BOWL & SPOON Michael Smither

Screenprint 845 x 600mm unframed size Edition of 50 ARTIS Gallery artisgallery.co.nz

MICHAEL SMITHER was born in 1939 and is renowned as one of the leading painters in New Zealand today. His paintings are held in public collections throughout New Zealand, including Te Papa Tongarewa – Wellington, Auckland City Art Gallery and Govett-brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth. Smither is mainly known for his iconic super-realist paintings and screenprints. He is acknowledged as one of several pivotal painters who emerged in the 1960s, to lead contemporary New Zealand art in new directions. Also a talented musician and composer, in 1982 Smither developed his own ‘Harmonic Chart’, which he has used as a reference for many of his paintings and sculptures over the past decades. His works can actually be played as a musical score – translating colour into sound.

In 2004, Smither was awarded the CNZM (Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit) for Services to Art.