Biography

Don Binney - Modern

Don Binney was born in 1940. Born in Auckland 1940. Educated at Kings College and Elam School of Fine Arts (Univ. of Auckland) 1958-61. 1963: First solo show as well as work in the Paris Biennale; 1967-68: Mexico exhibition; represented in the cultural programme of the XIX Olympiad; 1971: visiting lecturer Victoria University of Wellington; 1972-3: resident of London, solo show Commonwealth Gallery; 1974-1998: Elam teacher for 24 years becoming Head of Painting 1994-98; 1994: attended Oxford theology summer school; 1996: final sabbatical to Glastonbury, Norwich and Walsingham (U.K.) leading to exhibitions Ancient Earth (1997), Sites of Significance (1998). 1998: retired from Elam School to paint. Don Binney has exhibited very widely; his hallmark stylised New Zealand birds and landscape forms are iconographic within the contemporary New Zealand painting tradition and are represented in several important collections of art. He lives in Parnell, Auckland, but is closely associated with Saint Michael and All Angels congregation, Christchurch.

He is well known for his clean-edged modernist landscapes of New Zealand. In a interview with Patricia Starr and Tom Turner in 1977 he described his commitment to his art, "I paint and draw because I am thoroughly committed too and involved with environmental, natural stimuli - the landscape, the wild life...you must approach the landscape or bush with reverence."

Binneys work is predominately landscapes, the origins of which can be traced to styles found popular in America in the 1930s. This style removes small detail and concentrates on landform and rhythmic curves. Rita Angus, Doris Lusk and William Sutton also followed the school.

In his search for subject, he is inspired by dramatic wilderness areas and environments, which expresses both his style and his love of Ornithology and nature.

04-Mar-09

View All Works