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The Studio Gallery presents: Bryan Dew

'Wide Universe',
paintings from 1995 - 2005 by Bryan Dew.

at: The Studio Gallery, 385 New North Road. Kingsland

Bryan Dew grew up in the Hawke’s Bay during the time that lies sandwiched between the mid 1940’s and the mid 1960’s- a time of Jim Wattie, the 1954 royal visit, rodeos, adult authority, and ‘measuring up’. After spending his first 23 years there, he earned a Fine Arts diploma from Elam where he studied under Jim Turkington (design), Mac McLaren (drawing), Bob Ellis (design and painting), and Michael Nicholson (design and printmaking). Bryan then spent a year at Teacher's Training College in Auckland before he ‘heard the call of the open road’ packed up and left New Zealand for foreign shores.

Accepted into the Royal College of Art Design School, Bryan traveled to London on a Queen Elizabeth II travel scholarship from the NZ government. During this time, he became very interested in Pop art which was new and very big- especially the American Pop artists who he saw as “more individually varied in approach than the Brits”.

After the Royal College design school, Bryan travelled in 1966 to the U.S. to again go to college, this time to study design at Indiana University. In 1967, he moved to New York City to work as a graphic designer, and he has lived there ever since.

Around 1988 Bryan was approached by art critic and curator Roy Dunningham in Hawkes Bay, who wanted to put together a survey show of his 1960’s satire paintings for the Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust. The show happened earlier in 2005, and was based on his memories of growing up in the district.

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This recent exhibition has changed things for Bryan. He describes his relationship to NZ over the past two years, as ‘obsessive’. “NZ is the subject I think about every day above all others in NY. I've found and studied hundreds of NZ images of my era which I have in my studio and I refer to them constantly”.

Bryan describes NZ artists as “very accomplished in absorbing and adapting overseas art influences in many idioms”. The body of work he exhibits here, shows just this ‘creative accommodation of influence’.


The Studio Gallery
385 New North Road
Kingsland
Auckland
ph: 09 815 9310
Tues - Fri, 12noon - 5pm
Sat, 11am - 2pm

ENDS

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