Neil Haddon is a British-Australian painter. His paintings display a wide variety of influences and styles, from hard edge
geometric abstraction
Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. Although the genre was popu ...
to looser expressive
figurative painting
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract ...
. Haddon currently lives and works in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
, Tasmania.
Early life and education
Haddon was born in
Epsom
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
, England. He was born at "Eversleigh" in Worple Road – the former residence of the English writer
George Gissing
George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include ''The Nether World'' (1889), ''New Grub ...
.
He earned a B-TEC Diploma in Art and Design from the
Epsom School of Art
Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893 ...
, Surrey, England (1985–1987) (now the
University for the Creative Arts
The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England.
It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Inst ...
), where he studied alongside the painter
Cecily Brown
Cecily Brown (born 1969) is a British painter. Her style displays the influence of a variety of contemporary painters, from Willem de Kooning, Francis BaconScott, Sue (2013). "Cecily Brown" in ''The Reckoning: Women Artists of the New Millennium ...
. He received an Honours degree from
West Surrey College of Art and Design
Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893 ...
(1987–1990) (now the University for the Creative Arts) where he studied under
Stephen Farthing
Stephen Farthing (born 16 September 1950) is an English painter and writer on art history.
Education
Stephen Farthing grew up in London and earned a bachelor's degree from Saint Martin's School of Art in 1973 and a master's degree in painti ...
.
In 2020, he was awarded a Doctorate in Fine Art from the School of Creative Arts and Media,
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...
(CAM).
[
]
Career
Haddon relocated to Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Spain, in 1990 and lived and worked there until 1996. He maintained a studio in Cornellá throughout this period. He held his first solo exhibition at Galería Carles Poy in 1992. In 1996 he moved to Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, Australia. He has lived and worked there since then.[
He has held a variety of part-time teaching posts at the School of Creative Arts and Media, ]University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...
, is a post-graduate supervisor, and is Head of Painting.
Other activities
In 2014 Haddon undertook a three-month residency in New York at the Australia Council for the Arts
The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...
Greene Street Studio. Haddon was the Chair of Contemporary Art Tasmania from 2010 to 2016 and was a board member of Salamanca Arts Centre
The Salamanca Arts Centre (SAC), established in 1976, is a major arts hub in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is a combination of theatres, galleries and arts administration located behind the historic facade of Georgian warehouses in Salamanca Plac ...
from 2018 to 2022.
Work
Haddon's paintings combine a wide range of influences and styles, from geometric abstraction
Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. Although the genre was popu ...
to figuration. He has become known for using a variety of materials and techniques, from flat high gloss enamel painting to expressive oil painting. The sources for Haddon's paintings come from an array of visual media that includes local newspaper images, archival photographs of Australia and the UK, and the paintings of earlier 'colonial' artists such as John Glover and Paul Gauguin. His paintings have been described as "a meta-landscape mash up of samples from John Glover and Paul Gaugin and the reflectiveness of your granny's ornamental biscuit tins". Kelly Gellatly, senior curator of contemporary art at the National Gallery of Victoria described Haddon's work as abstract painting that "doesn't depict a traditional landscape but is evocative in its use of darker aspects of landscape." Haddon describes working from these sources as "a process of razing an image to the ground and then building back up." Andrew Frost of The Guardian described Haddon's 2016 painting ''I Read Day of the Triffids When I Lived in England (and now I Live in Tasmania)'' as "a delightful post-painting nightmare."
Exhibitions
Haddon's paintings have been exhibited in Australia, the US, and Europe. Exhibitions include: ''Theatre of the World'', MONA (and La Maison Rouge, Paris) curated by Jean-Hubert Martin
Jean-Hubert Martin () born on June 3, 1944 in Strasbourg, France, is a leading art historian, institution director, and curator of international exhibitions. Through his professional career, he contributed to expand what is considered as contemp ...
, ''Platform Los Angeles'', ''Strange Trees'', Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is a museum located in Hobart, Tasmania. The museum was established in 1846, by the Royal Society of Tasmania, the oldest Royal Society outside England.
The TMAG receives 400,000 visitors annually.
...
, Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
; This Is No Fantasy, Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
; and MOP Gallery, Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. His paintings were featured in Ten Days on the Island, 2003 and were described by Daniel Thomas as "a high-spirited meeting of Pop art and popular culture with austere reto-Futurist abstraction."
Collections
Haddon's work is held in private and public collections internationally and in Australia by the National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum.
The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...
, Artbank
Artbank is an art rental program established in 1980 by the Australian Government. It supports contemporary Australian artists and encourages a wider appreciation of their work by buying artworks which it then rents to public and private sector c ...
; the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; the University of Tasmania Fine Art Collection; Devonport Regional Gallery, and the Gold Coast Arts Centre
Home of the Arts (HOTA), opened as the Keith Hunt Community Entertainment and Arts Centre in 1986 and subsequently renamed The Arts Centre Gold Coast (TAC) and Gold Coast Arts Centre, is a cultural precinct situated in Surfers Paradise, City of ...
.
Awards
Haddon's painting "The Visit", inspired by his migration to Tasmania and H.G. Wells' novel ''The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'' was awarded the Hadley's Art Prize in 2018. Hadley's Prize judge and Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery curator, Jane Stewart, described the painting as "a complex and accomplished painting that raises many questions about landscape, custodianship and contact history.”
His painting "Portrait with Paperchains", featuring his brother-in-law Timothy Walker CBE, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
, was awarded the City of Whyalla
The City of Whyalla (formally The Corporation of the City of Whyalla) is a local government area in South Australia, located at the north-east corner of the Eyre Peninsula. It was established in 1970, replacing the town commission, which had been ...
Art Prize in 2011. Haddon returned to judge the Whyalla Prize in 2013.
"Purblind (Opiate)" won the $25,000 Glover Prize
The Glover Prize is an Australian annual art prize awarded for paintings of the landscape of Tasmania The prize was inaugurated in 2004 by the John Glover Society, based in Evandale, Tasmania, in honour of the work of British-born landscape pai ...
(Tasmania) 2008.
"Survivor (del tink gyp flynn)" was awarded the City of Devonport
Devonport City Council (or City of Devonport) is a local government body located in the city and surrounds of Devonport in northern Tasmania. The Devonport local government area is classified as urban and has a population of 25,415, which als ...
Art Award in 2006.
His paintings have been selected for other significant art prizes, including both the Wynne Prize
The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...
and the Sulman Prize
The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936.
It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Gallery ...
, both at Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...
.
His work "It's Difficult (this Tasmanian landscape)" was also a finalist in the $50,000 Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize
Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...
at the Bendigo Art Gallery
Bendigo Art Gallery is an Australian art gallery located in Bendigo, Victoria. It is one of the oldest and largest regional art galleries.
History
The gallery was founded in 1887.
The gallery's collection was first housed in the former Bendigo ...
in 2023.
References
External links
Museum of Old and New Art
Ocula
* Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College
Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haddon, Neil
Artists from Hobart
British painters
British male painters
Australian painters
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people