NEAL PALMER

NEAL PALMER WOVEN PATHS

12th June - 7th July, 2010 UPSTAIRS GALLERY

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown 9A Earl Street

(03) 442 6896

qtown@milfordgalleries.co.nz

1. NEAL PALMER, Woven Paths (2010) acrylic on c

canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1598 x 2518 x 35 mm

1. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Woven Paths (2010)

1. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Woven Paths (2010)

2. NEAL PALMER Bridget Knew It Was There But She Couldn't Quite Place It (2010), acrylic on board, panel (v x h x d): 500 x 2000 x 36 mm

2. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Bridget Knew It Was There But She Couldn't Quite Place It (2010)

3. NEAL PALMER On The Whole The Crowd Had Regained A Sense Of Balance (2010), acrylic on board, panel (v x h x d): 500 x 2000 x 36 mm

3. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, On The Whole The Crowd Had Regained A Sense Of Balance (2010)

4. NEAL PALMER Having Arrived it Seemed There Was More Than One Possible Departure (2010), acrylic on board, panel (v x h x d): 500 x 2000 x 36 mm

4. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Having Arrived it Seemed There Was More Than One Possible Departure (2010)

5. NEAL PALMER, I'm Beginning to See the Light (2010) a

acrylic on board, panel (v x h x d): 1220 x 1220 x 36 mm

6. NEAL PALMER, Focus (2010), acrylic on board, panel (v x h x d): 1577 x 902 x 36 mm

6. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Focus (2010)

7. NEAL PALMER, MG1 (2010), acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 35 mm

8. NEAL PALMER, MG2 (2010), acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 35 mm

9. NEAL PALMER, MG3 (2010), acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 35 mm

10. NEAL PALMER, MG4 (2010), acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 35 mm

Neal Palmer establishes pattern by using repetition, scale exaggeration, the tension of intersecting angles, the sliding geometry of arcs and the power of line. His blend of naturalism and elements of photo-realism traverses the tradition of botanical painting with demonstrably brilliant technique. He also evidences an unusual and quite remarkable ability to deliver compelling, complete, works of vastly different dimension and shape.

His palette is constrained but deeply expressive. His core subject for this exhibition is flax and his goal is as much to celebrate it as to make us look anew at what we could so easily take for granted.

His works are front loaded and use linear rhythms to carry the viewer’s eye in and about the composition. Important also is Palmer’s fascination with sculptural form which is revealed in each painting in many ways including the placement of flowers and seed pods in variable space.

Having arrived it seemed there was more than one possible departure (2010)

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1 Woven Paths (2010)

15,000

2 Bridget Knew It Was There But She Couldn't Quite Place It (2010)

6,500

3 On The Whole The Crowd Had Regained A Sense Of Balance (2010)

6,500

4 Having Arrived it Seemed There Was More Than One Possible Departure (2010)

6,500

5 I'm Beginning to See the Light (2010)

7,500

6 Focus (2010)

7,500

7 MG1 (2010)

3,500

8 MG2 (2010)

3,500

9 MG3 (2010)

3,500

10 MG4 (2010)

3,500

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

NEAL PALMER b. 1968, lives Auckland

Warp & Weft (2010)

“Vividness, hyper-reality and sheer painterly skill… Brilliant technique…”1. – “Precision on a grander scale is apparent in the work of Neal Palmer … Individual paintings often consist of panels of aluminium on board. They are held together by a dancing rhythm of intersecting geometric arcs. Behind these are accurately painted pohutukawa and flax. These are exuberant, three times life size, and often startlingly red though with a hint of decay and insect activity. The brushwork emphasises such things as the fibrous nature of flax leaves. The rhetorical enlargement, geometry and realism celebrate the variety of growth in many forms.”2.

“More than anything, these paintings are a reflection of the artist’s love of natural form and involvement with theact of painting; the manipulation of colour, its hues and tones to form convincing photorealistic pictures.”3.

Neal Palmer was born 1968 in London. He gained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fine arts from Trent University in Nottingham, England. He now lives and paints as a full time artist in Auckland. He has been a finalist in various art competitions such as the Margaret Stoddart prize and The Wallace Trust Awards and in 2010 he gained a merit award in the Molly Morpeth Art Award in Whakatane. He has had numerous and regular solo exhibitions since 1999.

1. T.J. McNamara in the NZ Herald reviewing Say It With Flowers, November 2008 2. T.J. McNamara in the NZ Herald, reviewing The Sum Of Their Parts, November 2006.

3. Suzie Campbell, ‘Snapshot Reality- The Painted World of Neal Palmer’, Art NZ, Autumn 2004

Neal Palmer 2010 CV P a g e |1

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

NEAL PALMER b. 1968, lives Auckland EDUCATION BA (Hons) Fine Art - Trent University, Nottingham, UK

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999

Woven Paths, milfrod galleries queenstown Get Real (Neal Palmer & Sam Foley), Whitespace, Auckland Say It With Flowers, SOCA, Auckland White Light, SOCA, Auckland The Sum Of Their Parts, SOCA, Auckland On The Fence - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland Between the Lines - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland Formation - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland Natural Explorations - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland New Zealand Icons - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland Larger Than Life (ii) - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland Larger Than Life - El Framo Gallery, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2010

2009 2008

2006 2005 2004

2003

2002 2001 2000 1999

Molly Morpeth Art Award (Merit Award), Whakatane Braveheart Youth Trust Art Exhibition, ASB Showgrounds, Auckland The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, Milford Galleries Queenstown Margret Stoddart Prize, COCA, Christchurch A Bid For Freedom (SAFE), SOCA, Auckland Flying Feijoa, SOCA, Auckland Artists in Eden, Auckland 100 x 100 – McPherson Gallery, Vulcan Lane, Auckland When Brush Meets Bonnet, Team McMillan BMW Art Awards, Auckland Art & Design, Clerkenwell, London Finalist, Wallace Art Awards, Auckland 35K & The Golden Apple, Artspace, Auckland Artists in Eden, Auckland Big Red - Celebrating the Pohutukawa, Rotorua Museum 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland Screen Invitational at Exit, Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland L.A. International Biennial Art Invitational, Los Angeles 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland Artists in Eden, Auckland 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland North Shore Art Awards - Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Vulcan Lane, Auckland North Shore Art Awards - Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland Coutts Mercedes - Studio Of Contemporary Art, Auckland

AWARDS 2010 2009 2004

Finalist and ‘Merit Award Winner’ Molly Morpth Awards Finalist, Margret Stoddart Prize Finalist, Wallace Art Awards

COLLECTIONS Air New Zealand, LAX Kings School Foundation, Auckland Art-Lease, Hong Kong Dawsons Catering, Auckland Private Collections in NZ, UK, Australia, USA, Spain, Malaysia and Hong Kong Neal Palmer 2010 CV P a g e |2

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz