BIO
FACE FORWARD Group Portrait Show 14 - 30 August 2025
FACE FORWARD is a dynamic group exhibition that explores the evolving language of portraiture in contemporary art. Featuring a diverse selection of artists from around New Zealand, this exhibition brings together an eclectic mix of styles, techniques, and mediums to present fresh perspectives on the human face and figure.
From realist to abstract, each work on display reveals a distinct approach to capturing identity, emotion, and presence. Some portraits challenge traditional aesthetics through bold distortions or surreal compositions, while others delve into themes of memory, cultural identity, and self expression. The exhibition includes work on canvas, panel, paper, and textile.
FEATURING: ALICE FENNESY / HELENA SKERLJ-ROVERS / JAMES SWEETING / JOHN BOYD DUNLOP / KIRSTEN LOVELOCK / LAURETTE LOOKER / ROBYN FLEET / SHARON DUYMEL / TOM ARMSTRONG
John Boyd Dunlop is a self-taught visual artist based in Te Matau-a-Maui, Napier. Beginning his creative journey at the age of 68, John has developed a bold, intuitive practice that draws from a rich inner world and a life well lived. His work is playful, imaginative, and unapologetically eccentric, often depicting humans and animals in exuberant, at times absurd, arrangements. Frequently described as Naïve Art, Outsider Art, or Art Brut (raw, unrefined expression), his paintings defy categorisation but embrace a raw vitality and a keen sense of humour.
Intricate patterns, surreal hybrids, and buxom ladies clutching roosters sit alongside cat-creatures with painted toenails riding buffalo into candy-coloured dreamscapes. These works form a personal mythology filled with joy, chaos, and curious storytelling. Art runs in the family: John is the son of noted Hawke’s Bay enamelist June Boyd Dunlop, and father to artist Richard Boyd Dunlop. Inspired in part by watching his son’s artistic evolution, John found his own creative voice later in life, drawing deeply from his experiences as a fisherman, farmhand, and market grower. His agrarian scenes echo this past, infused with a sense of wonder and a lifelong love of collecting objects, artefacts, and ideas. Since picking up a brush, John has exhibited regularly and built an impressive body of work held in private collections throughout Australasia.
COLLECTIONS
Mini Works by John Boyd Dunlop
