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NEAL PALMER22 October - 16 November 2011
milford galleries queenstown9A Earl Street Tel (03) 442 6896 [email protected]
www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
Luminance
1. NEAL PALMER, Night Light (2011)
acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 32 mm
2. NEAL PALMER, Hop (2011)
acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 32 mm
1. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Night Light (2011)
3. NEAL PALMER, Z (2011)
acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 32 mm
4. NEAL PALMER, Dead Red (2011)
acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 32 mm
3. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Z (2011)
5. NEAL PALMER, Smile (2011)
acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1015 x 1522 x 35mm
6. NEAL PALMER, Scatterlights (2011)acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1015 x 1522 x 35mm
5. DETAIL VIEW NEAL PALMER, Smile (2011)
7. NEAL PALMER, Intersection (2011), acrylic on board, panel (v x h x d): 1198 x 831 x 37 mm
8. NEAL PALMER, Spot Yah (2011), acrylic on board, panel (ø x d): 800 x 32 mm
9. NEAL PALMER, Solar Flare (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher
acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 1215 x 2132 x 35mm
Glowing on the walls, Neal Palmer’s studies of pohutukawa leaves, flax and kowhai
reveal a tightly focussed gaze and consummate skill. In “Luminance”, he has once
again produced works of lush clarity that give an artist’s view of a botanist’s subject.
Botanically correct in colour and form, Palmer plays with the composition of his
chosen flora. The seeming artlessness of his compositions is a carefully thought-out
examination of space, light, line and contour. At first glance photo-realist in nature,
the paintings take on a hyper-realism with closer examination; in ‘Spot Yah’, the
balance of yellow, red, spotted and unspotted leaves is more cohesive than we could
possibly allow for in nature. Palmer’s use of the central leaf stems form a loose
triangulation that is naturally pleasing to the eye, and his placement of subtle yellow
highlights about the edge of the painting create a frame and a focal point.
Likewise, his cool, shadowy flax paintings are webs of geometric intricacies. The strong
vertical flax blades in ‘Scatterlights’ are dappled with shadows which create more
complex surface patterns on the leaves. As well as shadow, it is Palmer’s judicious use
of painted light that helps to create a real sense of depth in the work, as paradoxical
as that may seem. His ‘visual signposts’ of light and dark trick the eye into seeing
beyond and behind the painted foreground.
The adroit geometries of composition and form aside, Palmer obviously relishes his
medium. At first glance his works may strike you with their realism, but with each
glance thereafter you can’t help but notice the painterliness of these works. Texture is
complemented by the subtle marks of the brush; the brilliant red of a flax flower is
emphasised all the more by seeing how the artist uses a wash of soft pink as emphasis
along its top. Palmer’s use of the tondo [circular] format for a number of his works is
also a subtle reminder that this is a painted work of art rather than a photograph.
In her 2004 essay Suzie Campbell (Art New Zealand) commented about Palmer’s work
that ‘more than anything, these paintings are a reflection of the artist’s love of form
and involvement with the act of painting’(1). Add to this a sound understanding of his
subject matter, an unerring eye for detail, a tangible and delicate sense of the maker
and you have the essence of ‘Luminance’.
(1) Campbell, Suzie ‘Snapshot Reality - The Painted World of Neal Palmer’, Art New Zealand, Autumn 2004
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 T 1 Night Light (2011) 3,500
2 Hop (2011) 3,500
3 Z (2011) 3,500
4 Dead Red (2011) 3,500
5 Smile (2011) 9,000
6 Scatterlights (2011) 9,000
7 Intersection (2011) 7,500
8 Spot Yah (2011) 3,500
9 Solar Flare (2011) 11,000
Neal Palmer 2011 CV milford galleries queenstown www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
P a g e | 1
NEAL PALMER b. 1968, lives Auckland
Warp & Weft (2010)
“Vividness, hyper-reality and sheer painterly skill… Brilliant technique…” (1)
“Precision on a grander scale is apparent in the work of Neal Palmer … Individual
paintings often consist of panels of aluminium on board. They are held together by a
dancing rhythm of intersecting geometric arcs. Behind these are accurately painted
pohutukawa and flax. These are exuberant, three times life size, and often startlingly red
though with a hint of decay and insect activity. The brushwork emphasises such things as
the fibrous nature of flax leaves. The rhetorical enlargement, geometry and realism
celebrate the variety of growth in many forms.” (2)
“More than anything, these paintings are a reflection of the artist’s love of natural form
and involvement with the act of painting; the manipulation of colour, its hues and tones
to form convincing photorealistic pictures.” (3)
Neal Palmer was born 1968 in London. He gained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fine Arts
from Trent University in Nottingham, England. He now lives and paints as a full time artist in
Auckland. He has been a finalist in various art competitions such as the Margaret
Stoddart prize and The Wallace Trust Awards and in 2010 he gained a merit award in the
Molly Morpeth Art Award in Whakatane. He has had numerous and regular solo
exhibitions since 1999.
1. T.J. McNamara in the NZ Herald reviewing Say It With Flowers, November 2008
2. T.J. McNamara in the NZ Herald, reviewing The Sum Of Their Parts, November 2006
3. Suzie Campbell, ‘Snapshot Reality- The Painted World of Neal Palmer’, Art NZ, Autumn
2004
Neal Palmer 2011 CV milford galleries queenstown www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
P a g e | 2
NEAL PALMER b. 1968, lives Auckland
EDUCATION
BA (Hons) Fine Art - Trent University, Nottingham, UK
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 Luminance, milford galleries queenstown
2011 Splash, Whitespace, Auckland
2010 Woven Paths, milford galleries queenstown
2009 Get Real (Neal Palmer & Sam Foley), Whitespace, Auckland
2008 Say It With Flowers, SOCA, Auckland
2007 White Light, SOCA, Auckland
2006 The Sum Of Their Parts, SOCA, Auckland
2004 On The Fence - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland
2003 Between the Lines - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland
2002 Formation - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland
2001 Natural Explorations - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland
2000 New Zealand Icons - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland
1999 Larger Than Life (ii) - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland
Larger Than Life - El Framo Gallery, Auckland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011 The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown
Spring Catalogue, milford galleries queenstown
Bloom, milford galleries queenstown
My City, Whitespace, Auckland
2010 Putiputi – The Flower in Contemporary New Zealand Art, Hastings City Art Gallery, Hastings
Molly Morpeth Art Award (Merit Award), Whakatane
Braveheart Youth Trust Art Exhibition, ASB Showgrounds, Auckland
The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown
2009 Margret Stoddart Prize, COCA, Christchurch
2008 A Bid For Freedom (SAFE), SOCA, Auckland
Flying Feijoa, SOCA, Auckland
Artists in Eden, Auckland
2006 100 x 100 – McPherson Gallery, Vulcan Lane, Auckland
2005 When Brush Meets Bonnet, Team McMillan BMW Art Awards, Auckland
2004 Art & Design, Clerkenwell, London
Finalist, Wallace Art Awards, Auckland
35K & The Golden Apple, Artspace, Auckland
Artists in Eden, Auckland
Big Red - Celebrating the Pohutukawa, Rotorua Museum
2003 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland
Screen Invitational at Exit, Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland
L.A. International Biennial Art Invitational, Los Angeles
2002 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland
Artists in Eden, Auckland
2001 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland
North Shore Art Awards - Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland
2000 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Vulcan Lane, Auckland
North Shore Art Awards - Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland
1999 Coutts Mercedes - Studio Of Contemporary Art, Auckland
AWARDS
2010 Finalist and ‘Merit Award Winner’ Molly Morpeth Awards
2009 Finalist, Margret Stoddart Prize
2004 Finalist, Wallace Art Awards
Neal Palmer 2011 CV milford galleries queenstown www.milfordgalleries.co.nz
P a g e | 3
COLLECTIONS
Air New Zealand, LAX
Kings School Foundation, Auckland
Art-Lease, Hong Kong
Dawsons Catering, Auckland
Private Collections in NZ, UK, Australia, USA, Spain, Malaysia and Hong Kong
BIBLIOGRAPHY 2002 Caughey, Elizabeth (Ed.), Art New Zealand Today, Saint Publishing, Auckland, 2002
2004 Campbell, Suzie, ‘Snapshot Reality - The Painted World of Neal Palmer’, Art New Zealand,
Autumn 2004 pg 70 – 73
MG3 (2010)