultural Museum, Kyoto, Japan

COLLECTIONS The James Wallace Trust

Everything I’ve Ever Known (2009)

Marc Blake 2010 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

T I M THATCHER

1. TIM THATCHER, Void Memorial (2009), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1013 x 760 x 33 mm

1. DETAIL VIEW TIM THATCHER, Void Memorial (2009)

2. TIM THATCHER, Fortified with Ascending Arrangements (2010)

oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1013 x 758 x 33 mm

2. DETAIL VIEW TIM THATCHER, Fortified with Ascending Arrangements (2010)

3. TIM THATCHER, Untitled (Room) (2010), oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 913 x 710 x 33 mm

3. DETAIL VIEW TIM THATCHER, Untitled (Room) (2010)

4. TIM THATCHER, Shelter (2010) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 303 x 226 x 20 mm

5. TIM THATCHER, Eternal Flame (2010) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 303 x 225 x 20 mm

6. TIM THATCHER, Untitled (Table with Flowers) (2010)

oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 302 x 226 x 20 mm

7. TIM THATCHER, Platform (2010) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 303 x 226 x 20 mm

8. TIM THATCHER, Untitled (Tree Stump) (2010) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 303 x 225 x 20 mm

TIM THATCHER b. 1982, lives Wellington

“Space does not permit much description of his extraordinary imagery, Tree stumps can morph into volcanoes spouting empty word balloons; submarines hover in the sky above a snow-covered landscape; half-painted figures of animals are arranged in stage-like settings. It is a mixture of Salvador Dali, late Phillip Guston and Ross Ritchie, ‘a dry surrealism’. (1) “He values elements of roughness and awkwardness…He seeks balance between certainty and uncertainty. This reflects his working method, which is to start off with an image chosen more or less at random, then to develop it. At that point ‘things just happen’. (2) “In recent work he depicts fanciful constructions made from small logs and twigs. These drawn objects themselves rarely come into existence as sculpture.

“It’s not about making the objects,” he says, “it’s about making objects exist by just thinking about them. It’s your imagination that makes that happen. Drawing is a conversation between my mind and hand.” (2) 1.

2.

3.

Warwick Brown, Seen this Century, Godwit, 2009 ibid Sue Gardiner, “Where to Draw the Line…”, Art News, Spring 2006

Tim lives and works in Wellington. In 2006 he gained a Master of Fine Arts with First Class Honors from Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland. He has regularly exhibited work since 2005 both within dealer galleries and public institutions including the Christchurch City Art Gallery, Te Tuhi Gallery in Auckland, and in 2010 his work was exhibited at the Hirshfeld Gallery at the Wellington City Art Gallery. His paintings and drawings are in private and public collections including the James Wallace Trust.

Tim Thatcher 2010 CV P a g e |1

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

TIM THATCHER b. 1982, lives Wellington EDUCATION 2009 2006

Post Graduate Diploma of Education MFA (Hons),Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland Bachelor of Design, Unitec (Hons), Auckland

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

Stick & Stones, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland Nowherenow, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland A Decent Twitch, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland Nothing, Gallery East, Hamilton Pattern of Expectation, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2010 2009 2008

2007 2006 2005

Introducing Marc Blake and Tim Thatcher, Milford Galleries Dunedin Hirshfeld Gallery, Wellington Cloud 9 , Christchurch City Art Gallery, Christchurch.

A Generous Eye, works from the James Wallace collection. Toss Wollaston, Sarah Hughes, Michael Parakowhai, Philip Trustum, Francis Upritchard and Tim Thatcher. The Dowse Museum Painting In the digital age,. Te Tuhi, Auckland Painting In the digital age, Sarah Hughes, Andrew Mcleod, Darryn George and Tim Thatcher..

Pataka gallery, Porirua.

Collections, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland Group show, Anna Bibby Gallery, Newmarket Bring your Caddy, Elam Masters, Stanbeth House, Auckland Guernica, Custom’s Street gallery. Auckland

AWARDS Finalist James Wallace Trust

COLLECTIONS The James Wallace Trust

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2007 2004 2006 2007 2007 2009

McNamara, TJ. City and suburbs bathed in colour, NZ Herald, Tuesday, April 24, 2007 McNamara, TJ. The galleries: Trivial ornaments seen in new light, NZ Herald, Tuesday, April 27 Gardiner, Sue. Where to draw the line…Drawing is enjoying a renaissance in biennales and exhibitions worldwide, Art News, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2006, pp. 74-79 Kedgley, Helen. New Painting: Digital Age, Pataka Gallery, 2007 Amery, Mark. Good Hard Work, Dominion Post, Friday May 25, 2007 Brown, Warwick. Seen This Century, Random House, Auckland, 2009

Tim Thatcher 2010 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Two young contemporary artists’, each with a distinctively unique practice are showcased in ‘Introducing Marc Blake and Tim Thatcher’. A surrealist element is prevalent in both, from Marc Blake’s interrelating animals, natural elements and figures, to Tim Thatcher’s sculptural constructions of items and objects each artist presents strange and wonderful collections of thought and spaces on painted surfaces.

Marc Blake’s figures are grounded in the illusionary space created by shaded wood grain. Mountains, clouds, lakes and grasslands appear as if apparitions from the wood creating a landscape for his characters and objects to exist in. Golden manicured trees sprout from and balloons glide across the painting surface in ‘Everything I’ve Ever known’, where a large bright and vivid rainbow joins two opposing panels together. A myriad of figures (mostly wearing face masks) play part in a futuristic ‘shoot ‘em up’, creating scenarios that are all too common in the media of today.

The title ‘Fucking Paradise’ is both verb and adjective and the subject matter of the work has strong connections to the Pacific. What is tourism really doing for New Zealand? A lone yellow eyed penguin makes his way across the waterfront while a generously sized figure dressed in board shorts looks towards the sea, perhaps thinking about his afternoon swim, or dinner? The ghostly figures of bungee jumpers wearing gas masks plummet through the middle of the canvas. Will tourism still be a major draw-card when the landscape is not?

Environmental issues also manifest in Tim Thatcher’s works - a large tree stump stands where a tree once was and plants are potted and placed within constructed environments.

Rooms, buildings, sculptures and objects appear from rough and raw oil paint. At times the illusionary space is clear, but the illusion is shattered when part of the space has been smudged out or painted over bringing attention to the surface of the canvas and the quality of the paint. In ‘Untitled’ (Room), a multifaceted room appears, but something is odd about the space, the perspective is skewed and the surface is ruptured throwing out one’s spatial perception and flattening the illusion of space.

Thatcher’s places may appear strangely familiar. Often motivated by a real space, Thatcher manipulates and changes the painted environment until the original space no longer exists. In ‘Void Memorial’ objects are carefully placed together, creating a shrine-like composition. Everyday objects that could well exist within real spaces have been moved, stacked and manipulated into strange and peculiar and awkward arrangements giving the works a sense of mystery and the viewer a feeling of dislocation.

From precise and translucent graphite and acrylic wash to thick, expressive oil paint, both Marc Blake and Tim Thatcher offer us unique and thought-provoking paintings, showing the calibre of two of New Zealand’s most exciting emerging artists.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

MARK BLAKE 1

Everything I've Ever Known (2009)

8,500

2

Waking Up [JC] (2010)

4,000

3

Fucking Paradise (2010)

2,500

4

Fleeting (2009)

2,250

5

Look Out (2010)

500

6

La Danse des Casseurs (2010)

500

TIM THATCHER 1

Void Memorial (2009)

3,500

2

Fortified with Ascending Arrangements (2010)

3,500

3

Untitled (Room) (2010)

3,250

4

Shelter (2010)

950

5

Eternal Flame (2010)

950

6

Untitled (Table with Flowers) (2010)

950

7

Platform (2010)

950

8

Untitled (Tree Stump) (2010)

950

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