Liam Barr
Liam Barr (b.1966), originally from Scotland, emigrated with his family to N.Z. in 1974 and is now based in Wellington. This series of editions is based on paintings from his most recent and fourth solo show Pakeha (2011).
In Pakeha, Barr continued his search to define the New Zealand experience, as expressed in a series of twelve portrait paintings depicting stories of whalers, sailors and early pioneering visitors to this land. Images draw reference from the fictitious to the subjectively factual, weaving stories punctuated with symbolism and iconography laying bare a colonial psyche rapidly assembling through historical events. Barr's beautiful paintings imbue a romantic, historical essence contextualized in a contemporary fashion. Deftly painted embellishments dramatise the narrative and subtly draw us in to the atmosphere of the era, complete with moody landscapes and deep dark timber frames of 19th century oil paintings. His limited edition works are archival Ultrachrome prints (Gicle).