In 1976 the New Zealand Geographic Board officially restored the name Te Henga to Bethells Beach. It was a favourite haunt for the artist Don Binney (1940-2012) who stated in the catalogue of his 1966 show at Barry Lett Gallery that “an artist’s commitment to an area defines the idiom of the artist as it does the forms, surfaces and innate presence of land that compels his vision. These qualities, seen in the light of year to year experience produce characteristic images which gain in strength from this constant reappraisal.” In this 30 minute talk, art historian Linda Tyler will discuss Binney’s engagement with West Auckland in his painting.
Linda Tyler has taught art history at Canterbury, Victoria, Waikato and Auckland universities, and design history at Unitec and Otago Polytechnic, and been an art curator at Waikato Museum, the Hocken Library and Gus Fisher Gallery. She wrote her MA thesis on the Austrian architect Ernst Plischke and her PhD on the Colonial Museum botanist and draughtsman John Buchanan. Since 2018 she has been convenor of the Museums and Cultural Heritage programme at the University of Auckland.
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