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Simon Morrison Deaker - 05 & 06
At 32, Simon Morrison Deaker has already built a strong following for his provocative comment and intelligent style. His art is characterised by eighty year old fruit stall stencils, bold abstracted lines and muted primary colours. He paints a new kind of landscape from Central Otago to Northland with unabashed adoration for New Zealand’s past. Works evoked from shared landscape themes further elaborate: New Zealand as a colony under new rule, New Zealanders and their fabric. Often these realist compositions sit on moody black backgrounds, amongst graphical statements and local renaissance themes.
Simons recently sold collection of works was inspired by a previous visit to the United Kingdom and Europe. His current work continues the crest themes as described below as well as a continuation of his work with a relationship to NZ landscapes
The crests that adorn the doorways of many English pubs or the heraldry from Roman and English history, are developed in the ''Crests'' artwork using icons and themes from a colloquial NZ past and present. Titles are adapted from the English themes like ''Green Man'', ''The Cock and Swallow'', "Queens Head" or ''The Boars Head'' and replaced to terms common to New Zealand Cultures. Figurative images abstract and realist play out the associations from these titles.
Simon is an abstract artist using colloquial themes, social commentary and states of construction as themes in his work. Abstract landscapes soaked in the colour spectrum of the region and the discussion of the ownership of land both fiscally and emotionally sit against symbols and developed icons. Various elements of our surrounds are represented with text in the form of place names, commercial ideas or as elements of construction in the landscape. The construction of the area by geography, industry and history are relayed in the heavy lines and boarders, and works are representative of both the South Island and Auckland region.
Simons studies began with a Fine Arts Diploma in Wellington before crossing over to practical media studies in television and video production and and finishing with a multi media design diploma in Christchurch. As a result of Fringe Festival involvement, theatre design and short film projects, Simon worked on Lord of the Rings for a year before 2 years as a Graphic Designer for a company in Wellington. A return to Queenstown and growing success in exhibitions has seen Simon practising his art full time since 2001. Simon is widely represented by galleries throughout the country and Compose Art Gallery is proud to present his work in this exhibition.
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