MICHAEL HIGHT Recent Work
3 rd March - 28th March, 2012
www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
Milford Galleries Dunedin 18 Dowling Street Dunedin (03) 477 7727 info@milfordhouse.co.nz
1. Mataura River (2012) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 608 x 1370 x 33 mm
2. Matukituki River (2011) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 1117 x 2135 x 33 mm
3. Malaghans Rd (2011) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 838 x 1370 x 33 mm
4. The Remarkables (2012) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 1017 x 1523 x 33 mm
5. Slope Hill Rd (2011) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 760 x 1220 x 33 mm
6. Coronet Peak (2011) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 760 x 1220 x 33 mm
7.
Otira (2011) oil on linen stretcher: 1522 x 1980 x 35 mm
8. Mount Pisa (2012) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 608 x 1370 x 33 mm
9. Peel Forest (2012) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 1196 x 2400 x 35 mm
10. Glendhu Bay (2012) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 556 x 912 x 33 mm
11. Kingston (2012) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 556 x 912 x 33 mm
12. Parikawa (2012) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 355 x 455 x 33 mm
13. Cardrona (2011) oil on linen, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 1215 x 33 mm
14. Wanaka (2012) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 355 x 455 x 33 mm
15. Tucker's Beach Rd (2012) oil on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 355 x 455 x 33 mm
Michael Hight continues a tradition of transformation that can be seen from Petrus van der Velden’s brooding mountains to the sere, angular vistas of Rita Angus and the richly spiritual headlands of Colin McCahon. The New Zealand countryside has many guises and Hight has created his own vernacular with which to describe the landscape. Hight paints the land in stunning clarity; he uses deft chiaroscuro to create sharply textured hills and weathered mountains. This same use of strongly defined shadow has the effect of abstracting certain elements – a seemingly paradoxical effect given the hyper-reality of Hight’s paintings. In places the tree trunks in ‘Peel Forest’ flatten out into upright planes of colour, which, when combined with the strong horizontal shadows on the grass, mimic the angularity of the beehives in the foreground. Likewise, in ‘Malaghan’s Road’ the faceted rocks atop the hives provide a strong visual link to the carved hills beyond, while the hives themselves act as both contrast and connection to the terrain. The sharp lines and regular geometry of the hives are obviously at odds with the natural surroundings, yet they do not seem out of place. Hight limits his palette so that the colours of the hives are of a similar spectrum to the surrounding land, suggesting that these man-made objects do have a natural home in the landscape. This idea is further enhanced by the drunken lean of many beehives as well as the haphazard clusters whose placement appears to have little rhyme or reason. In the magnificent ‘Otira’, the blush of flowering Southern Rata tells us it is high summer and the hives here are tall stacks, in scale with the monumental background. The barren scree-line on the mountains beyond as well as the hives heavily weighted with rocks hint at the harshness of the landscape come winter however, and Hight’s reference to van der Velden’s seminal paintings of Otira Gorge cannot be ignored. The transitory, seasonal aspects of the natural world are a strong subtext in Hight’s works. Although he depicts a singular moment, the mutability of what he portrays is implicit in the faded paint of the beehives, not to mention the lifecycles of the bees they house. In ‘Slope Hill Road’ summer has already turned with trees barren of leaves or in a blaze of autumn colours and snow already on the hills. Michael Hight shows us a land that may appear empty at first glance, but whose richness is revealed in the nuances of his brushwork, the strength of his composition and the subtleties of his conversation about the very nature of the land and our relationship to it. At once intimate and grand, his paintings speak to us of not only where we live, but how we live there.
EXHIBITION PRICELIST 1 Mataura River (2012)
15,000
2 Matukituki River (2011)
35,000
3 Malaghans Rd (2011)
18,000
4 The Remarkables (2012)
25,500
5 Slope Hill Rd (2011)
15,000
6 Coronet Peak (2011)
15,000
7 Otira (2011)
40,000
8 Mount Pisa (2012)
15,000
9 Peel Forest (2012)
37,500
10 Glendhu Bay (2012)
9,750
11 Kingston (2012)
9,750
12 Parikawa (2012)
5,000
13 Cardrona (2011)
11,500
14 Wanaka (2012)
5,000
15 Tucker's Beach Rd (2012)
5,000
All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition
MICHAEL HIGHT lives Auckland
Lake Wakatipu (2010)
Michael Hight is a painter, sculptor and assembler, working with paint, canvas, tin, wood and found objects. He is most well-known for his observations of the ubiquitous beehive and their individual locales. These works contain all the particularities of location – geography, vegetation, weather. More than that they convey the idiosyncratic qualities of ownership and use and allude to a wider consideration of “place”. His works “gain their intensity from attention to the minutest detail.” The beehives stand in contrast to the surrounds, providing the “elegiac lyricism” of juxtaposition. "His virtuoso skills of representation of the highest order and achieves heights of mood” and the undeniable specifics of place “that go beyond just representation.” (1) “Generally, Hight’s beehive paintings have run parallel to other work – his interest in rivers as a starting point for abstraction, in repeating patterns and his preoccupation with found objects and four main materials: ash-charcoal, canvas, wood and resin…. Most of his work has a landscape motivation as a driving force and in the past he has used found materials from a particular place fused into an abstract representation of that place. The abstract works fulfil all his needs as a painter and the representational works are simply about being more frank with respect to source, or inspiration of the abstract pieces.” (2) “The idea of transformation is embodied in what happens inside a beehive and as far as I am concerned, transformation is the key element in 20th Century art. Artists like Duchamp and Warhol have taken something that is not art and turned it into art, so in a way, these are pictures of art as well as rural spots…”(3) Born Stratford, New Zealand 1961. Bachelor of Social Sciences, University of Waikato 1982. Following a period from 1984-87 in which he travelled and lived and painted in London, Hight returned to live in Auckland. He has regularly exhibited since 1984 and has been a full time artist since 2001. He has received several QEII grants and his work is held in many New Zealand collections including Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, The Chartwell Collection and The James Wallace Trust. 1. TJ McNamara, 'Sense of Beauty in Decay', August 21, 2010, Weekend Herald 2. Adrienne Rewi, ‘Phantom beekeeper still buzzing over boxes’, Sunday Star Times, 7 November 1999. 3. Michael Hight in Rewi ibid.
Michael Hight 2012 CV P a g e |1
Milford
Galleries Dunedin
www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
MICHAEL HIGHT lives Auckland EDUCATION 1980 - 82
University of Waikato (B.Soc.Sc)
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012 2011 2010
2009 2008 2007 2006
2005 2004
2003 2002 2001 2000 1999
1998
1997 1996
1995
1992 1991 1990 1989 1988
1987
Recent Work, Milford Galleries Dunedin Reliquary, Page Blackie Gallery, Wellington Recent Paintings, Page Blackie Gallery, Wellington Wakatipu, milford galleries Queenstown From Waimarino to Red Jacks, John Leech Gallery, Auckland The Road to Erewhon, Milford Galleries Dunedin Paintings, Judtih Anderson Gallery, Napier Paintings, John Leech Gallery, Auckland Notes from the Waikato, Janne Land, Wellington Recent Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin Manuherikia, Janne Land gallery, Wellington Recent work, John Leech Gallery, Auckland Taeri, Milford Galleries Dunedin Recent Works, Milford galleries queenstown Manuherikia, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Manawatu, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Wandering Eye, Milford Galleries Dunedin Recent Abstract Works, Milford Galleries Queenstown Land of Milk and Honey, John Leech Gallery, Auckland Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Duologue, Milford Galleries Dunedin Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Recent Work, Milford Galleries Dunedin Recent Work, Judith Anderson Gallery, Hawkes Bay Jonathon Jensen Gallery, Christchurch Recent Work, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Recent Work, Campbell Grant Gallery, Christchurch Recent Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin Maungakaramea, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Gazetteer, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Campbell Grant Gallery, Christchurch Current Abstraction, Milford Galleries Dunedin City Gallery, Wellington Campbell Grant Gallery, Christchurch Four Strong Winds, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Four Strong Winds, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington In Trust, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth Seven Rivers, Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Heartland Trinkets, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland 33 1/3 Gallery, Wellington Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland 33 1/3 Gallery, Wellington Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Jonathen Jensen Gallery, Christchurch 3/3 Gallery, Wellington Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
Michael Hight 2012 CV P a g e |2
Milford
Galleries Dunedin
www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
1986
33 1/3 Gallery, Wellington Falcon Gallery, London The Foyer Gallery, Hampstead, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
2004 2001 1999 1998 1997
1996 1995 1993 1992 1991
Parallel, Milford Galleries Dunedin Gems, milford galleries queenstown Small Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown Masterworks, milford galleries queenstown Taranaki Gate, Percy Thompson Gallery, Stratford Auckland Art Fair Te Turinga: Turning Point, City Gallery, Wellington Location South, Milford Galleries Dunedin Auckland Art Fair The Southern Landscape, Milford Galleries Dunedin Landscape Show, Lopdell House, Waitakere City The North Western Line, Corban Estate Art Centre Recent Landscapes, Milford Galleries Dunedin Wild Season, City Gallery, Wellington Crossed Out, Gow Langsford, Auckland Recent Acquisitions, Chartwell Collection New Gallery, Auckland Visa Gold, New Gallery, Auckland City Gallery, Wellington The Northern Line, Corban Estate Art Centre Abstraction & Still Life, Milford Galleries Dunedin Is As Landscape as Metaphor, Milford Galleries Dunedin Found Objects, Outreach, Auckland Gift Of The Artist, Artspace, Auckland Pacific Traces, 33 1/3 Gallery, Wellington Big Pictures Show, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Outcrop, Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth
AWARDS 2000 1999 1997 1989 1989 1988
Finalist Visa and Wallace Art Awards, James Wallace Arts Foundation Visa & Wallace Art Awards, James Wallace Arts Foundation, Auckland Finalist Visa Gold Award, Auckland City Gallery & City Gallery, Wellington QE11 Art Council Creative Projects Scheme QE11 Arts Council Grant QE11 Arts Council Direct Support Grant
COLLECTIONS ABN AMRO Collection Pukeiti Collection, New Plymouth Fletcher Trust Collection Colenso, Wellingto Recent Acquisitions, Chartwell Collection, Auckland City Gallery Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington Private Collections in Germany, UK, Australia and U.S.A Sky City Grand Hotel Collection Coopers & Lybrand Collection James Wallace Trust, Auckland
SELECTED ARTICLES 2004 2004 2002 1999
Knox, Elizabeth, Wandering Eye, catalogue, Milford Gallery (attached) O’Brien, Gregory, Land of Milk and Honey, catalogue, John Leech Gallery Green, Paula, Omarama, Place of Light, catalogue, Gow Langsford Gallery (attached) Caughey, Elizabeth & John Gow, Contemporary New Zealand Art 2, David Bateman Ltd, Auckland, p 66 (attached)
Michael Hight 2012 CV P a g e |3
Milford
Galleries Dunedin
www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
1996 1995/96 1995 1994
Green, Paula, Four Strong Winds, catalogue, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland (attached) Green, Paula, Walking in the World, Michael Hights Trust in Place, Art New Zealand No.77, Summer, p77-79 (attached) Brown, Warwick, 100 New Zealand Paintings by 100 New Zealand Artists, Godwit Publishing, Auckland, p36 Mannion, Robert, ‘Painting a Bright Future’, The Dominion, Saturday October 22
Otira (2011)
Michael Hight 2012 CV P a g e |4
Milford
Galleries Dunedin
www.milfordgalleries.co.nz