Don Driver New Zealand, 1930-2011

Largely self-taught, Don Driver was an active member of New Zealand’s artistic community for many years. Driver had his first solo exhibition in 1963 and has exhibited consistently since with a major retrospective of his work touring New Zealand in 1999-2001. He has had solo exhibitions (and is collected by) all the major New Zealand public galleries. 

Don Driver was a master of assemblage - the art of juxtaposing objects in an aesthetically resonant manner. His work ranges from immaculate bands of coloured canvas, plastic or stainless steel layered together like flags (done in the 1960s), through to rough works made from fertiliser sacks and rusty tools. 

Sculpture and paintings merge: every element is considered, handled and adjusted until they are combined in a single piece of art. Using the techniques of synthetic cubism and his knowledge of colour theory, Driver overlapped and superimposed vinyl and fabrics, contrasting shapes and textures to make large scale collages.

Driver’s works are full of humour and wit, visual punts and jokes.  They also tell stories that the found components suggest.  For example, his brightly coloured second-hand clothing suggests absent bodies, as well as abstract colour in a formal arrangement.  

The throwaway nature of industrial society became the rich field for his play with materials, textures, colours and themes.