Ceci N’est Pas 1921
Dick Frizzell
March 11 - April 11, 2021
2020 was a huge year for me with the publication of my book, ‘Me, According to the History of Art’. As you’ve probably heard by now, I set out to get around international copyright law by personally illustrating all the paintings I reference in the text. Legally this mad gambit wasn’t entirely successful, but it did reconnect me with my own golden age of Modernism: early 20th century cubism, with emphasis on the Synthetic period, which generated an outcome further down the track which still confounds me.
During the final stages of the book’s production, I was lucky enough to visit the Reina Sofia Gallery in Madrid where I saw and photographed a fantastic collection of Juan Gris paintings that I had never seen before. The effect on me of being in a room full of these gorgeous paintings, all in their perfect museum frames, was overwhelming and the idea started to grow then that I could conceivably recreate a similar sensation back home in Auckland. A bit like being moved by any moment in the ‘real’ world that inspires you to somehow codify it into a portable experience back in your studio/workshop.
- Dick Frizzell, 2021
Click here to watch Dick Frizzell's artist talk for this exhibition.
