Selector’s Floor Talk; Hawke’s Bay Art Review

Creative Arts Napier is hosting the 2019 biennial Hawke’s Bay Art Review – a selected exhibition showcasing art excellence in Hawke’s Bay.

At 10.30am on Saturday 1 June, join Selector Bill Milbank at Creative Arts Napier for an informative and highly interesting floor talk about the process of selecting the work on display. Entry by donation.

Submissions were invited from local emerging and established artists in printmaking, painting and drawing, sculpture, photography, multi-media, design and ceramics from artists throughout New Zealand, who have close connections to Hawke’s Bay. All the galleries at Creative Arts Napier will be dedicated to displaying the selected works.

CAN is delighted that Bill Milbank kindly agreed to be our selector for the Hawke’s Bay Art Review. Bill is the former long-term director of Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery, Art dealer at Milbank Gallery & exhibition curator, and previously judged the 2012 ‘East’ exhibition at Hastings City Art Gallery.

The Hawke’s Bay Art Review will be on display throughout Creative Arts Napier from 31 May until 27 June. The Gala Opening event will take place on Friday 31 May, 5-7pm. All welcome!

More about Bill Milbank:
Bill Milbank owns WHMilbank Gallery. He is an art dealer, consultant, appraiser and valuer.

Bill set up his art gallery and consultancy in 2007 after a long, successful and high profile career as the Whanganui Sarjeant Gallery director. Over his time from 1978 to 2005, Bill developed and toured more exhibitions around New Zealand than any other NZ public gallery.

He was recognized at a national level becoming chair of the Art Galleries Directors’ Council and Vice Chair of the Art Galleries Association of New Zealand. He is currently executive officer of the Edith Collier Trust. Bill also put in place the extension plans for the Sarjeant Gallery, which are now coming to fruition.

The WHMilbank Gallery curates monthly exhibitions of local and New Zealand artists in a beautiful, historic building, once the home to the United Ancient Order of Druids, at 1B Bell Street, just a short walk from the Sarjeant Gallery. In rooms behind this gallery he presents stock by diverse artists and in the large spacious Druids meeting hall he displays New Zealand’s most comprehensive dealer gallery collection of paintings and drawings of New Zealand’s leading expressionist painter Philip Trusttum.

These works are available for viewing and purchase backed by Bill’s knowledge and advice. Based on his extensive art knowledge Bill also provides the public with fairly priced art appraisals and valuations.

Bill also offers curatorial advice and assistance to Art Galleries and Museums, and based on his consultancy services to public and private collections. In particular he was the conceptual curator for three Major exhibitions for Puke Ariki. These were “Taranaki Whenua”, “Taranaki Culture” and “Taranaki Economy” which showed between 2007 and 2010. In 2012 he was contracted by the Hastings City Art Gallery to curate “East 2012” an exhibition of works by Artists associated with Hawkes Bay.

The Art Gallery called for slides from artists who had connections to that locale and was provided with discs of these images to select contenders for the exhibition. Bill then visited artists shortlisted and made a final selection of artists and work. A handsome catalogue was produced and he spoke at the opening and later made comments on the works and responded to artists’ questions.

Over recent years Bill has been asked to select and judge several Art Award Exhibitions for the South Taranaki Arts Trust – at Opanaki, and at Hawera for the Lysaght Watt Gallery. He keeps a close eye on general art practice throughout New Zealand and internationally.