neil frazer

Milford Galleries Dunedin18 Dowling Street Dunedin (03) 477 7727 [email protected]

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Nei l F razerT ime and T ide

12 November - 7 December 2011

1. NEIL FRAZER, Lone Rock (2011), diptych; oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 545 x 1050 x 45 mm

1. DETAIL VIEW NEIL FRAZER, Lone Rock (2011)

2. NEIL FRAZER, Sea Face (2011)diptych; oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 545 x 1050 x 45 mm

3. NEIL FRAZER, Time Lapse Study (2011)

diptych; oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 545 x 1050 x 45 mm

3. DETAIL VIEW NEIL FRAZER, Time Lapse Study (2011)

4. NEIL FRAZER, Wavelength (2011) diptych; oil on canvas, size overal

diptych; oil on canvas, size overal (v x h x d): 1118 x 2238 x 25 mm

5. NEIL FRAZER, Tide Pull (2011)diptych; oil on canvas, frame (v x h x d): 545 x 1050 x 45 mm

6. NEIL FRAZER, Neap Tide (2011)diptych; oil on canvas, frame (v x h x d): 545 x 1050 x 45 mm

6. DETAIL VIEW NEIL FRAZER, Neap Tide (2011)

7. NEIL FRAZER, Gyre (2011) diptych; oil on canvas, size overal

8. NEIL FRAZER, Long Shore Drift (2011)


9. NEIL FRAZER, Wavelength Study (2011)diptych; oil on linen, frame (v x h x d): 545 x 1050 x 45 mm

9. DETAIL VIEW NEIL FRAZER, Wavelength Study (2011)

10. NEIL FRAZER, Time Lapse (2011) diptych; oil on canvas, size overal

11. NEIL FRAZER, Surge Channel (2011)diptych; oil on canvas, frame (v x h x d): 545 x 1050 x 45 mm

12. NEIL FRAZER, Gyre Study (2011)


12. DETAIL VIEW NEIL FRAZER, Gyre Study (2011)

Time and tide wait for no man, and in Neil Frazer’s show of the same name, his

seascapes possess a barely contained energy that surges across the canvas in waves of

textured paint. It is Frazer’s ability to depict a recognisable ‘reality’ while at the same

time making the viewer intensely aware of the vivid painterliness of his works that makes

them so remarkable.

Frazer uses a thick impasto technique and applies paint using ‘rags, brushes and his own

hands’ with the end result that the gestures of the artist become one and the same as

rush of the water and the striations of the cliffs he depicts. The effect is one of a world

shaped by unfriendly forces of nature where even mutable reflections appear carved

out of the water.

‘Wave Length II’ is dominated by a sloping promontory, and the artist has used both the

texture of the paint and subtle tone-on-tone hues to suggest wind-lashed foliage and

eroded crags. Below the white-capped waves is an echo of the coastline, warped by

water and perspective. Frazer leaves it to the viewer to work out the lay of the land and

it is not clear where water stops and land begins. The feeling of being caught ‘between

worlds’ evokes a sense of unease and disquiet, emphasised further by the artist’s use of

empty space.

The sky becomes a void in these paintings; flat and white, its featureless absence throws

into strong relief the dominant presence of rock, sand and sea. The tension Frazer

captures between this absence/presence enhances the powerful composition of the

works, necessary when he uses his medium in an almost sculptural manner. The tactile

paint surfaces advance from the two-dimensional canvas, creating actual - not

imagined - shadows that emphasise further the physicality of the subject matter.

Few artists manage successful exhibiting careers on both sides of the Tasman, but the

sell-out success of his August show ‘Fracture’ in Sydney bears witness to Neil Frazer’s

significant and ongoing achievements in both Australia and New Zealand. In ‘Time and

Tide’ he portrays in swirls and eddies of paint a world ruled by the vagaries of nature.

Arresting and compelling, we look on and wonder at the art of both the environment

and the artist.

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

E X H I B I T I O N P R I C E L I S TE X H I B I T I O N P R I C E L I S TE X H I B I T I O N P R I C E L I S TE X H I B I T I O N P R I C E L I S T

1 Lone Rock (2011) 8,000

2 Sea Face (2011) 8,000

3 Time Lapse Study (2011) 8,000

4 Wavelength (2011) 19,000

5 Tide Pull (2011) 8,000

6 Neap Tide (2011) 8,000

7 Gyre (2011) 19,000

8 Long Shore Drift (2011) 8,000

9 Wavelength Study (2011) 8,000

10 Time Lapse (2011) 19,000

11 Surge Channel (2011) 8,000

12 Gyre Study (2011) 8,000

Neil Frazer 2011 CV Milford Galleries Dunedin www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

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NEIL FRAZER b. 1961, lives Sydney

Neil Frazer ‘Long Shore Drift’ (2011)

“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 his recent paintings the landscape is clearly a source and impetus for his imagery... the muscularity

and painterliness of his surfaces clearly show that he has brought to these works the lessons and

disciplines of abstract painting. These paintings - although landscapes - could only have been made by

a sophisticated abstract painter." (2)

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.” (3)

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”. (4)

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 and attended the New York

Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, New York, USA in 1986. From 1996 to 1999, Frazer was

a lecturer at Illam, School of Fine Art, University of Canterbury until he moved to Sydney where he now

resides. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia in 2000.

Neil has been exhibiting since the early 80s and has had over 40 solo exhibitions. 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 and being a finalist in Australia’s prestigious and longest running art

awards, the Wynne Prize, in both 2010 and 2011. His work is included in most major public, corporate

and private collections in New Zealand including the National Bank, Fletcher Challenge and the

Christchurch Art Gallery.

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

2. Martin Browne quoted by Donna Duggan, 'White-out', Mindfood, April 2008.

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

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


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NEIL FRAZER b. 1961, lives Sydney

EDUCATION 2000 Master of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia

1986 New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture, New York, USA

1985 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Ilam School of Fine Arts, Christchurch

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selected from 1993) 2011 Time and Tide, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Fracture, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia

2010 Snow, Rock, Sand, milford galleries queenstown

Neil Frazer, Philip Bacon Galleries, Queensland

2009 White Sky, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia

2008 Melt, milford galleries queenstown

Bowen Galleries, Wellington

Perfect Day, milford galleries queenstown

Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, Australia

2007 Selected Works 1996 – 2007, milford galleries auckland Southern Elevations, milford galleries queenstown

milford galleries auckland


2006 View Finder, Milford Galleries Dunedin


2005 Recent Paintings- Milford Galleries Dunedin



2004 Super Nature, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Recent Abstract Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin



Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch

2003 New Works, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Bowen Gallery, Wellington


2002 Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney, Australia


2001 Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch

2000 Michael Carr Gallery, Sydney, Australia

1999 Olsen Carr Gallery, Sydney, Australia

1998 milford galleries auckland

1997 Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch

1996 Robert McDougall Art Annex, Survey Exhibition, Christchurch

Brooker Gallery, Wellington

Milford Galleries Dunedin

1995 Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland

Brooker Gallery, Wellington

1994 Luba Bilu Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand

1993 Hocken Library Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand

Luba Bilu Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand


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SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected from 1993) 2010 White, University of New Castle Gallery, Australia (Group Exhibition motivated by 10 day

travel in Antarctica)

2009 Southern Traverse, milford galleries queenstown

Southern Landscape, milford galleries queenstown

2007 Looking South, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Auckland Art Fair, milford galleries auckland

2006 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

2004 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

2003 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

2002 Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne

2001 Over the Back Fence, Bowen Galleries, Christchurch

1998 Art for Life Charity Auction, Christchurch, New Zealand

40 out 40, McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch

1994 Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne

Recent Acquisitions, Canterbury University

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2011 Wynne Prize, Finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

2010 Wynne Prize, Finalist, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

2008 Fleurieu Water Prize finalist

2004 ABN AMRO Art Award, Finalist, Sydney

2003 James Wallace Art Award Finalist, Auckland

Norsewear Art Award Guest Artist, Hastings

1993 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

1993 Artist in Residency Victoria College of the Arts, Melbourne

1992 Francis Hodgkins Fellowship, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand

1986 New Zealand Arts Councils Grant

1986 Fulbright Travel Grant for study New York Studio School

1984 Sawtell Turner Painting Prize, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand

1983 Ethel Rose Overton Scholarship, Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Newcastle Regional Gallery

Artbank

Macquarie Bank Limited, Sydney

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch

Dunmoochin Foundation, Melbourne

St George Foundation, Sydney

Baker & McKenzie, Sydney

Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North

Lincoln College Art Collection, Christchurch

National Bank Art Collection, Auckland

National Bank Art Collection, Wellington


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National Bank Art Collection, New Plymouth

Otago University Collection, Dunedin

Victoria University Collection, Wellington

Hocken Library Collection, Dunedin

Deloitte Collection, Auckland

Electro Corporation, Wellington

Victoria University Collection, Wellington

Canterbury University, Christchurch

RECENT ARTICLES

2008 Duggan, Donna ‘White Out’ Mind Food , April 2008

2006 Hynes, Victoria ‘Two Up’ Australian Art Review, issue 12, November 2006

White Water (2008)

neil frazer

Documents

size overal v x h x

view neil frazer

size overal diptych

tension frazer

neil frazers

time lapse study

gyre study

wavelength study