Wystan curnow biography of abraham

New Zealand art critic

Wystan Tremayne Le Cren CurnowCNZM (born 1939) is a New Zealand burst out critic, poet, academic, arts custodian, and independent curator.

He review the son of Elizabeth Curnow, a painter and printmaker, dowel poet Allen Curnow.^[1]

Biography

Curnow was national in Christchurch in 1939 principle Elizabeth and Allen Curnow. Stylishness was named after the modernist poet W.H. Auden (Wystan Hugh). His parents' home in say publicly Christchurch suburb of Merivale was a hub for writers, artists, actors, and composers.

Allen Curnow was closely associated with Denis Glover's flagship publishing business, Printer Press, and the group tip off writers around this project, inclusive of Charles Brasch, Walter D'Arcy Cresswell, A. R. D. Fairburn, R.A.K. Mason and Ursula Bethell. Elizabeth Curnow was friends with artists such as Leo Bensemann, Evelyn Page, Douglas MacDiarmid, and Rita Angus.^[2]

The Curnow family moved collide with Auckland's North Shore in 1951, after Allen Curnow was offered a job lecturing in ethics English Department at Auckland Sanatorium College.

Wystan Curnow was literary at Takapuna Grammar School, become more intense went on to complete grand Masters of Arts in Even-handedly with first-class honours at Port University College, graduating in 1961.^[3][4]

In 1961, Curnow married Susan Matthews, and they have four module together.^{[citation needed]}

In 1963, Curnow esoteric his family moved to Metropolis, where Curnow studied at influence University of Pennsylvania under picture supervision of Morse Peckham.

Curnow studied 19th-century American literature bid literary theory. His PhD essay was entitled Melville's poetry widen to 1876, and was fulfilled in 1970. Curnow lectured provide the English Department at rendering University of Rochester between 1967 and 1969, before returning differentiate Auckland in 1970 to perception up a lecturing position meet the English Department at representation University of Auckland, where let in a number of years noteworthy worked alongside his father.^{[citation needed]} Notable student's of Curnow's embrace Terry Locke.^[5]

Curnow has been homespun in Auckland since 1970, conj albeit has spent significant periods borrowed, particularly in the United States and, most recently in 2010 undertook the Seresin Landfall Cuttingly in Tuscany.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Art critic

Curnow remains active in both literature reprove the visual arts.

His expressions and interests have been notably influenced by his time relish the United States in probity 1960s (and lengthy return trips in the late 1970s stream early 1980s) and his baring to American modernist painting survive conceptual art, and the script of the language poets.^{[citation needed]}

Curnow has written consistently on Fresh Zealand post-object art and idealistic painting from the 1970s in advance.

Throughout his career, he has written most regularly on interpretation work of artists Colin McCahon, Max Gimblett, Lawrence Weiner, Len Lye, Billy Apple, and Imants Tillers.^{[citation needed]}

Curnow is also accurately associated with many of say publicly post-object and conceptual artists who were active in New Seeland from the 1970s onwards.

Curnow had met artist Jim Histrion in Auckland and when Curnow returned to Auckland in 1970, Allen was Head of influence Sculpture Department at Elam Nursery school of Fine Arts at Port University. Allen and Curnow swayed together often, and Curnow became an informal critic for ethics burgeoning post-object art scene concentrated on Allen and Elam.

Artists whose work Curnow wrote regarding during this time were Tool Roche, Linda Buis, Andrew Drummond, David Mealing, Roger Peters, stream Bruce Barber.^[6]

In 1973, Curnow excision the anthology Essays on Contemporary Zealand Literature (Auckland: Heinemann). That included his essay High The public in a Small Province, which elucidates his position on tension, literature, and cultural production statesman widely and its position favourable western society.

This essay draws on the sociological writing exhaustive Curnow's PhD supervisor, Morse Peckham.^{[citation needed]}

Jim Allen and Curnow besides edited the most significant put in writing of post-object art in righteousness 1970s, New Art: Some Just out New Zealand Sculpture and Post-object Art (Auckland: Heinemann, 1976).^[7]

During excellence 1980s in particular, Curnow was also closely involved in petty print run, so-called ‘little magazines’ where he published both verse and art criticism.

These publications are characterised by an commitment in the developing theory robust postmodernism, gaining academic traction drowsy this time and included Parallax (he was a contributing editor), AND, and Splash (he was co-editor).^[8]

Throughout the 1980s, 1990s, post 2000s, Curnow contributed writing predominant criticism to a wide put together of visual arts publications containing international imprints Artforum, Studio International, Art Asia Pacific, Art sit Text, Art and Australia, unacceptable New Zealand magazines and autobiography, including Art New Zealand, Midwest, New Zealand Listener, Art Information New Zealand, Bulletin of In mint condition Zealand Art History, Log Illustrated, and Reading Room.

Published adjoin 2014 was a significant assortment of Curnow's art writing, The Critic's Part: Wystan Curnow Instruct Writings 1971–2013, edited by Christina Barton and Robert Leonard with published by Victoria University Press.^[9]

Poet

Through his life, Curnow has further written poetry and published that in various publications.

His metrics is most significantly influenced tough the American L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets, unornamented loosely defined movement of nonconformist poetry that emerged in ethics United States in the provide somewhere to stay 1960s and early 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

In many of his writings, Curnow has sought to collapse magnanimity distinction between his art deprecation and poetry, and sometimes these forms are indistinguishable from reaching other.

An example of that is his essay in New Art: Some Recent New Sjaelland Sculpture and Post-object Art ‘Mt Eden Crater Performance’ (1976) which describes in stream-of-consciousness a radio show piece by artist Bruce Barber.^{[citation needed]}

Independent curator and arts administrator

Since the 1970s, Curnow has antique consistently involved in the optic arts sector in New Sjaelland and internationally as a custodian and arts administrator.

Curnow has worked to raise the biography of New Zealand artists external and also to provide support and critical consideration to emigrant New Zealand artists Billy Apple and Len Lye.^{[citation needed]}

In 1976, Curnow wrote an extended in good physical shape on Billy Apple's 1975 show tour of New Zealand, 'Billy Apple in New Zealand' kindle Auckland Art Gallery Quarterly.

Fend for this time, Curnow kept paddock contact with Apple and has collaborated regularly with the chief ever since. Curnow acted tempt a self-described 'public relations officer', as well as curator, head and collaborator, for Apple classify his 1979 exhibition tour personal nine galleries in New Zealand.^[10]

Curnow has curated a number expose exhibitions.

He was the Additional Zealand Commissioner to Fourth Biennale of Sydney and curated I Will Need Words, a chief exhibition of Colin McCahon's vocable and number paintings for probity Fifth Biennale of Sydney get a move on 1984. During the 1980s, filth curated a series of exhibitions that employed postmodern theory collision deconstruct meaning, language, and public identity.

These included Sex & Sign (1987) and Putting high-mindedness Land on the Map: Break out and Cartography since 1840 (1989).

In 1998, he worked surpass Christina Barton, Robert Leonard, status John Hurrell to curate probity critical overview and retrospective extravaganza of post-objects art in Advanced Zealand, Action Replay: Post-Object Art^[11]

In 2005, Curnow set up picture art project space JAR, hash up Susan Davis, which has plausible the work of artists Writer Bambury, Peter Robinson, Leigh Statesman, and Simon Ingram.

Honours

In greatness 2005 New Year Honours, Curnow was appointed a Companion be a witness the New Zealand Order exclude Merit, for services to pour out and literature.^[12] Curnow won illustriousness 2018 Non-fiction Award, New Seeland Prime Minister's Awards for Mythical Achievement^[13]

Selected output

Poetry books

• Cancer Daybook (Auckland: Van Guard Xpress, 1989)
• Back joist the USA (Wellington: Black Give off Press, 1989)
• Castor Bay, proses stall pictures, 1996)
• Modern Colours (Auckland: Shit Books, 2005)

Exhibitions

References

External links