Goldfield
Mixed media on aluminium panels
2004
Mixed media on aluminium panels
2004
Land and environment play a vital role in the work of Otago based artist Russell Moses (b.1948). David Eggleton has commented, "His art is about the regenerative power of landscape: its contours, its sense of scale, its history... but it emerges from the landscape rather than being superimposed, like a monument, on it... His is an art which sustains itself on a vocabulary of synonyms for nature: abstract minimalism crossed with landscape romanticism.' Moses first came to prominence in the seventies creating large pit-fired ceramic sculpture installations. "Probably the most evident and certainly the most fecund are of absorption for artists of a modernist temper has been the concern to shift the traditional boundaries between art forms... a virtue notable in the ceramics of Russell Moses', noted Peter Leech.
Coming from a background in printmaking, ceramic art and sculpting, Moses utilises materials that relate to the environment he is working in to create sculptural paintings that are frequently constructed from a series of panels or components. Moving from the use of found objects and recycled materials to reworking and recycling imagery as well as producing his own pigments from local resources, Moses works in response to the local climate whilst presenting his own philosophical views. A way of working Peter Simpson described as, "elegant and sombre meditations on deconstructed Otakou (Otago) landscapes... always characterized by formal elegance, innovative use of materials and strong spirituality of content.' In response to the demolition of Observation Point, Port Chalmers in 1995 Moses used the site clay to create large rosaries and paintings. Woodchips from the wharf below were used for bark paintings and sculptures. Nicola Mutch wrote, "Woodchips constitute Moses unusual central resource, and he uses them to create astonishingly uniform, impeccably controlled surfaces. Here, a series of subtle, velvety textures emerge out of variations in richness and depth.'
Moses' latest series, New Landscapes, evolved from a series of works based around the goldfields in the Cromwell area, Central Otago, exploring man's relationship with the land. He describes, "This area is unique in New Zealand, experiencing extremes of climate which has stripped the land bare, giving the appearance of a wasteland. The early settlers called it "The Desert". Goldmining scarred the land further. It's history, however, is far from barren. The scale of human endeavor in such a hostile environment was monumental. Early aerial photos of the mine tailings revealed patterns of labour that were ordered, rhythmic and organic in design. Reconfiguring these into new landscapes that interweave the past and present and challenge the boundaries between fine and applied art.'
Exhibited locally and internationally since 1980, his works are held in public collections throughout NZ. Significant works were included in Art in Dunedin in 1984, ANZART in Australia 1985 and the South Island Arts Project Public Practices exhibition in 1993.
| 2003 | Ngaumatau Gallery, Arrowtown |
| 2002 | FHE Galleries, Auckland Waikato National Art Award Finalist Waikato Contemporary Art Award Finalist Milford Galleries, Dunedin Ngaumatau Gallery, Arrowtown |
| 2001 | FHE Galleries, Auckland Umbra Penumbra, Performance Space, Sydney |
| 2000 | FHE Galleries, Auckland |
| 1999 | FHE Galleries, Auckland Sharjah Arts Museum, United Arab Emerites |
| 1998 | Southern Lights, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland Visa Gold Art Award Finalist FHE Galleries, Auckland |
| 1997 | Theodolites, Lopdell House, Titirangi, Auckland Vernacular, Dunedin Public Art Gallery |
| 1995 | Waste not want not, Lopdell House, Titirangi, Auckland |
| 1993 | Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland Public Practices Symposium, Aero Club Gallery, Port Chalmers |
| 1991 | International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Sfintv Gheorghe, Romania Art from Otago, Centre for Contemporary Art, Hamilton A Mixed Bag, Lakes District Museum Gallery, Arrowtown |
| 1990 | International Fine Art Exhibition, Budapest, Hungary |
| 1988 | Puritan and Pleasure, Hocken Library, University of Otago |
| 1987 | Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin City Art Gallery, Wellington |
| 1986 | Arts of Today, Dominican Cloister, Budapest, Hungary |
| 1985 | ANZART, Auckland CSA, Christchurch Budapest, Hungary |
| 1984 | ANZART, Auckland Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin Fluxus Gallery, Dunedin |
| 1983 | Art in Dunedin, Municipal Chambers, Dunedin Artists for Peace, CSA, Christchurch International Fine Art Exhibition, Budapest, Hungary |
| 1982 | New Zealand Drawing Show, Dunedin Public Art Gallery |
| 1981 | New Idea, Dowse Art Museum, Wellington Stations of the Cross, Govett Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth Janne Land Gallery, Wellington Then and Now, Dowse Art Museum, Wellington New Directions, Waikato Art Museum, Hamilton |
| 1980 | Dunedin Drawing Show, Dunedin Public Art Gallery Aramoana Exhibition, Hocken Library, University of Otago, Dunedin Artists' Boxes, Manawatu Art Gallery Easter, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch |
| 1996 | Kaipara Harbour, Private Commission |
| 1994 | Reclamaition Series, Port Chalmers |
| 1992 | Waka, Back Beach, Otago Harbour, Commissioned by South Island Arts Project for Public Practices Symposium |
| 1991 | Brick Column, Observation Point, Port Chalmers |
| 1990 | Towards Arrow River, Arrowtown, Central Otago |
| 1979 | Sculpture in Dunedin, First Church Grounds, Dunedin |
| 2002 | G2/FHE Galleries, Auckland Milford Galleries, Dunedin |
| 2001 | G2/FHE Galleries, Auckland |
| 1997 | Harriette Cotton Gallery, Dunedin |
| 1992 | No.5 Gallery, Dunedin |
| 1991 | Aero Club Gallery, Dunedin |
| 1988 | Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin |
| 1982 | Hocken Library, University of Otago, Dunedin |
| 1980 | Bossard Gallery Dunedin |
| 1981 | Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Grant, New Zealand |
