Dean Buchanan

Dean Buchanan, Helga Strewe, Rudi Buchanan Strewe

- Mountains and Rivers

17th August - 4th September 2010

Opening: Tues 17th August, 5.30 – 7pm

Denys Trussell's introduction to Dean's exhibition at Satellite is available here: 

Walk into Dean Buchanan’s studio at Karekare and you’re immediately immersed in the high-voltage energy that flows from the man and his work; huge canvases surround the walls and surge with the life of the natural environment he loves. Dean is a dedicated and prolific painter; his work is his calling and over 40 years he has developed a unique style which Denys Trussell describes in a recent interview with Dean; ‘By style I mean you have remade the landscape into a language that is peculiarly your own.’ (Cultural Icons Series www.jamradio.co.nz) His most recent paintings are superb reverential mountainscapes, asserting a presence that puts us, humans, in our diminutive place.

In ‘Mountains and Rivers ’Dean’s intense relationship with the environment is celebrated; he pays homage to the ‘trees that are so friendly they wrap around you’, the mountains he climbs, the country he tramps in, Karekare, where he lives with his family of artists, also exhibiting works that evidence a similar influence expressed through different media; Helga is a jeweller working delicate flowers in silver and precious stones and Rudi a sculptor in bronze of flora adapted by imagination to encompass Maori legend.

Helga's love of jewellery began at age 15 when she attended an exhibition on jewellery at the Victoria and Albert Museum.  She went on to study jewellery design and to make her own pieces. 

Rudi has always had an affinity for working with metal.  He trained as a motorcycle mechanic, fabricating and casting parts.  This inspired him to build a forge for blacksmithing when he was 16 and later, to teach himself the technique of metal casting using the lost wax technique.