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current exhibition
 Christine Cathie Neil Dawson
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| View Exhibited Artist Profile |
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Neil Frazer has taken the core subject of the alpine landscape and single-handedly reinvigorated it. In works which both describe and reveal Frazer achieves the accuracy of belief and the unique specifics of place.
In this exhibition Frazer presents the physicality and monumentality of the Southern Alps. In “Divider” (2007) he uses the negative (recessive) space of the sky and the ever-present reflection as key devices. In “Cool Change” (2008) his command of texture and colour is such that it feels sculpted (as in 3-dimensional) and real. This characteristic mix of allusion, illusion and literalness is a hallmark quality in Frazer’s paintings. In “Melt Down” (2008), “Chill Factor” (2008) and “Chill Factor Study” (2008) Frazer uses paint in his familiar abstract expressionist manner applying this to the dictates of representational art. The results are quite simply utterly compelling.
In a related body of work Frazer enters the boulder strewn watercourses of alpine rivers. In works that remind one of van der Velden’s lines of sight, fascination with surging water and compositional structures, Frazer establishes real substance and thrilling momentum. In “Water Source” (2008), “Rise” (2008), and “White Water Study” he links the mountains, forest edge and water passage in metaphors of journey and narratives of symbiosis. |
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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. He attended the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, New York, USA in 1986. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts, Sydney, Australia in 2000. Neil has had 30 solo exhibitions in New Zealand and Australia since 1984. 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. His work is included in most major public, corporate and private collections in New Zealand including the National Bank, Fletcher Challenge and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery. |
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