NEIL FRAZER

NEIL FRAZER SNOW, ROCK, SAND 10th July - 4th August, 2010 UPSTAIRS GALLERY

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown 9A Earl Street

(03) 442 6896

qtown@milfordgalleries.co.nz

1. NEIL FRAZER, Cold Shoulder (Study) (2007) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 915 x 915 x 25 mm

2. NEIL FRAZER, Passageway (2006) oil & acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1370 x 1370 x 30 mm

3. NEIL FRAZER, Shadow Line (2007) oil over acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1522 x 1524 x 34 mm

4. NEIL FRAZER, Divider (2007) oil over acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1522 x 1522 x 34 mm

5. NEIL FRAZER, Chill Factor (2008) oil over acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1528 x 1528 x 25 mm

6. NEIL FRAZER, Watchman (2008), acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1375 x 1373 x 28 mm

7. NEIL FRAZER, Black Sand Ridge (2008) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1529 x 1529 x 24 mm

8. NEIL FRAZER, Black Sand Peak (2006/08) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1528 x 1530 x 25 mm

9. NEIL FRAZER, Black Sand Valley (2008) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1529 x 1525 x 27 mm

10. NEIL FRAZER, Cove (2008), acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1020 x 1018 x 27 mm

11. NEIL FRAZER, Chisel Back (2008), acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1020 x 1018 x 27 mm

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1

Cold Shoulder (Study) (2007)

6,500

2

Passageway (2006)

13,500

3

Shadow Line (2007)

16,000

4

Divider (2007)

16,000

5

Chill Factor (2008)

16,000

6

Watchman (2008)

13,500

7

Black Sand Ridge (2008)

16,000

8

Black Sand Peak (2006/08)

16,000

9

Black Sand Valley (2008)

16,000

10

Cove (2008)

8,500

11

Chisel Back (2008)

8,500

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

Neil Frazer has pioneered a method and style in his work which is unique – he uses abstract expressionist techniques, sculptor’s volume, and painter’s depth as components of the building process. A duality of spatial illusion and material literalness sits at the very heart of his masterful paintings and because of this they come to both describe and reveal.

He achieves the remarkable combination of pictorial realism, accuracy of belief and the unique specifics of place. It is as if each painting has been hewn and built from the fundamental essences and very materials of each place depicted, and so each work has profound physical substance, three-dimensionality and enormity of scale. There are sophisticated textural dialogues established through varied marks and a commanding use of impasto painting techniques. He uses negative space as a silhouette and implies the sky in this way.

This exhibition combines two distinct bodies of work – the Southern Alps and the seashore – and demonstrates that the artist moves completely convincingly from one to the other. Each work has individual characteristics and delivery – line of sight, for example, varies significantly – as Frazer establishes the fact and specifics of place with the fiction of paint.

In every work, Frazer traverses the pictorial traditions of landscape painting with techniques deeply informed by abstract painting techniques and in this manner he has completely reinvigorated it. It is no exaggeration to state that his vision and delivery is so convincingly stated and delivered as to be utterly unlike any other that has preceded it.

NEIL FRAZER b. 1961, lives Sydney

Neil Frazer ‘Chisel Back’ (2008)

Although the surfaces of Neil Frazer’s paintings owe something to the American abstract expressionist movement of the 1950s, he has developed a deeply personal approach to the medium. “The oddly compelling nature of Neil Frazer’s body of work is not solely the result of his handling of paint. The power of the works hinges on his creation of a duality of spatial illusion and material literalness on a scale that is all-involving. The picture plane is rendered elusive, replaced by optical recession and tactile fact, resisting a complete assimilation of the image. The works all operate on this frontal/recessive contradiction, evoking simultaneously thick, constructive curtains of paint and veiled depths.”1 In Frazer’s large-scale oil paintings, paint is often laid in thick impasto so that it protrudes from the canvas. “Frazer works his canvases on the vertical, attached to the wall, and applies the paint in a variety of ways, including rags, brushes and his own hands. Often in the later stages, he flicks the paint with his fingers straight from the tube onto the canvas, the twist of his wrist creating regular, bright loops of colour which articulate the surface of the painting, erupting away from the receding nebulous tones of the background.”2 Neil Frazer: “I’m not trying to make paintings that solve world problems or hold out a mirror to society, but I believe painting has the power to provoke thought and feeling and can make a positive contribution”. 3 Frazer was born in Canberra Australia in 1961 and moved to New Zealand in 1965. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch in 1985. He attended the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, New York, USA in 1986. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia in 2000. Neil has had 30 solo exhibitions in New Zealand and Australia since 1984. He has received many premier awards and fellowships in New Zealand and Australia, including the 1992 Frances Hodgkin’s Fellowship at the University of Otago. His work is included in most major public, corporate and private collections in New Zealand including the National Bank, Fletcher Challenge and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.

1. Lisa Beaven, ‘Neil Frazer Recent Paintings’, Art New Zealand 66, Autumn 1993.

2. Felicity Milburn, ‘Neil Frazer: Stretched to the Limit’, McDougall Art Annex, 1996.

3. Neil Frazer quoted in Michael McHugh ‘Opposites Attract’ FQ Entertaining, Winter, 1998.

Neil Frazer 2010 CV P a g e |1

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

NEIL FRAZER b. 1961, lives Sydney EDUCATION 2000 1986 1985

Master of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture, New York, USA Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Ilam School of Fine Arts, Christchurch

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selected from 1993) 2010 2008

2007

2006 2005

2004

2003

2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

1995 1994 1993

Snow, Rock, Sand, milford galleries queenstown Neil Frazer, Philip Bacon Galleries, Queensland Melt, milford galleries queenstown Bowen Galleries, Wellington Perfect Day, milford galleries queenstown Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia Selected Works 1996 – 2007, Milford Galleries Auckland Southern Elevations, milford galleries queenstown milford galleries auckland Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia View Finder, Milford Galleries Dunedin milford Galleries auckland Recent Paintings- Milford Galleries Dunedin milford galleries auckland Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia Super Nature, Milford Galleries Dunedin Recent Abstract Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin milford galleries auckland Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch New Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin Bowen Gallery, Wellington milford galleries auckland Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney, Australia milford galleries auckland Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney, Australia Olsen Carr Gallery, Sydney, Australia milford galleries auckland Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch Robert Mc Dougall Art Annex, Survey Exhibition, Christchurch Brooker Gallery, Wellington Milford Galleries Dunedin Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Brooker Gallery, Wellington Luba Bilu Gallery, Melbourne, Australia Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand Hocken Library Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand Luba Bilu Gallery, Melbourne, Australia Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected from 1993) 2009 2007

Southern Traverse, milford galleries queenstown Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown Looking South, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Neil Frazer 2010 CV P a g e |2

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Auckland Art Fair, milford galleries auckland Chosen - Milford Galleries Dunedin Location South - Milford Galleries Dunedin A Feeling for Space, the Landscape Now- Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia Postcards from the Desert, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney, Australia In the Heat of Summer, Martin Browne Fine Art Sydney, Australia OverView; Abstraction & Still Life, Milford Galleries Dunedin ABN AMRO Art Award, Finalist, Sydney, Australia Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia Visiting Artist, Norsewear Art Awards, Hastings, Auckland New England Art Gallery, NSW, Australia James Wallace Art Award Finalist, Auckland, New Zealand Martin Browne Fine Art Sydney, Australia Norsewear Art Award Guest Artist, Hastings, New Zealand Art Gallery of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne Over the Back Fence, Bowen Galleries, Christchurch Art for Life Charity Auction, Christchurch, New Zealand 40 out 40, McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne Recent Acquisitions, Canterbury University

2006

2004

2003

2002 2001 1998 1994

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES 2008 2004 2003

Fleurieu Water Prize finalist ABN AMRO Art Award, Finalist, Sydney James Wallace Art Award Finalist, Auckland Norsewear Art Award Guest Artist, Hastings Victoria College of the Arts, Artist in Residence at the Dunmoochin Foundation, Melbourne, Australia Awarded Artist Residency at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Australia Artist in Residency Victoria College of the Arts, Melbourne Francis Hodgkins Fellowship, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand New Zealand Arts Councils Grant Fulbright Travel Grant for study New York Studio School Sawtell Turner Painting Prize, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand Ethel Rose Overton Scholarship, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand

1993

1993 1992 1986 1986 1984 1983

SELECTED COLLECTIONS Macquarie Bank Collection, Sydney, Australia Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch, New Zealand Dunmoochin Foundation, Melbourne, Australia St George Foundation, Sydney, Australia Baker & McKenzie, Sydney, Australia Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, New Zealand Lincoln College Art Collection, Christchurch, New Zealand National Bank Art Collection, New Zealand Otago University Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand Victoria University Collection, Wellington, New Zealand Hocken Library Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand Deloittes Collection, Auckland, New Zealand Electro Corporation, Wellington, New Zealand Victoria University Collection, Wellington, New Zealand

RECENT ARTICLES 2008 2006

Duggan, Donna ‘White Out’ Mind Food , April 2008 (attached) Hynes, Victoria ‘Two Up’ Australian Art Review, issue 12, November 2006

Neil Frazer 2010 CV P a g e |3

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz