Phil Dickson’s Art Retrospective Exhibition

One of Wellington’s most loved and outstanding artists’ Phil Dickson, sadly passed away unexpectedly on 31 March, leaving behind a legacy of art for future generations to enjoy. Two Wellington art galleries are proud to be simultaneously showing a retrospective exhibition of his art in his honour. Kiwiarthouse, at upper Cuba Street,Wellington, will focus mainly on Phil’s Wellington paintings and Artspace Gallery on the Petone Foreshore will exhibit many of Phil’s Hutt Valley paintings.

Phil has lived in Wellington all his life and his life long love and passion for our city and region is reflected in his striking watercolour and oil paintings created in his very distinctive and enduring style.

An amateur meteorologist, many of Phil's paintings were inspired by his love of the weather and the different lighting that results from Wellington’s weather mood changes. A career as cartographer helped with his painting style as it enhanced his eye for New Zealand's natural features and landscapes.

Through his interest in local history, Phil enjoyed creating beautiful colourful paintings of historic local and familiar scenes using a selection of old monochrome photos and his memory as reference, thus bringing historic black and white photos to a new life in colour.

Phil was the author of the wonderful book titled ‘’Phil Dickson’s Wellington’’. Published in 2014, it combined his talent as an artist and as a writer. Wellington’s past and present is beautifully woven through the story with paintings of buildings, transport and social life from the 1870s to the present.