Bruce Hunt b. 1964
Born in Wellington in 1964, Bruce Hunt was educated at Wellington College and Victoria University. He has been a fulltime artist since 1983 and has been exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand. As a studio painter he travels widely in pursuit of visual information but is drawn back again and again to those few special locations that are the vital inspiration to his work.
Hunt's epic depictions of the Otago and South Canterbury landscapes are powerfully emotional works, which sweep the eye over what appear to be seemingly endless sinewy vistas. Imbued with the romantic sublime, these panoramic vistas are more than mere documentation. Hunt's works evoke an emotional and spiritual response to the land. He explores the history, geology and myth that envelops the vast empty tussock-clad hills and arid plains of the Lindis, Danseys Pass and Dunstan Trail regions.
The landscape, often depicted in the glow of dawn or dusk, achieves remarkable depth, luminosity, and atmosphere. Masterfully, Hunt captures the subtle play of light and consequent shadow. The muscular geology of the land seems clothed in folds of soft velvet as he layers translucent paint in warm shades over cool to produce an inner radiance.
Hunt spends much of his time traversing sheep trails or old gold mining paths. Hunt states: 'As an artist my fuel is the anticipation of discovering new territories but also the seasoned familiarity of places returned to again and again'. There is a sense that these paintings are inhabited both by the artist and the viewer. We are invited into the works, asked to stand atop a lonely ridgeline or evening valley, and consider the tension between the fleeting nature of humanity and the timeless land we occupy.
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Bruce HuntAhuriri, 2023Acrylic on canvas106.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntLake Benmore, 2023Acrylic on canvas
106 x 185 cm -
Bruce HuntStump, 2023Acrylic on canvas106.5 x 182 cm
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Bruce HuntTussock and Tarns Richmond RangeAcrylic on canvas101 x 152 cm
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Bruce HuntUpper Reaches, Bush Stream and the Rangitata, 2023Acrylic on canvas106.5 x 182 cm
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Bruce HuntA View to the Maniototo, 2022/2023Acrylic on canvas106.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntMistake Peak and the Godley River, 2022/2023Acrylic and oil on canvas106 x 178 cm
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Bruce HuntStump at Home HillsAcrylic on canvas101 x 152 cm
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Bruce HuntTroughs and September Norwester, 2022/2023Acrylic & oil on canvas106.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntTwin Lakes - Benmore to Aviemore, 2022/2023Acrylic and oil on canvas121.5 x 197.5 cm
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Bruce HuntEast from Dromedary Hill, 2022Acrylic on canvas130 x 159 cm
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Bruce HuntWinter 2022 - Two Thumb Range, 2022Acrylic & oil on canvas106.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntHaldon Downs, 2021Acrylic on canvas106.5 x 167.5 cm
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Bruce HuntOteake, 2021Acrylic on canvas110 x 180 cm
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Bruce HuntHakataramea, 2021Acrylic on canvas106.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntOhau DownsAcrylic on canvas106.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntGeordie Hills, 2021/22Acrylic on canvas112 x 183 cm
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Bruce HuntLindis, 2021Acrylic on canvas111.5 x 182.5 cm
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Bruce HuntANZAC ‘The Pet’ Over Hyde, 2021Acrylic on canvas106.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntGlenmore Tarns, 2021Acrylic on canvas100 x 170 cm
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Bruce HuntThe Lindis II, 2021Acrylic on canvas111.5 x 167 cm
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Bruce HuntDistant Thunder - Icon Hill, 2017Acrylic on canvas106 x 137.6 cm
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Bruce Hunt
Manmade 14 August - 3 September 2023Bruce Hunt's epic depictions of Otago and South Canterbury landscapes encompass a powerful authority. The work demands the viewer to sweep their eye over what appear to be seemingly endless sinewy vistas. Hunt explores the history, geology and myth that envelops the vast empty tussock-clad hills and arid plains of the Lindis, Danseys Pass and Dunstan Trail regions.Read more
Masterfully, Hunt captures the subtle play of light and consequent shadow. The muscular geology of the land seems clothed in folds of soft velvet as he layers translucent paint in warm shades over cool to produce an inner radiance.
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Bruce Hunt
The Smell of Rain 22 June - 11 July 2021Bruce Hunt’s depictions of the New Zealand landscape have the immediate hallmarks of topographical accuracy while also evoking the unmistakable essential moods, atmospheres and interlocking structures which make it so extraordinary and distinctive. The Smell of Rain is a title that, for the artist, suggests not only at the elemental things; weather and storms, the feeling of sun and wind, but of nostalgia, the inevitability of change and memories of youth.Read more -
Bruce Hunt
Tussock 12 - 25 February 2019Otago-based artist Bruce Hunt has two very distinct strings to his bow: fine photojournalistic studies of the people who live in the unforgiving landscape of northeastern Brazil, and exceptional portraits...Read more