Don Binney

With much sadness we advise Don Binney has died in Auckland, on September 14, 2012.

His works held by his representatives including The Diversion Gallery are on hold until estate matters are settled. Details on the website will be updated at that time...

Don Binney needs little introduction to art lovers - or the New Zealand public - so distinctive are his iconic paintings and drawings of birds and landforms. In a career spanning more than 40 years, his commitment to ornithology, environmental issues and spiritual connection with the land has driven his art practice.

Binney was Head of Painting at the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland, retiring in 1998 after 24 years of teaching. He has exhibited continuously from the 1960s to the present, and now concentrates full time on his art, travelling extensively, especially within New Zealand and to places of spiritual significance internationally.

His perspective on landforms is as distinctive as the symbolism of his stylised birds. After thoroughly exploring the latter in his art, he set them aside for many years as he investigated other media and diverse subjects. But in recent years he discovered there were still concepts to explore through this combination of his deep knowledge of ornithology and his art, and in 1999 began to produce new bird series -  which have become as sought after as the early images.

In New Zealand Art - A Modern Perspective, Elva Bett described Binney as a pivotal artist 'of unusual sensitivity and insight', with clear light and sharp definition creating linear patterns to structure his compositions. That was in 1986. Don Binney continues to move from strength to strength, now cited alongside Walters, Mrkusich, Hotere, Hammond and McCahon among the top half dozen names in New Zealand art investment today. His works are amongst the most sought after at leading art auctions, of any contemporary New Zealand artist.

 

Recent Work 

After his first Marlborough solo exhibition, Vintage Binney, at The Diversion in 2003, Don Binney found new territory to discover, in particular the Marlborough Sounds, prompting several visits and a series exhibited in Deep Sounds in 2005. This was a breaking of new ground by a senior artist known for particular loyalty to places which touch his life deeply. It was evident here in his discovery of the landforms, the crouching islands, the changing moods of the Marlborough Sounds, the birdlife in bush and on water, the soft southern light.

While he insists this region has only begun to reveal itself, his exquisite drawings indicate the very real connection Don Binney has made in this first 'voyage'. He uses colour pencil or pastel over heavy watercolour paper with deceptive simplicity, allowing the tooth of the paper to convey the effect of light on water or foliage. Queen Charlotte, Seaward I & II capture the shifting light of morning and evening. Allports Island, across from Picton Harbour, was one of the first landforms to captivate him, just as the rata came into flower.

Limited edition prints - an affordable option

Earlier works available:

We have several superb early Binney works dating back to 1970, including drawings and paintings. All were exhibited in the touring exhibition 63 to Sixtythree in 2003/4

Please contact us for images and further detail on any of these works.

Bunkhouse Garden I, colour pencil on paper, 1995, $7000 (the only structure on the Little Barrier Island bird sanctuary - of which Don Binney is patron - is the kennel for the dogs trained to help in preservation of the rare birds on the island).

22 Days in the Sandwich Islands, montage on handmade paper, 1991, $8000 (visual diary while on sabbatical, including self portrait)

Ahu�ula Liholiho, Leahi, aquarelle on 300gsm paper, 1991, $8000 (from his sabbatical visit to Hawaii)

Ngulia, Tsavo, II (1973), pencil on paper, 2003, $6000 (drawing of African landforms, echoing the shapes of Te Henga, completed while on sabbatical).

More About the Artist 

Career biographical notes 1995-2005: 1995: Awarded OBE for services to the Arts. Remuera Jug & Other Suites, Solo Show - Elaine Meyer/ASA, Auckland.

1996: Don Binney - Recent Works, A Selection, Fine Arts Gallery, University of Canterbury, Christchurch. Sabbatical leave to UK. Grace and Peace to you from God - stained glass window, St Thomas' Anglican Church, Tamaki.

1997: Ancient Earth, Solo Show, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch.

1998: Retired as Head of Painting, Elam School of Arts, University of Auckland, after twenty-four years' teaching. Sites of Significance, Solo Show, Judith Anderson Gallery, Auckland.

1999: Revisiting, Solo Show, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch. Preface to Highway One, photo-survey by Bret de Their. Millennium Medal, Waitakere City. The Dream Collectors, Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand, Wellington.

2000: Nga Motu, Solo Show, Milford Galleries, Auckland. 25th Anniversary Survey, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch. 2001: Cross-Water, Solo Show, Milford Galleries Dunedin. Michaelmas, Solo Show, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch.

2002: Paper presented: John Kinder: Founding Vision, Local Realities - Eighth annual Kinder Society Lecture, St John's Theological College, Auckland. Landscape, Two-artist Show (with Gerda Leenards) Artis Gallery, Auckland. Vintage Binney, Solo Show, The Diversion Gallery, Grove Mill Winery, Marlborough.

2003: Nga Manu/Nga Motu, Monograph with 75 colour plates; Damian Skinner, Auckland University Press. 12: dialogues with time, Chrysalis Seed Trust Group Exhibition curated by John Stringer, Centre for Contemporary Art, Christchurch. Forty Years On, survey exhibition curated by Damian Skinner, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt. Then and Now, Solo Show, Williams Gallery, Petone. '63 to Sixty-three, Self-sourced Retrospective, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch.
2004: Forty Years On, survey exhibition, Auckland Art Gallery, touring to Waikato and Manawatu. '63 to Sixty-three, Millennium Public Art Gallery, Blenheim. Representation and Reaction, curated by Peter Shaw, Sargeant Gallery, Wanganui; to tour Porirua and Auckland.

2005: Forty Years On, ends tour at Hawkes Bay Museum and Art Gallery. Rakiura drawings, Dancing Star Foundation exhibit, Southland Museum and Art Gallery. There Before the Gulf, Solo Show, Artis Gallery, Auckland. 30th Anniversary Survey, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch. Judge, Pumphouse Art Award, Takapuna. Deep Sounds, Solo Show, The Diversion Gallery, Marlborough.

People look at his coastal landscapes and ask: 'Where is this place?' Binney answers: 'It is wherever resonates with you.' It is undeniably New Zealand, and encourages us to ponder on who we are as New Zealanders.

 

Please contact us to confirm current prices: most prices are posted at the time of exhibition, and may be revised as the artists’ values increase.