Collection
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Title
Dreamtime
1980
Artist
Richard Killeen
New Zealand
1946 -
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About
Richard Killeen is a New Zealand painter renowned for his ‘cut-outs’ — collections of painted aluminium shapes that can be hung in variable arrangements. Works of this kind were seen in Australia in 1982 and 1986 at the Sydney Biennale and, through the 1980s and 1990s, in exhibitions at Ray Hughes Gallery.
Killeen draws on many art histories and cultural sources to create his image-rich art. This work is one of three called ‘Dreamtime’ from 1980 that make special reference to Aboriginal art. As critic Francis Pound has remarked, here landforms, boomerangs and other tantalisingly ambiguous shapes ‘float in the colours of night.’
Details
Date
1980
Materials used
acrylic lacquer on aluminium, 26 pieces
Dimensions
installation dimensions variable :
a - 1, 124 x 22 cm
b - 2, 69 x 33.5 cm
c - 3, 55.5 x 33 cm
d - 4, 114.5 x 24 cm
e - 5, 68 x 17 cm
f - 6, 49 x 12 cm
g - 7, 90 x 7 cm
h - 8, 79.5 x 14 cm
i - 9, 90.5 x 15 cm
j - 10, 56 x 14 cm
k - 11, 57 x 29 cm
l - 12, 106.5 x 20 cm
m - 13, 67 x 20 cm
n - 14, 51 x 22 cm
o - 15, 114 x 27 cm
p - 16, 86 x 22 cm
q - 17, 42.5 x 6.5 cm
r - 18, 66 x 9 cm
s - 19, 56 x 27 cm
t - 20, 57.5 x 24.5 cm
u - 21, 117 x 29 cm
v - 22, 52.5 x 7.5 cm
w - 23, 96 x 33.5 cm
x - 24, 92 x 17.5 cm
y - 25, 66 x 6.5 cm
z - 26, 97 x 13.5 cm
Signature & date
Signed and dated verso part W, acrylic lacquer "Killeen/ .../ JUNE 1980/ .../ ...".
Signed and dated inside lid original crate, blue felt tip pen "Killeen/ .../ JUNE 1980/ .../ ...".
Credit
Gift of Jim Barr, Mary Barr and Richard Killeen 2015. Founding Governors of the Friends of New Zealand Art
Location
Not on display
Accession number
334.2015.a-z
URL / Share
Richard Killeen
Dreamtime
Shown in 7 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Richard Killeen, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, 1980–1980
"Better than collecting dust": the Jim and Mary Barr Collection:
- Manawatu Art Gallery, New Zealand 30 May 1987–04 Aug 1987
- Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui 31 Aug 1987–29 Sep 1987
Headlands: thinking through New Zealand art:
- Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin 1992–1992
- Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland 1992–1992
- National Art Gallery, Wellington, Wellington 1992–1992
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia 1992–1992
Shared pleasures: the Jim and Mary Barr collection, Waikato Museum of Art and History, Hamilton, 05 Dec 1993–06 Mar 1994
Good work: the Jim and Mary Barr collection:
- Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin 17 Jun 2001–26 Aug 2001
- City Gallery Wellington, Wellington 02 Nov 2001–27 Jan 2002
Kind of Blue: new acquisitions and loans, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, 29 Aug 2009–06 Dec 2009
(Long term loan), Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, Dec 2009–Aug 2015
Referenced in 6 publications
Bibliography
Mary Barr, Headlands: thinking through New Zealand art, Sydney, 1992.
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Kind of Blue: New Acquistions [sic] and Loans, Dunedin, 2009.
Manawatu Art Gallery, "Better than collecting dust": the Jim and Mary Barr Collection, Palmerston North, 1987.
Justin Paton (Curator), Good work: the Jim and Mary Barr collection, Dunedin, 2001.
Justin Paton, Look, 'Kiwi Karma', pg.22-6, Sydney, Mar 2016, 24, 25 (colour illus.).
Waikato Museum of Art and History, Shared pleasures: the Jim and Mary Barr collection, Hamilton, 1993.