NEAL PALMER

Glowing on the walls, Neal Palmer’s studies of pohutukawa leaves, flax and kowhai reveal a tightly focussed gaze and consummate skill. In “Luminance”, he has once again produced works of lush clarity that give an artist’s view of a botanist’s subject.

Botanically correct in colour and form, Palmer plays with the composition of his chosen flora. The seeming artlessness of his compositions is a carefully thought-out examination of space, light, line and contour. At first glance photo-realist in nature, the paintings take on a hyper-realism with closer examination; in ‘Spot Yah’, the balance of yellow, red, spotted and unspotted leaves is more cohesive than we could possibly allow for in nature. Palmer’s use of the central leaf stems form a loose triangulation that is naturally pleasing to the eye, and his placement of subtle yellow highlights about the edge of the painting create a frame and a focal point.

Likewise, his cool, shadowy flax paintings are webs of geometric intricacies. The strong vertical flax blades in ‘Scatterlights’ are dappled with shadows which create more complex surface patterns on the leaves. As well as shadow, it is Palmer’s judicious use of painted light that helps to create a real sense of depth in the work, as paradoxical as that may seem. His ‘visual signposts’ of light and dark trick the eye into seeing beyond and behind the painted foreground.

The adroit geometries of composition and form aside, Palmer obviously relishes his medium. At first glance his works may strike you with their realism, but with each glance thereafter you can’t help but notice the painterliness of these works. Texture is complemented by the subtle marks of the brush; the brilliant red of a flax flower is emphasised all the more by seeing how the artist uses a wash of soft pink as emphasis along its top. Palmer’s use of the tondo [circular] format for a number of his works is also a subtle reminder that this is a painted work of art rather than a photograph.

In her 2004 essay Suzie Campbell (Art New Zealand) commented about Palmer’s work that ‘more than anything, these paintings are a reflection of the artist’s love of form and involvement with the act of painting’(1). Add to this a sound understanding of his subject matter, an unerring eye for detail, a tangible and delicate sense of the maker and you have the essence of ‘Luminance’.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

NEAL PALMER

b. 1968, lives Auckland

Warp&Weft(2010)

“Vividness, hyper-reality and sheer painterly skill… Brilliant technique…” (1)

“Precision on a grander scale is apparent in the work of Neal Palmer … Individual paintings often consist of panels of aluminium on board. They are held together by a dancing rhythm of intersecting geometric arcs. Behind these are accurately painted pohutukawa and flax. These are exuberant, three times life size, and often startlingly red though with a hint of decay and insect activity. The brushwork emphasises such things as the fibrous nature of flax leaves. The rhetorical enlargement, geometry and realism celebrate the variety of growth in many forms.” (2)

“More than anything, these paintings are a reflection of the artist’s love of natural form and involvement with the act of painting; the manipulation of colour, its hues and tones to form convincing photorealistic pictures.” (3)

Neal Palmer was born 1968 in London. He gained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fine Arts from Trent University in Nottingham, England. He now lives and paints as a full time artist in Auckland. He has been a finalist in various art competitions such as the Margaret Stoddart prize and The Wallace Trust Awards and in 2010 he gained a merit award in the Molly Morpeth Art Award in Whakatane. He has had numerous and regular solo exhibitions since 1999.

1. T.J. McNamara in the NZ Herald reviewing Say It With Flowers, November 2008

2. T.J. McNamara in the NZ Herald, reviewing The Sum Of Their Parts, November 2006

3. Suzie Campbell, ‘Snapshot Reality- The Painted World of Neal Palmer’, Art NZ, Autumn 2004

EDUCATION

NEAL PALMER

b. 1968, lives Auckland

BA (Hons) Fine Art - Trent University, Nottingham, UK

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2011 Luminance, milford galleries queenstown

2011 Splash, Whitespace, Auckland

2010 Woven Paths, milford galleries queenstown

2009 Get Real (Neal Palmer & Sam Foley), Whitespace, Auckland

2008 Say It With Flowers, SOCA, Auckland

2007 White Light, SOCA, Auckland

2006 The Sum Of Their Parts, SOCA, Auckland

2004 On The Fence - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland

2003 Between the Lines - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland

2002 Formation - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland

2001 Natural Explorations - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland

2000 New Zealand Icons - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland

1999 Larger Than Life (ii) - Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland

Larger Than Life - El Framo Gallery, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011 The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown

Spring Catalogue, milford galleries queenstown

Bloom, milford galleries queenstown

My City, Whitespace, Auckland

2010 Putiputi – The Flower in Contemporary New Zealand Art, Hastings City Art Gallery, Hastings Molly Morpeth Art Award (Merit Award), Whakatane

Braveheart Youth Trust Art Exhibition, ASB Showgrounds, Auckland

The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown

2009 Margret Stoddart Prize, COCA, Christchurch

2008 A Bid For Freedom (SAFE), SOCA, Auckland

Flying Feijoa, SOCA, Auckland

Artists in Eden, Auckland

2006 100 x 100 – McPherson Gallery, Vulcan Lane, Auckland

2005 When Brush Meets Bonnet, Team McMillan BMW Art Awards, Auckland

2004 Art & Design, Clerkenwell, London

Finalist, Wallace Art Awards, Auckland

35K & The Golden Apple, Artspace, Auckland

Artists in Eden, Auckland

Big Red - Celebrating the Pohutukawa, Rotorua Museum

2003 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland

Screen Invitational at Exit, Studio of Contemporary Art, Auckland

L.A. International Biennial Art Invitational, Los Angeles

2002 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland Artists in Eden, Auckland

2001 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Auckland

North Shore Art Awards - Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland

2000 100 x 100 - McPherson Gallery, Vulcan Lane, Auckland

North Shore Art Awards - Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland

1999 Coutts Mercedes - Studio Of Contemporary Art, Auckland

AWARDS

2010 Finalist and ‘Merit Award Winner’ Molly Morpeth Awards

2009 Finalist, Margret Stoddart Prize

2004 Finalist, Wallace Art Awards

COLLECTIONS

Air New Zealand, LAX

Kings School Foundation, Auckland

Art-Lease, Hong Kong

Dawsons Catering, Auckland

Private Collections in NZ, UK, Australia, USA, Spain, Malaysia and Hong Kong

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2002 Caughey, Elizabeth (Ed.), Art New Zealand Today, Saint Publishing, Auckland, 2002

2004 Campbell, Suzie, ‘Snapshot Reality - The Painted World of Neal Palmer’, Art New Zealand, Autumn 2004 pg 70 – 73