| Don Binney | |
|---|---|
| Born | Auckland |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Field | Painting |
| Training | Elam School of Fine Arts |
Don Binney (born in Auckland, 1940) is a New Zealand painter best known for his paintings of birds. He was awarded an OBE for services to the arts in 1995.[1]
He grew up and was educated in Parnell, Auckland, taking classes with John Weeks and R B Sibson, who became his good friend and guide to field ornithology. From 1958-61 he studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland, gaining a Diploma of Fine Arts. Binney’s tutors included Ida Eisa, James Turkington, Robert Ellis and Robin Wood. In 1963, he held his first solo exhibition at Ikon Gallery, Auckland and began teaching at Mount Roskill Grammar School (until 1966).[2]
In birdwatching, Binney says he discovered a passage into the landscape and the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with it.
Binney describes himself as a figurative painter concerned with the psychic metaphor of the environment. Working in oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink and carbon pencil, many of his works depict the west coast of Auckland and Northland, containing sea, sky, native birds, still life and occasionally, figures.
In 1965 Binney was included in a survey show of New Zealand painting, held in London and in the “Eight NZ Artists” touring show of Australian state galleries. In 1967 he was the recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council travel fellowship. He has spent time living in Mexico, London and Australia but returned to teach at Elam, becoming the senior lecturer in Fine Arts in 1979.
Binney has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and was the subject of a thirty-year survey show at the Fisher Gallery, Pakuranga in 1989. He has also had a retrospective exhibition curated by Damien Skinner that toured the country during 2003-2004. His work is represented in many public collections including the Auckland Art Gallery and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[3]
The paintings of Don Binney, the well-known and popular New Zealand artist, are instantly recognisable, in their characteristic subjects of bird and landscape and their strong lines and gorgeous colours. These confident, celebratory paintings first appeared in the 1960s and brilliantly captured the mood of the times, seeming to express a distinctive New Zealand identity. Binney's work did not stop there: increasingly interested in landscape itself, he painted islands, beaches, headlands; and later pursued collage and sign, experimenting with different media. His most recent paintings link back to those of the 1960s but show a sureness of touch and the maturity of a lifetime's preoccupation with the natural world and with space and mystery.