Milford Galleries Dunedin

Gary Waldrom is one of the truly unique figures of contemporary NZ art. His works present a fascinating parade of the human condition and build illusive events which establish narratives spanning generations, time and place. Part-fact, part-fiction, Waldrom locates his work in the chasms of dreams, in the travails of isolation and the absurdities of personality. His work commences with the premise of a small vaudevillian travelling show that has come into southern Hawkes Bay and never left.

Waldrom is an intuitive painter and his unique style has evolved to such an extent that he uses numerous painting and drawing techniques side by side. In every work he places the representational alongside abstraction. The marks and processes of the paintings evolution are likewise on display.

Each painting has a profound psychological impact. The works are theatrical and moody with the roles of metaphor and symbol adding to the surreal contrasts and dialogues. Each figure possesses an endlessly questioning gaze. Everything is both familiar and strange. There are relationships to be unravelled, events in process to be comprehended.

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Gary Waldrom was born 1953 in Waipawa Hawke’s Bay. He has been a finalist in various significant art competitions since the 1970’s: including the Benson & Hedges Art Award (1978), Winner –Eastern & Central Trust Bank Art prize (1981), Merit prize – Montana Lindauer Art Award (1986). He has had numerous and regular solo exhibitions throughout the country, and has appeared in a number of group shows most recently at the Hastings City Art Gallery titled “Mind Games (Surrealism in Aotearoa)”. He has featured in both documentaries and radio shows. His works are held in public and private collections nationally including The James Wallace Trust and Hawkes Bay Museum & Art Gallery.