Barry Lett: 40 Years
January 24 - March 12, 2017
Ground Floor
Barry Lett, Pink Guide Dog (2002), Painted bronze
Barry Lett studied art with Paul Olds in Wellington 1961-63 and then briefly attended the Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland in 1964. During the years 1965-1974 he worked as a pioneer art dealer, helping establish an emerging art scene in Auckland. During the 1960s this situation satisfied him and he is proud of the role he played in this development. But as the years rolled over, the desire to make his own art re-emerged as a powerful calling and it grew to dominate his thinking. In 1974, with the Barry Lett Galleries financially secure, he decided it was time to go and he resigned as a dealer to return to his studies as a painter. Since then he has worked full time making paintings, sculpture and drawings. While he is probably best known for sculpture in recent years he has concentrated on painting, developing techniques and subject matter that are uniquely his.
This exhibition includes work from many areas of interest that have concerned him over the years and much of it is biographically based. In 1979 he lived in Sydney and on returning to Auckland he became increasingly aware of the oceanic pacific currents that were emerging here. He commenced a series of ‘pattern paintings’ that reflected this influence. This development in his art resulted in a commission to paint a large mural at the Nga Tapuwae College in 1983.
While working there he associated with Maori Carvers and their influence can be seen in his next series of open wooden sculptures. These included a number of ’Aeroplanes and Clouds’ sculptures and also the ‘Red Dancer’ that hangs on the outside front wall of the Aotea Centre Building in Auckland.
The arrival of a family in the late 1980’s had a profound influence on his art. He became interested in the idea of guardianship and sculptures that depicted the parent/child relationship. In these he reinterprets the Madonna and Child theme (or in some of them where he depicts himself holding a child he calls them PAdonna and Child). His children are also depicted as guardians holding birds, fish, cats or flowers.
Later, when he moved to Tawharanui where he now lives, the concept of guardianship or kaitiakitanga grew to embrace his land and the peninsula itself. All of the word paintings he made at this time relate to his relationship to the land and his environmental concern for returning it to full health. ‘The Lost Bird’, ‘The Singing Tree’ and the ‘Small Wonders’ all relate to this mission.
In recent paintings, he indicates a more general concern for the human condition and they take a poetic narrative form to explore human relationships in a dense painterly landscape.
In the 40 years Barry Lett has worked in New Zealand he has held over 30 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows. His work can be found in public galleries and private collections throughout New Zealand.