NIGEL BROWN

NIGEL BROWN SELECTED WORKS

Preview & Artist Talk Friday 16th April from 5:30pm Opens Saturday 17th April 17th April - 12th May, 2010 UPSTAIRS GALLERY

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown

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

1. NIGEL BROWN, Ambition (2003) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 1564 x 883 x 60 mm, image (v x h): 1508 x 825 mm

2. NIGEL BROWN, Joy, Happiness, Luck - Larger Version (2007) oil on lin

nen, frame (v x h x d): 844 x 1397 x 57 mm, image (v x h): 788 x 1340 mm

3. NIGEL BROWN, Hard Doer (2006) oil & acrylic on linen, frame (v x h x d): 1396 x 844 x 62 mm, image (v x h): 1340 x 787 mm

4. NIGEL BROWN, I Remember Him (2006) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 847 x 644 x 62 mm, image (v x h): 790 x 586 mm

5. NIGEL BROWN, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2006) acrylic on board, frame (v x h x d): 845 x 644 x 64 mm, image (v x h): 788 x 586 mm

6. NIGEL BROWN, Luck And Me (2006) acrylic on board, frame (v x h x d): 845 x 643 x 64 mm, image (v x h): 788 x 585 mm

7. NIGEL BROWN, If I Could Sprinkle Gold Dust (2006) acrylic on board, frame (v x h x d): 845 x 643 x 64 mm, image (v x h): 788 x 586 mm

8. NIGEL BROWN, Dusky Sound (2007/08), oil on board, frame (v x h x d): 1846 x 1245 x 58 mm

9. NIGEL BROWN, Once If Your Curiosity Continued Insatiable (2007/08)

oil on board, frame (v x h x d): 1845 x 1243 x 58 mm

10. NIGEL BROWN, Resonate (2008), oil & acrylic on plywood, frame (v x h x d): 1265 x 844 x 58 mm

11. NIGEL BROWN, Joseph Banks (After Joshua Reynolds) (2006)

oil on canvas, frame (v x h x d): 462 x 263 x 58 mm

12. NIGEL BROWN, Cook Aotearoa (2007), oil on canvas, frame (v x h x d): 347 x 277 x 58 mm

13. NIGEL BROWN, Cook Seven Times (2008) oil o

on board, frame (v x h x d): 1243 x 2450 x 58 mm

14. NIGEL BROWN, Doubtful Doubtfully (2007/08) oil & acrylic on canvas, frame ( v x h x d): 957 x 653 x 58 mm

15. NIGEL BROWN, Madonna Mountain (2007/08) oil & stainless steel on linen, frame (v x h x d): 1399 x 850 x 59 mm

16. NIGEL BROWN, Waterfalls Up (2007/08) oil & stainless steel on linen, frame ( v x h x d): 850 x 645 x 58 mm

17. NIGEL BROWN, Reading for a Green New Zealand (2008) acrylic & oil on paper, frame (v x h x d): 831 x 641 x 25 mm, image (v x h): 584 x 414 mm

18. NIGEL BROWN, Study for Sonata I (Haydn Project) (2008) mixed media on paper, frame (v x h x d): 620 x 492 x 60 mm, drawing (v x h): 345 x 240 mm

Exhibition Pricelist 1 NIGEL BROWN, Ambition (2003)

17,500

2 NIGEL BROWN, Joy, Happiness, Luck - Larger Version (2007)

17,500

3 NIGEL BROWN, Hard Doer (2006)

17,500

4 NIGEL BROWN, I Remember Him (2006)

9,000

5 NIGEL BROWN, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2006)

9,000

6 NIGEL BROWN, Luck And Me (2006)

9,000

7 NIGEL BROWN, If I Could Sprinkle Gold Dust (2006)

9,000

8 NIGEL BROWN, Dusky Sound (2007/08)

30,000

9 NIGEL BROWN, Once If Your Curiosity Continued Insatiable (2007/08)

30,000

10 NIGEL BROWN, Resonate (2008)

17,500

11 NIGEL BROWN, Joseph Banks (After Joshua Reynolds) (2006)

7,000

12 NIGEL BROWN, Cook Aotearoa (2007)

6,500

13 NIGEL BROWN, Cook Seven Times (2008)

35,000

14 NIGEL BROWN, Doubtful Doubtfully (2007/08)

9,000

15 NIGEL BROWN, Madonna Mountain (2007/08)

17,500

Exhibition Pricelist 16 NIGEL BROWN, Waterfalls Up (2007/08)

9,000

17 NIGEL BROWN, Reading for a Green New Zealand (2008)

4,300

18 NIGEL BROWN, Study for Sonata I (Haydn Project) (2008)

3,690

Nigel Brown is undoubtedly New Zealand’s most significant narrative artist.

Each painting tells a story in a characteristic style which unites the past and present, the social and political, human spirit and endeavour.

This exhibition traverses two major series – Brown’s revisiting of Otago’s gold mining identity and history, and the very important Captain Cook paintings where we see Cook and the colonial and European legacy he represents, being examined and questioned by contemporary perception and sensibility.

Evident across both bodies of work is a well-developed stylistic coherence.

The two series are further united by the critically important and fundamental role the southern South Island landscape performs in all of them. As well as being a core subject itself, this landscape acts as a stage for Brown’s humanistic concerns and multiple dialogues.

Nigel Brown’s ability to establish individual character, to portray event with insider insight and understanding has long been a hallmark of his work.

Equally significant is how he uses signs and symbols to imbue the paintings with deep resonances and to broaden cultural and social context.

Ultimately, Brown is tilling our history and telling who we are (becoming) through our deeds. He reminds us again and again that everything is interconnected – the environment, the dreams of aspiration, the passage of time etc. He uses words as narrative devices, as architectural monuments and (ultimately) emblematically.

NIGEL BROWN b. 1949, lives Cosy Nook

All Our Days (2007-08)

Nigel Brown has established a reputation as one the most important figurative artists working in New Zealand and is acknowledged as New Zealand’s leading narrative artist. His distinctive works are a blend of symbolic and expressionistic approaches with a deep social concern. He regularly exhibits his paintings at both Milford Galleries Dunedin and milford galleries queenstown.

Nigel Brown actively uses story telling precepts within the ‘confines’ of the image. He directly and selectively employs history, literature, politics etc as devices and in so doing examines the varied plights of the individual and environment with an emotional, intuitive sympathy which is accurate, incisive and clothed in a vernacular of the human condition.

His work expresses fundamental spiritual and humanistic concerns common to mankind. These are infused with the particularity of cultural location and reference, the specific of place and event, the dynamism of individual character and personality with the narrative (artist as author) point of view.

He is a potent myth-maker and articulates the conscience of a country reinterpreting and revisiting its past. He translates this and expresses its (discordant) present with the expectation of better things to come.

Nigel Brown (ONZM) born Invercargill, New Zealand 1949. Bachelor of Fine Arts, Elam School of Arts, University of Auckland 1971. Brown began his full time artist career in 1972. Since then he has exhibited extensively in public and private galleries throughout New Zealand and has had several touring exhibitions. After many years living in suburban Auckland, he moved to a rural coastal property in Southland in 2000. He has received numerous awards, commissions and residencies and is represented in most New Zealand public collections and many private collections. Brown was awarded the Order of NZ Merit for Services to painting and printmaking in 2004 and in 2005 Brown was awarded a three week residency in Russia hosted by NZ’s ambassador in Moscow, Stuart Prior.

In addition to his painting, Brown is also a printmaker and he has undertaken two significant stained glass window designs – St Mary’s Catholic Church, Auckland (1991) and Auckland Cathedral, Parnell (1998). In 2000-2001 ‘Points Along the Way’ (a survey) toured New Zealand.

Most recently Brown completed ‘Seven Last Words’ (2009) a suite of lithographs commissioned

by Chamber Music NZ in association with String Quartet in honour of the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death.

Nigel Brown 2010 CV P a g e |1

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

NIGEL BROWN b. 1949, lives Cosy Nook EDUCATION 1968-71

Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland (BFA) (Tutors include McCahon and Ellis)

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2009

2008

2007 2006

2005 2004

2003 2002

2001

2000 1999 1998

1996 1993

1988

All Our Days, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Haydn Lithos, Touring Papergraphica Exhibition, Launching at Futuna Chapel, Karori, Wellington Conversations, milford galleries queenstown Lamp, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland Antarctic Visions, Williams Gallery, Petone Gold Miner, Milford Galleries Dunedin Will To Meaning, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland Worded Image, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland Southern Odyssey Project Commission: Painting for Railway, Mossburn Hotel Iconic Way, milford galleries queenstown Yeah, Human, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland Allegories, Tinakori Gallery, Wellington I Am IV, CoCA, Christchurch Human Condition, Tinakori Galley, Wellington Dance of the Origin, Milford Galleries Dunedin Points Along The Way, Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru I Am III, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland Points Along the Way, Ashburton Art Gallery, Forester Gallery, Oamaru I Am II, Tinakori Galley, Wellington This Human Place, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland Points Along the Way, Pataka Porirua Museum of Arts and Culture; Fisher Gallery, Auckland; Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui I Am, Warwick Henderson Gallery, Auckland Points Along The Way, touring show by Milford Galleries Dunedin Encounter and Discovery: Pacifica, Rotorua Museum of Art and History Antarctica, touring show Government House, Wellington & Auckland, Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Canterbury Museum Pacifica V Southland, Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill Living Here Aotearoa, Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru; Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch Living Here Aotearoa, A Survey, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North 1984 and After, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2009 2008

2007

Medallion Show, Remuera Gallery, Auckland Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown Nine Artists in Fiordland, St Paul’ Cathedral (Caselburg Trust) Dunedin Eden Arts Sketchbook Project: For Artists in Eden Day Select, Old School, Puke Ariki, New Plymouth 56th Peace Art Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Veno Japan Sinfonia Antarctica, The New Dowse, Lower Hutt Te Kauri Zealandia, Warkworth (2008-2009) Guest Artist (With B. Brickell) NZ Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington Artists to Save our Water, NG Gallery, Christchurch Showcasing Southland Artists, Southland Museum and Art Gallery Adornment, Medallion Group, Waiheke 55th Peace Art Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Veno Japan Art for Conversation, Michael Fowler Centre / Government House, Wellington

Nigel Brown 2010 CV P a g e |2

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2006 2005

2003 2002 1996 1994 1987 1985

Driving Creek collaborative ceramic sculpture with Barry Brickell Everyday Moments, (with Cathy Helps), CoCA, Christchurch Russian Works, NZ Embassy, Moscow, Russia A Russian Journey, Lithographs, Muka, Auckland Deco Echo, Statements Gallery, Napier Road Works, Statements Gallery, Napier Murals for Auckland Town Hall Restoration Project and Green Peace.

Visiting Artist, Hawkes Bay Polytechnic 1987 Print Series, City Gallery, Wellington Living in the Bomb Age, Dunedin Public Art Gallery

AWARDS & COMMISSIONS 2009

2005 2004 1998

1995 1993 1991 1986 1981 1978

“The Haydn Lithos”, Printed Papergraphica, Christchurch. Commissioned by Chamber Music NZ in association with NZ String Quartet (performance) and Sara Brodie (video included in the performance). Performance touring New Zealand, 2009 Awarded a three week residency in Russia hosted by NZ’s ambassador in Moscow, Stuart Prior, and partially funded by private contributors in NZ ONZM for services to Painting and Print Making Inaugural member Artists to Antarctica Stained glass window commission Auckland Anglican Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, Auckland Southern Odyssey Project Commission: Painting for Railway, Mossburn Hotel Finalist Visa Gold Artist in Residence, Wanganui Regional Polytechnic Stained glass window commission St Mary’s Catholic Church, Auckland Awarded QEII Arts Council Grant Awarded QEII Arts Council Grant for travel to USA, UK & Europe Awarded QEII Arts Council Grant

COLLECTIONS Hocken Library Dunedin Alexander Turnbull Library Auckland Art Gallery Sarjeant Gallery Robert McDougall Art gallery Te Papa Tongarewa Manawatu Art gallery Dowse Art Museum Waikato Museum of Art & History Lincoln College University of Auckland University of Otago Chartwell Trust Collection Aigantighe Art gallery Creative NZ University of Canterbury Porirua Court Massey University University of Waikato Gisborne Museum & Arts Centre The Rutherford Collection Anderson Park Art Gallery

Nigel Brown 2010 CV P a g e |3

Christchurch City Council Ministry Of External Relations and Trade The Suter Hawkes Bay Polytechnic ANZ Bank BNZ Fletcher Challenge Bank of NZ Bromhead Design Centra Hotel Russell McVeagh Simpson Grierson Fletcher Challenge Petroleum Natural Gas Corporation PricewaterhouseCoopers Westpac Trust Buddle Findlay NZ Insurance Tower Corporation AMP Millennium Hotels

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2009

2008

2007

2004 1991

‘The Christian Symbolism of Nigel Brown’, Alastair Lane, Stimulus, Vol 17, Issue 1, February 2009 The Brown Years, exhibition catalogue, Tauranga Art Gallery. (Catalogue essay by Penny Jackson) Gifford, Adam, ‘Shadows of McCahon and More’, Herald, October 11, 2008 Orton, Mark, Nine Artists in Fiordland, A DVD of Break Sea Girl Trip Kim Hill Interview, Radio NZ, 19 April 2008 The Real Art Show (Promotional pack for touring show) ‘Talk Talk’, Finlay McDonald, Free Air, Recorded June 2008 Johnstone, Christopher, The Painted Garden in NZ Art, Random House NZ, 2008 Wolfe, Richard, NZ Portraits, , Penguin, 2008 Trussell, Dennis, The Expressive Forest, Brick Row Publishing, Auckland, 2008 K.M., Bravado (Cover), Issue 14, 2008, (Included Katherine Mansfield Conference Paper by P. Jackson, London) ‘Te Ara’, the Encyclopaedia of NZ, Online, Ministry of Culture and Heritage Fallow, Michael, ‘Vulnerable Stuff’, Southland Times, 2007 Eyley, C.P., No Nukes is Good Nukes, CD, 2007 Clairmont, Sunday Programme, 4/11/2007, TV1 Footage and interview Will To Meaning, Catalogue 2007, W.H. Gallery, Auckland. (Note by B. Brickell) Dance of the Origin, DVD material (unedited) of Milford Galleries Dunedin exhibition, 2004, (TV1 coverage, rehearsal, paintings) O’Brien, Gregory, Nigel Brown, Random Century

Nigel Brown 2010 CV P a g e |4

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz