Simon Richardson
While there is nothing of the speculative or supernatural in Simon's work, instead of using realism to create distance or encourage an objective observation (if such a thing is ever possible), there is something more relational at play. As viewers, we're not so much looking on or observing, as we are being invited into Simon's own gaze. If anything, we're observing his own looking, an invitation towards intimacy and a sensitivity to the world of what is being looked at. The paintings are portals of shared subjectivity, or, at the very least, an open door to see what one sees.
Simon Richardson was born in Gore in 1974. He studied at the Otago School of Art and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1996. Since then he has been a full-time artist, based in Dunedin. Richardson has been awarded the Canadian Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant three times, which has enabled him to study paintings in European Art Galleries.
In 2016, Richardson's portrait of his daughter, ‘Mila’ was selected for the prestigious BP Portrait Award at the National Gallery, London, making him the first New Zealander to be selected. In 2019, Richardson was approached by the renowned Arcadia Contemporary Gallery in Los Angeles and since then his work has been shown in the gallery and included in the 2020 L.A Art Fair.
Richardson has had many important commissions including Christs College Headmaster Simon Leese, the Official Civic portrait of Mayor of Dunedin, Peter Chin and, recently, the Auckland University's official portrait of Vice Chancellor Stuart McCutheon. His work is included in many national and international collections.
Quotation from Happening in Painting, an essay by Lynley Edmeades for Richardson's exhibition 'Life and Still Life'.
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Vanitas 1, 2025[Available]
