DICK FRIZZELL

Dick Frizzell

Selected Paintings 1981-2009 30th July - 24th August 2011

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

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

1. DICK FRIZZELL, Egyptian Style Tiki (1998) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 1100 x 930 x 55 mm, stretcher (v x h x d): 803 x 651 x 35 mm

1. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Egyptian Style Tiki (1998)

2. DICK FRIZZELL, Ochre Tiki (1998) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 1090 x 910 x 55 mm, stretcher (v x h x d): 800 x 650 x 35 mm

2. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Ochre Tiki (1998)

3. DICK FRIZZELL, Tin Plate Stack (2001) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 528 x 628 x 55 mm

4. DICK FRIZZELL, Still Life with Red Jug (2009) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 525 x 676 x 55 mm

4. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Still Life with Red Jug (2009)

5. DICK FRIZZELL, Duelling Barrows (1998) triptych; oil on linen, frame (v x

h x d): 637 x 2315 x 55 mm, stretchers (v x h x d): 608 x 760 x 36 mm each

6. DICK FRIZZELL, Backyard Painting (Detail) [Axe] (1981)

oil on board, frame (v x h x d): 754 x 568 x 40 mm

7. DICK FRIZZELL, Backyard Painting (Detail) [Pruning Shears] (1981)

oil on board, frame (v x h x d): 926 x 685 x 40 mm

7. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Backyard Painting (Detail) [Pruning Shears] (1981)

8. DICK FRIZZELL, Girl on a Horse (2008) oil on board, frame (v x h x d): 1025 x 1025 x 55 mm

8. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Girl on a Horse (2008)

9. DICK FRIZZELL, Railway Cutting (2001), oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 525 x 675 x 55 mm

9. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Railway Cutting (2001)

10. DICK FRIZZELL, Burnt Stump (1999) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 1230 x 1030 x 55 mm

10. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Burnt Stump (1999)

11. DICK FRIZZELL, Down by the Lake (1985) oil on board, frame (v x h x d): 1705 x 998 x 55 mm

11. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Down by the Lake (1985)

12. DICK FRIZZELL, Bedtime (2008) oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 1026 x 1029 x 55 mm

12. DETAIL VIEW DICK FRIZZELL, Bedtime (2008)

Dick Frizzell is without doubt one of the most influential artists working in New Zealand today. This collection of paintings, spanning 30 years of his practice, illustrates the depth and breadth of his oeuvre, as well as revealing the common threads that link them. While we are asked to work in order to see the continuum that links ‘Backyard Painting (Detail) [Axe]’ with ‘Down by the Lake’ or ‘Egyptian Style Tiki’, the subtlety with which Frizzell utilises his considerable talents to link and cross-link his paintings becomes obvious upon closer observation.

Frizzell is acutely aware of the cultural cross-references he employs and is willing to dip into a range of methods to draw the viewer’s attention to the issues that underlie his works. In ‘Duelling Barrows’ (1998) the realistic depiction of the utilitarian (proletarian?) wheelbarrow is placed on a colour field rather than a lawn and is further ‘elevated’ by its proximity to a landscape that bears the stylistic hallmarks of the Fauves: thick outlines, saturated palette, stylised forms. Frizzell deliberately juxtaposes the everyday object and the art reference to create tension and vigour in the triptych, confronting the viewer with the age-old question ‘Yes – but is it art?’.

This same tension occurs with Frizzell’s use of recognised art genres – the still life, the landscape, the portrait, the nude. As a landscape painting, ‘Burnt Stump’ encompasses multiple painterly techniques; a delicately worked copse of trees would not be out of place in a painting by Turner, but the energetic daubs of green in the foreground and the starkness of the stump, rendered in rich blacks and browns, owe more to the painters of the early twentieth century. Rich with commentaries, Frizzell plays with the landscape genre, questioning the traditional view of art’s history. He renders the Kiwi vernacular in oils - the viewer is literally ‘on this side of the black stump’ - and the stump’s central dominance in the work necessitates consideration about issues of land use, agriculture and the environment with which the artist is concerned.

Similarly multi-layered and literally turning its back on traditional portraiture, ‘Down by the Lake’ eschews the face and gaze of the sitter for Frizzell’s image of the archetypal Kiwi bloke: one who works with his body, who is physically bowed down, and, one imagines, who is little concerned with the art world or its ilk. Despite this, we cannot help but read the artist’s coded cultural references to the idea of an Antipodean Atlas weighed down by the weight of the world, or to a southern Saviour entering a baptismal lake, or indeed to that other archetypal man, Adam, after being cast out of Eden and condemned to toil ever after. Frizzell is acutely aware of the power of these art historical tropes and intentionally invites questions about their relationship to the subjects of his paintings.

Nowhere in this collection is the artist’s interest in the power of the image and its manipulation more evident than in ‘Egyptian Style Tiki’ and ‘Ochre Tiki’. From their first outing in a landmark 1992 exhibition, Frizzell’s series of tiki works turned the New Zealand art world on its head. As a Pakeha refiguring a Maori cultural icon (albeit one that had been bastardised and commercialised) Frizzell instigated a torrent of political, cultural and social debate that changed the way New Zealand looked at its art traditions. Painting tiki in the style of the ‘greats’ of twentieth century art – Miro, Picasso, Braque – he engendered discussions about cultural (mis)appropriation, bicultural cross-fertilisations, art as design, and the politicisation of New Zealand art to name but a few. It was crucial that these issues began to be addressed and Frizzell continues to do this.

Given the rapid and complex societal change that has occurred in New Zealand over the last thirty years, the questions of Kiwi identity, culture, environment, and art are ever relevant. As a practising artist, Dick Frizzell is firmly ensconced in a role that asks him to query, to needle, to invent, to reflect. That he still performs this role with dedication and assurance underscores Frizzell’s commitment to his art, his ideas and his environment, and we are much the richer for it.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1

Egyptian Style Tiki (1998)

POA

2

Ochre Tiki (1998)

POA

3

Tin Plate Stack (2001)

20,000

4

Still Life with Red Jug (2009)

20,000

5

Duelling Barrows (1998)

30,000

6

Backyard Painting (Detail) [Axe] (1981)

15,000

7

Backyard Painting (Detail) [Pruning Shears] (1981)

19,000

8

Girl on a Horse (2008)

17,500

9

Railway Cutting (2001)

22,500

10

Burnt Stump (1999)

POA

11

Down by the Lake (1985)

POA

12

Bedtime (2008)

POA

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

DICK FRIZZELL b. 1943, lives Hawkes Bay

Reclining Woman (2006)

“It was while working in the environment of commercial advertising that Frizzell began to pluck familiar objects from their usual context and turn them into arresting images. Several products that were ‘household’ names to New Zealanders in the late 1970’s became icons in Frizzell’s hands. From sources as varied as canned fish wrappers, corner shop signage and junk mail, he turned images into paintings, giving titles that introduced unexpected associations.”(1) Frizzell’s work has often had “an eclectic quality, brought about by the variety of styles he has borrowed, pastiched or commented on in his art. In much of his imagery, no line is drawn between low art sources such as comic book illustrations or packaging and the high art references with which his painting is freely sprinkled.”(2) Prints and paintings "inspired by comics, advertising trademarks, Maori iconography and rural road signs have flowed out of him for more than four decades, during which time Frizzell has enlivened the local art world with his wit. His is a world in which no image is too sacred or too banal." (3) Born in Auckland in 1943, he studied at the Canterbury School of Fine Arts between 1960 and 1963. He has an art practice that spans over 40 years. His works are held in all major public, corporate and private collections in New Zealand. He has also completed a number of major commissions including works for Sky City Casino (Auckland) and the painting of an Ansett New Zealand aeroplane for Starship Children's Hospital. In 1997 a retrospective exhibition of his work, 'Dick Frizzell: Portrait of a Serious Artiste', was toured to major national institutions. In 2009 his book ‘Dick Frizzell: The Painter’ was published.

1. Elizabeth Caughey & John Gow, Contemporary New Zealand Art 2, 1999 2. Michael Dunn, Contemporary Painting in New Zealand, 1996 3. Grant Smithies, 'Accidental Artist', Sunday Star Times, September 2008

Dick Frizzell 2011 CV P a g e |1

milford

galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

DICK FRIZZELL b. 1943, lives Hawkes Bay EDUCATION 1964

Ilam Art School, Canterbury, New Zealand

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS (1986 -) 2011 2010 2010 2009 2008 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

2001 2000 1999 1998 1997

1996

1995 1994 1993

1992

1991 1990

1989 1987 1986

Selected Paintings 1981 – 2009, milford galleries queenstown The Gloves Are Off, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Works on Paper, Milford Galleries Dunedin Treasures from a Skull Cave, Black Barn Art Gallery, Hawkes Bay Walking Back to Happiness, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Recent Works on Paper, milford galleries queenstown Recent Works on Paper, Milford Galleries Dunedin An Event of One, Dick Frizzell in Antarctica 2005, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Recent Works on Paper, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Pumpkin is a Red Herring, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Please keep us safe while we sleep by the fire, Hawkes Bay Art Museum Pleased to remember, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland What is this, Gow Langsford Gallery, Sydney, Australia Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Welcome to Sunny Hawkes Bay, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Home Truths, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Exhibition of Paintings, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch Patched Up, Andrew Jensen Gallery, Wellington What I Yam - the Junk Mail Narratives, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Dick Frizzell, Portrait of a Serious Artiste, City Gallery Wellington, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin Vanity Vanity, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Popova to Remuera, John Leech Gallery, Auckland Summer Muster, Andrew Jensen Gallery, Wellington Construction from Freedom, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch Lost and Found, Lesley Kriesler Gallery, New Plymouth Line and Point, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch Lesley Kriesler Gallery, New Plymouth Ambitious Objects, Andrew Jensen Gallery, Wellington P.O.P. Past on Paper, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Hoi Te Toi Te, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland No Figure Necessary, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland European Descendant, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Hook, Line and Sinker, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington The Agua Amarga Suite, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Selected Hook, Line and Sinker works, Lesley Kriesler Gallery, New Plymouth South Island Landscapes, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland South Island Landscapes, Exhibited at the Carnegie Centre, Dunedin, Tiki, Works on Paper at Salamander Gallery Art Centre, Christchurch, Tiki, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland What’s the Big Idea?, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington South Island Landscapes, CSA Gallery, Christchurch Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Big Paintings, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Images for Lovers, Works on Paper Gallery, Auckland Lithographs, Muka Studio and Regent Hotel, Auckland Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Heads On, Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland

Dick Frizzell 2011 CV P a g e |2

milford

galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2008 2008 2006 2005 2004 2004 2001-2002 2001 1998

1997

1996 1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

Works on Paper, Milford Galleries Dunedin The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown Summer Show, Milford Galleries Dunedin John Leech & Gow Langsford Galleries Spring Catalogue, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Bloom, milford galleries queenstown The Review, milford galleries queenstown Works on Paper, milford galleries queenstown Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown Works on Paper, Milford Galleries Dunedin Tiki Tour, Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei Recent Floral Works, milford galleries queenstown Telecom Prospect: New Art New Zealand, City Gallery, Wellington Notable Works – major investment profile works by leading NZ artists, milford galleries queenstown The Cartoon Show, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland Screens, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Landscapes, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (with Karl Maughan).

Spring Exhibition, Anderson Park Gallery, Timaru Dream Collectors, Museum of New Zealand, Wellington; Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland Catalogue Exhibition, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Catalogue Exhibition, Milford House Gallery, Dunedin Figurative Exhibition, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Design Love Story, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin Visa Gold Award, New Gallery, Auckland Stop Making Sense, Collaboration with Shane Cotton, Wellington City Art Gallery, Wellington Works on Paper, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland The Artistic Process, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth A Peculiar Practice: 40 New Zealand Painters, Wellington City Art Gallery H2O, Dowse Art Gallery, Lower Hutt Gaugain Tribute, RKS Gallery, Auckland Visa Gold Award, Wellington City Art Gallery, Wellington Test Strip Fundraiser Show, Test Strip Gallery, Auckland Ho Ho Ho, Christmas Group Show, Andrew Jensen Gallery, Wellington, Landscape Survey, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland.

Hammond, Frizzell, Stevenson, Gregory Flint Gallery, Auckland The Spectrum Collection, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Finalist, Visa Gold Award, Wellington City Art Gallery, Wellington Artist’s Wallpaper, The Fisher Gallery, Pakuranga, Auckland Artists Fax, CSA Gallery, Christchurch Christmas Show, FHE Gallery, Auckland, Elvis in Geyserland, Rotorua Art Gallery, Rotorua Artists Ceramics, Fisher Gallery, Pakuranga, Auckland Christmas Giving, Artspace Gallery, Auckland Helping the Recovery, Works on Paper Gallery, Auckland Works on Paper Gallery, Auckland Big Green, Dowse Art Gallery, Lower Hutt Real Surreal, CSA Gallery, Christchurch Cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, James Wallace Gallery, Wellington Artiture Show Tour, New Zealand with Russian Constructivist Tiki Rug Wild West Show, Lopdell House Gallery, Titirangi, Auckland Art and Organised Labour, Touring Show

Dick Frizzell 2011 CV P a g e |3

milford

galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011 2010 1997

Wolfe, Richard and Stephen Robinson, Artists At Work, Penguin Books, London, England Frizzell, Dick, Dick Frizzell: The Painter, Godwit: Auckland Allan Smith, Dick Frizzell: Portrait of a Serious Artiste, (catalogue) The City Gallery, Wellington/Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 1997

Egyptian Style Tiki (1998)

Dick Frizzell 2011 CV P a g e |4

milford

galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz