4 April 2007

New Zealand Army Artist To Exhibit Afghanistan And Solomon Islands Paintings

New Zealand Army Artist To Exhibit Afghanistan And Solomon Islands Paintings

The work of Captain Matt Gauldie, the New Zealand Army artist operationally deployed to the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan in 2006, will be exhibited in Christchurch from April 16 to May 12.

Capt Gauldie, official New Zealand Army artist since 2005, has used those experiences as the basis for several of his paintings in the upcoming Combat on Canvas exhibition at Our City gallery.

He is the first New Zealand Army artist to paint New Zealand troops on deployment since Ion Brown went to Bosnia and Croatia in 1995.

“The highlight of the paintings on show are the operational paintings from my time in the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan, they are new paintings,” Capt Gauldie said.

”I never dreamed that my art might lead me to international peacekeeping operations in countries like Afghanistan,” he said.

While in Afghanistan Capt Gauldie participated in ordnance disposal in the remote mountainous region, distributed medicine, and travelled with NZ Army engineers overseeing construction of police stations and schools.

As well as exhibiting work from his time in Afghanistan and the Solomon Islands, Capt Gauldie will show previous works from his Recruit, Day in the Life of a Soldier and Unknown Warrior series.

His completing of the basic training course gave him the inspiration to complete his Recruit series of paintings, and begin what is known as the series A Day in the Life of a Soldier, which will be ongoing throughout his tenure as New Zealand Army artist.

Combat on Canvas. Images of Courage, Commitment, Comradeship and Integrity, featuring works by Captain Matt Gauldie, New Zealand Army Artist, will be at Our City from April 16 to May 12.

Matt Gauldie

NZ Army Artist, 2005 - present

Matt Gauldie is the current NZ Army Artist. His evocative images have captured the men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force serving in the remote mountains of Afghanistan and the dense jungle of the Solomon Islands. He has also travelled with the NZ Army to the World War One battle fields in northern France as part of a commission to paint the ‘Return of the Unknown Warrior’ series. The resulting exhibition recorded one of the most moving and dramatic events in recent New Zealand history.

“Painting for the NZ Army has been a hugely-rewarding experience. The opportunity to open a window into such a fundamental part of New Zealand culture and society fascinated me from the start.”

The Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon Helen Clark, officially appointed Matt Gauldie as the NZ Army Artist on 11 April 2005. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Gauldie was issued with the honorary rank of Captain by the then Chief of Army, Major General Jerry Mateparae.

“It’s a great honour to be made an officer. A few years ago I would have laughed if anyone had told me I was going to be a fully-trained soldier in the army. And I never dreamed that my art might lead me to international peacekeeping operations in countries like Afghanistan.”

Matt Gauldie was born in Lower Hutt in 1976 and started painting while growing up in New Zealand. He completed his schooling in Hawaii, where he won numerous awards for his art. He started exhibiting commercially at 23, specialising in portraits. He is also a sculptor. In the period from 1998 to 2003 he branched out of portraits into contemporary landscapes, nudes and street scenes. He exhibited widely in New Zealand and his reputation for contemporary realism grew.

Gauldie’s involvement with the NZ Army began in 2004 when he was commissioned to paint the ‘Return of the Unknown Warrior’ series, which at the time was the largest commercial undertaking of his career. The grandson of a First World War soldier, he felt the paintings should be large and powerfully evocative to encompass the range of emotions unleashed by the Unknown Warrior’s return to New Zealand. The success of the exhibition lead to his appointment as the official NZ Army Artist.

In September 2005 Gauldie volunteered to undertake the gruelling 12-week All Arms Recruit Course in Waiouru alongside Regular Force Recruits enlisting into the NZ Army. He chose to attend the course in order to gain a better understanding and insight into the NZ Army and more accurately reflect the true nature of the military in his paintings. His attendance on the course inspired him to complete the ‘Recruit’ series of paintings and begin what has become known as the series ‘A Day in the Life of a Soldier’, which will be ongoing throughout his tenure as NZ Army Artist.

During February/March 2006 Gauldie participated in three weeks of intensive training with over 100 New Zealand Defence Force personnel preparing to deploy to Afghanistan with New Zealand’s Provincial Reconstruction Team. This training provided him an insight into the operational focus of the NZ Army and material for the beginning of a series of paintings on the New Zealand Defence Force’s deployment to Afghanistan.

In late March 2006 he travelled to the Solomon Islands where he spent time with the NZ Army platoon deployed to provide security to the Government of the Solomon Islands as part of the on-going Regional Assistance Mission. He immersed himself in the soldier’s daily routine of patrols and visits to villages. This experience served as inspiration for a series of paintings on the Solomon Islands featuring the unique empathy of New Zealand soldiers towards the locals, along with their close working relationship with the New Zealand Police and Australian Army.

Over the period July/August 2006 Gauldie spent five weeks in Afghanistan. Deployed as part of the New Zealand Defence Force Provincial Reconstruction Team, he joined patrols and experienced base life in Bamyan province. He participated in ordnance disposal in the remote mountainous region, distributed medicine, and travelled with NZ Army engineers overseeing construction of police stations and schools. At a local orphanage a large group of excited children helped him to create a six-metre mural. Before leaving Afghanistan he painted a portrait of the Governor of Bamyan, which was presented as a gift from the New Zealand Defence Force Provincial Reconstruction Team.

During his tenure as NZ Army Artist Gauldie has continued to paint and exhibit privately and is represented by a number of commercial galleries around New Zealand.

For more information about Matt Gauldie visit his website at http://matt.gauldie.com.

ENDS

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