William Franklin Culbert (23 January 1935 – 28 March 2019) was a New Zealand artist, notable for his use of light in painting, photography, sculpture and installation work, as well as his use of found and recycled materials. He was born in

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The orig ...

, near

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, and divided his time between

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Croagnes in southern France, and New Zealand. He was married to artist Pip Culbert (1938–2016) and made many collaborative works with artist

Ralph Hotere Hone Papita Raukura "Ralph" Hotere (11 August 1931 – 24 February 2013) was a New Zealand artist. He was born in Mitimiti, Northland and is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important artists. In 1994 he was awarded an honorary do ...

Early life and education

Culbert was educated at Hutt Valley High School, where his teachers included James Coe. He then studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University College in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

from 1953 to 1956, alongside Pat Hanly, Gil Taverner, Quentin McFarlane, Trevor Moffitt, Ted Bracey, John Coley and

Hamish Keith Hamish Henry Cordy Keith (born 15 August 1936) is a New Zealand writer, art curator, arts consultant and social commentator. Introduction Keith has been writing about and working with the arts in New Zealand for almost half a century. He has ...

, many who lived in the same house in Armagh Street. Culbert received a National Art Gallery scholarship in 1957 and left New Zealand to study painting at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It of ...

, London. He exhibited in the ''Young Contemporaries'' and ''Young Commonwealth Artists'' exhibitions alongside fellow expatriate New Zealander Billy Apple.

Career

Culbert began to experiment with electric light in 1967. He had a solo exhibition at the

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery ...

, London, in 1977. The touring survey exhibition ''Lightworks'' was organised by City Gallery Wellington in 1997. He participated in the first Auckland Triennial in 2001. In 2013 he represented New Zealand at the 55th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. His exhibition, titled ''Front Door Out Back'', was displayed in the New Zealand pavilion, sited at the Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà. He has permanent commissioned sculptures in London, Wellington and Auckland. Many are collaborative works with

, including ''Fault'' on the facade of City Gallery Wellington (1994), ''Void'' (2006) in the atrium of

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

and ''Black Stump'', a 20m-high column outside the Vero Centre in Auckland. His work is held in public and private collections throughout New Zealand and Europe. Culbert died on 28 March 2019.

Awards, honours and fellowships

*National Art Gallery Scholarship (New Zealand), 1957 *Artist in Residence, University of Nottingham, 1963–65 *Greater London Arts Association Award, 1981 *Arts Council of Great Britain Holographic Bursary, Goldsmiths' Holography Workshop, Goldsmiths' College, London, 1982 *Residency, Museum of Holography, New York, 1985 *Residency, Exploratorium, San Francisco, 1989 *

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to art, particularly sculpture,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

References

External links

Artist page at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaSarah Farrar, Te Papa's Senior Curator Art, interviews Bill CulbertArtist collection page at Christchurch Art GalleryArtist page at Auckland Art Gallery
* Artist page a
Laurent Delaye Gallery
London
Artist profile at Creative New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culbert, Bill 1935 births 2019 deaths People from Port Chalmers Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni University of Canterbury alumni Alumni of the Royal College of Art New Zealand painters Modern painters Modern sculptors People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 20th-century New Zealand sculptors 20th-century New Zealand male artists Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand contemporary artists People educated at Hutt Valley High School

Early life and education

Career

Awards, honours and fellowships

References

Further reading

External links