Listing Details
W.D Hammond. (Bill)
1947 – 2021
Lyttelton artist Bill Hammond was at the forefront of the Post-colonial Gothic art movement in New Zealand. He was born in Christchurch attending Burnside High School and then Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University.
In 1982 he had his first solo show at the Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch. In 1987 he showed for the first time with Peter McLeavey in Wellington. Hammond went on to have over 20 shows at the McLeavey Gallery.
In 1989 Hammond travelled to the Auckland Islands. This trip was to have a profound influence on his work. Waiting for Buller 1993 references Walter Buller, the first ornithologist in New Zealand who wrote A History of New Zealand Birds. For Hammond the contradictions of Buller’s life as a hunter and taxidermist in a colonial society, yet recording such beautiful creatures, was a continual fascination. His personal sense of social injustice and environmental issues pervade his work. The anthropomorphic creatures; part bird, part animal, part human, tell a story in each painting.
Dimensions: 835mm W x 690mm H
Framing: Framed
Framed Dimensions: 980mm W x 850mm H
Condition Note: This work was damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. It has been remounted and reframed with non-reflective glass but evidence remains of creases.
