Chatting with Claire Dutton of Auckland tailors Strangely Normal

Chatting with Claire Dutton of Auckland tailors Strangely Normal. I’m wearing my Artist Jacket 2018, their Brubeck jacket made with genuine silk velvet printed with my work. I bought my first outfit from Strangely Normal in the 1980s, and have collaborated with Claire and Michael to turn my paintings into wearable artworks since 2017. These are bespoke works and not just for myself: clients can chose the cut, the arrangement of the printed panels, and are fitted by Claire and Michael to create a unique fashion/art statement. Photo Artsdiary.

EXHIBITIONS

Smoked and Roasted Fe29 Gallery 2024

November 26, 2024

These are paintings of food, music, laughter, cocktails, and travel. They are social, they are movement, they entice and delight. Smoked & Roasted is a cocktail served at the bar across the street from where Evan was staying, and its balance of spice, sweet, citrus and salt has been brought back as a suite of luscious coloured paintings.

Sydney Contemporary 2024

November 25, 2024

PAULNACHE and I always try to do things differently, and returning to Sydney Contemporary, we wanted a complete focus on the new paintings. They were presented in a snaking line across the heritage wall of Carriageworks, without the artist’s name, no placards, QR code or anything to interfere with a direct experience of the work. With over 25,000 visitors over four days, we engaged with everyone, from First Nations artists to the Volunteers. It was a memorable success.

No Straight Lines, Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings City Art Gallery 2023

September 26, 2023

Opening just two months after the devastating floods of Cyclone Gabrielle, this exhibition offered a bright, uplifting environment for the community to refresh themselves in.

Until science finds a cure for our condition, remain medicated, PAULNACHE 2019

October 29, 2021

PAULNACHE and I had discussed how multipanel paintings could be rearranged and mixed up yet still work as an image.

NEWS

Largest work to date 28th April 2023

September 26, 2023

My exhibition No Straight Lines at Te Where Toi o Heretaunga Hastings City Art Gallery provided the opportunity to negotiate with its Main Gallery, the largest un-poled space in the Southern Hemisphere.

Creative Matters Podcast

September 26, 2023

Whether you’re out for a stroll or need some aural distraction while working, you can now listen to me in conversation with Mandy Jakich at her lovely Muriwai studio for Creative Matters.

Exquisite Colours collaboration with Schmincke

September 26, 2023

My collaboration with renown German paint manufacturer Schmincke in 2022, designing the palette of colours for a Ultimate Mixing Set of Horadam Watercolours, was so successful that they asked me to devise a new set for 2023.