Artist in Lockdown
During the month of May ARTIS Gallery will feature the work of seven of our represented artists. The third artist in the series is Mervyn Williams, who is currently working from his Auckland Studio.
Mervyn Williams has been one of New Zealand’s leading abstract artists for over 50 years. Although best known as a painter, throughout his distinguished career Williams’ artistic practice has also encompassed design and sculpture.
In September 2020 Mervyn Williams is having a major solo exhibition across both ARTIS and Jonathan Grant Gallery. This exhibition will feature never before exhibited paintings from throughout his long career, along with a new sculpture series, that Williams has been working on for the past two years.
“All my work, be it in painting, construction, printmaking or as with this new and large body of sculpture, is an exploration of my own personal vision. All my work is distinctly my own and seldom bears much resemblance to anyone else’s, it is made primarily so that I can see what it looks like.
Although, like most artists, I have a strong imagination it is only by realising a visual idea in tangible form that one can test the strength of what one is visualising. This is particularly the case with sculpture where there is the added issue of the tactile response together with the manner in which the completed work interacts with the space in which it is exhibited.
As can be seen from the photograph, some of this sculpture is pretty big and in view of the fact that I turned eighty around the middle of the lockdown it is a matter of great satisfaction that I have remained fit and strong enough to complete such a large amount of work this late in my career. I have always worked in all the recognised media except photography, but did not hit upon an idea in sculpture strong enough to carry a large body of work in this medium till this one came along, I am immensely grateful that it did!”
Mervyn Williams, 2020
-
Chatterbox
400 x 70 mm
Bronze
2011 -
Salvo
Pigment coated fibreboard
640 mm in diameter
2019
Unique -
Cypher
MDF & paint
300 mm in diameter
2018
Unique -
Radiant Red
Acrylic on canvas
800 x 650 mm
Signed, inscribed & dated 1992 -
Ramrod
Acrylic on canvas
910 x 910 mm
Signed, titled & dated 2017 verso -
All at Sea
Acrylic on canvas
910 x 910 mm
Signed, titled & dated 2017 verso -
Gold Ascendant
Acrylic on canvas
1325 x 1120 mm
Signed, titled & dated 1992 verso -
Elemental
Metal on resin – powder coated wooden plinth
850 mm in diamater
2017
Unique -
Samba (Red)
Mixed media on canvas
1225 x 1225 mm
Signed & titled verso -
Centrefuge
Acrylic on canvas
1225 x 1220 mm
Signed & titled verso -
Miriada
Mixed media on canvas
1220 x 1220 mm
Signed & titled verso 2013 -
Whiplash – Mono
Mixed media on canvas
1220 x 1220 mm
Signed & titled verso 2013 -
Fontana
Mixed media on canvas
1020 x 1020 mm
Signed & titled verso 2013 -
Fire Bird
Mixed media on canvas
1220 x 1220 mm
Signed & titled verso 2013 -
Red Renewal
Mixed media on canvas
915 x 915 mm
Signed, titled & dated 2013 verso -
Polar (Grey)
Acrylic on canvas
920 x 920 mm
Signed & dated 2012 -
Festina
Acrylic on canvas
920 x 920 mm
Signed & dated 2012 -
Bending Blue
Acrylic on canvas
910 x 910 mm
Signed & dated 2011
Mervyn Williams’ paintings are concerned with perception. The intrigue of the illusion in the works cannot be deciphered in reproduction. One must stand in front of the artworks themselves to understand the mastery of paintwork and chiaroscuro that trick the eye into seeing flat surfaces as low relief. When confronted with his painting, the initial assumption is of a textured surface – on closer inspection, the three dimensional qualities are revealed as intricacies of paintwork which belie the flat surface of the canvas.
Luminosity abounds in Williams’ works. A subtle variation of tone within the monochrome paintings creates the illusion of an ethereal light stemming from an indeterminate source. Some appear to be glowing from within, while others seem to be lit from behind, like silk held up to the sun. Though purely abstract, the textural qualities of these works evoke allusions to the world around us; patterns on sand left by the receding tide, peeling, blistered paint on a derelict building, undulating folds of fabric or a cracked concrete footpath. In his works, light, illusion and allusion unite, offering a tantalising visual exploration of the painted surface.
Although best known as a painter, throughout his distinguished career Mervyn Williams’ artistic practice has also encompassed design, printmaking and sculpture. Born in Whakatane, in 1940, Williams now lives and works in Auckland. After studying at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland from 1957 – 1958, Williams briefly went into screen printing and design. He has exhibited regularly in New Zealand since 1966 and is represented in major public and private collections in New Zealand, the USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, Japan and Australia.
Early in his career, a fascination with Impressionism and Post-Impressionism led Williams to explore the mechanics of visual perception, investigating the illusionary techniques of the Pointillist artists and studying the properties of halftones and direct exposure onto photographic film. The 1981 exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art, A New Spirit in Painting celebrated a renewal of interest in painting after the predominance of performance and installation art of the late 1960s and 1970s. Neo-Expressionism was the dominating movement in this exhibition, but another direction associating painting with photography was exemplified in the works of Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke. When Williams saw this exhibition and others like it in London and New York, a renewed interest ensued in the ability of the painted surface to convey a sense of reality even more convincing than photography can often achieve, and he revisited experiments with light, colour and texture.
Williams began to investigate through painting the immutable nature of photographs, the ability of the image to remain intact through many degrees of enlargement. Using this property as a starting point the artist employs a complex painting process involving many layers of translucent colour to build up a surface so convincing in its rendering of low relief that a perplexed audience is left uncertain of its surface properties to the point at which only the tactile experience of touch will lay the problem to rest. It is an enigmatic quality that dissipates when the artwork itself is photographed and reproduced.
In 2014 a survey exhibition was held at the Gus Fisher Gallery in Auckland. The exhibition titled ‘50 years of Mervyn Williams’, was curated by Dr Edward Hanfling and included work of remarkable variety and originality, covering a period of more than fifty years. It was at this survey show that Ron Sang Publications launched the book ‘Mervyn Williams : From Modernism to the Digital Age’ by Dr Edward Hanfling.
Mervyn Williams lives in Auckland and is represented by ARTIS Gallery
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS AT ARTIS
2015 – Façade, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2013 – Colour Corrected, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2010 – Mervyn Williams: 20 Years of Painted Illusion, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2008 – Round and Round, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2014 – Edward Hanfling, Mervyn Williams : From Modernism to the Digital Age, Ron Sang Publications
Dunn, Michael, Looking Back: Mervyn at 70, Art New Zealand #136
2010 – Chin, David, Shades of Meaning, Gow Langsford Gallery
1999 – Dunn, Michael, Contemporary Painting in New Zealand, Craftsman House
1996 – Brown, Warwick, One Hundred New Zealand Paintings, Godwit Press
1995 – Barton, Christine, Surface Tension, Auckland Art Gallery
1992 – Williams, M, Between Darkness and Light, Catalogue Essay
1991 -Dunn, Michael, A Concise History of New Zealand Painting, Bateman
1989 – Panaho, Rangi, Points of Departure, Sarjeant Gallery
Wedde, Ian, Mervyn Williams: Paintings With His Feet in Wanganui, Art New Zealand #51
1986 – Bett, Elva New Zealand Art: A Modern Perspective, Reed Methuen
1985 – Dunn, Michael, Mervyn Williams: A Vision of Light, Art New Zealand 36
1983 – Parr, Chris, The Grid, Lattice and Network, Art New Zealand 28
Curnow, Wynston, Seven Painters/The Eighties: The Politics of Abstraction, Art New Zealand #28
Bogle, Andrew, Aspects of Recent New Zealand Art: The Grid, Auckland Art Gallery,
1982 – Schulz, Derek, Differences of Intention, The Listener, 9 October
1982 – Schulz, Derek, Seven Painters/The Eighties, Sargeant Gallery, Wanganui
1978 – New Zealand Prints 1977, Auckland Art Gallery
1976 – New Zealand Prints 1976, Auckland Art Gallery
1974 – Cape, Peter, Prints and Print Makers in New Zealand, Collins
1969 – Mervyn Williams, Arts and Community, July
1957-58 Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland
PRIZES, AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
1988 Artist in Residence, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui
1981 First Prize, Tokoroa Painting Award
1969 NZ Print Council Samarkand Award
1966 First Prize (Prints), Hay’s Art Award
COLLECTIONS AND COMMISSIONS
New Zealand Embassy, Washington DC
New Zealand Embassy, Consulate General New York
Private Collections USA, Canada, Europe, UK, Japan and Australia
All major public collections and many private collections in New Zealand
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 – Façade, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2013 – Colour Corrected, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2010 – Mervyn Williams: 20 Years of Painted Illusion, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2008 – Round and Round, ARTIS Gallery, Auckland
2007 – In the Round, Janne Land Art Gallery, Wellington
2006 – Recent Paintings, Judith Anderson Gallery, Hawke’s Bay
2005 – Selected Works, Judith Anderson Gallery, Hawkes Bay
2004 – Selected Paintings, Janne Land Art Gallery, Wellington
2003 – Southern Oscillation, Milford Galleries, Dunedin
2002 – Quintessence, Michael Carr, Sydney
Quatrains, Janne Land Art Gallery, Wellington
2001 – Quintessence, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
1999 – In the Nature of Things, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
In the Nature of Things, @ SPAN Gallery, Melbourne
1997 – In the Round: Recent Paintings, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
1995 – Exposures: New Paintings, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
1993 – New Work, Brooker Gallery, Wellington
Recent Painting, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
1991 – Between Darkness and Light, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
1989 – Wood Works, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
In Different Light, Portfolio Gallery, Auckland
Works on Paper, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North
Recent Paintings, Brooker Gallery, Wellington
Points of Departure, Sargeant Gallery, Wanganui
1988 – Works in Progress, Sargeant Gallery, Wanganui
1987 – Recent Paintings, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland
Recent Gouaches, Portfolio Gallery, Auckland
1986 – Recent Paintings, Louise Beale Gallery, Wellington
1984 – Recent Paintings, Louise Beale Gallery, Wellington
Recent Paintings, New Vision Gallery, Auckland
1983 – Twelve Gouaches, New Vision Gallery, Auckland
1982 – Recent Paintings, Louise Beale Gallery, Wellington
1981 – Recent Painting, RKS Art, Auckland
1980 – Recent Paintings, Elva Bett Gallery, Wellington
Recent Paintings, Barry Lett Galleries, Auckland
Recent Paintings, New Vision Gallery, Auckland
1979 – Recent Paintings, Barry Lett Galleries, Auckland
1975 – Paintings and Drawings, Barry Lett Galleries, Auckland