Instinctively Inherent

Instinctively Inherent - Father and son, John and Richard Boyd-Dunlop exhibiting together in the Taupo Museum galleries.

John Boyd-Dunlop’s art career was launched later in life, his paintings having become an extension of life, family, and memories. Regardless of his late start as a creative, John has made up for lost time.

Employing a prolific practice, John has grown a large catalogue of work and participated in many
exhibitions in a matter of just a few years.

Play is an essential ingredient to any artist’s practice, and this is certainly a primary component in
John’s work. In true outsider fashion, John’s oeuvre is free of the burden of expectation, a true
exploration of creativity as a self-taught artist. His work attracts many for the honesty and humour,
not just in subject but in the experimentation of mediums, using traditional media in an
unconventional manner.

John’s paintings are characterised by his playful figures, which sit amongst a celebration of melting
colour, textures, and critters plucked right from the imagination. The figure and personality of these
characters are built through an intuitive and experimental process of laying materials to canvas, yet
also act as explorations of experiences - the past, the present, and future. Tying together this
introspection, his titles give hints to greater narrative elements.

John’s work is part of a larger objective - to create a lasting legacy to his family, with his oeuvre
becoming a testament to a life well-lived.

Richard Boyd-Dunlop has been creating in paint under the tutelage of his own eyes and his own hands since his teens. An exhibiting artist whose career has spanned the last twenty-five years, his work adorns public and private spaces both at home in New Zealand and across the
globe.

Richard’s signature style lays down dense topographical backdrops, bold, colourful and joyful, often on a grand scale. He manipulates layers of paint to expressive abstract effect, unlocking a gateway to the alternative world inside his brain. Highly symbolic, his imagery straddles the past and the future, alluding to an imagined culture at once primal and ultra-modern. The work is deeply relatable, tapping into facets of our collective human psyche, offering a sense of resolution and harmony to the universal struggles of the current age.

Taking inspiration from topical events, pop culture and recognisable icons, as well as a fantastic tribal past, his created characters and familiar figures connect with the viewer on a deep and fundamental level, pushing the buttons of memory and reverie.

Not content to confine himself to paint, Richard has delved into digital creation exploring animation and augmented reality to push his practice to the cutting edge of innovation. He plays with media, introducing holographic vinyl to make pieces that are truly engaging and interactive, fluidly morphing colour and composition depending on the viewer’s perspective point. He has translated his paint to print, both for use as a springboard to greater mixed media creation on canvas, and for a range of functional objects d’art to grace the bespoke home.

Constantly learning, evolving and up-skilling, Richard Boyd-Dunlop is an artist to keep eyes on as he continues his mission to colour the world from the dreamscapes inside his mind.

Taupō Museum is open 7 days from 10 am to 4:30 pm.