THE CULBERT ARCHIVE
Born in Port Chalmers in 1935, Bill Culbert divided his time between London, Croagnes, France, and New Zealand.
Predominantly interested in light – he dedicated his life to a profound, poetic investigation of it. “My primary exploration is about light – light-marks in space or light-in-light, light in darkness, night-light, daylight, those kinds of things just intrigue me.” Illumination and shadow, transparency and reflection work together in the most powerful of his works. He used naturally available light, the sun and all its iterations, and when he wanted light to pour out of objects from where it could not exist, he turned to the controllable light, fluorescence, and incandescence, both new and old technology.
COLLECTIONS
New Zealand
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
City Art Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre
Mahana Estates
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
PriceWaterhouseCoopers Tower, Auckland
Royal & Sun Alliance Centre
University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka
Australia
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
United Kingdom
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre
BUPA House, London
Churchill Place Mall, Canary Wharf, Tower Hamlets – Canary Wharf Group
Contemporary Art Society, London
Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge
County Hall, Leicester County Council Artworks Collection
Derbyshire & Derby School Library Service
Nottingham City Museums & Galleries
Royal College of Art
Sheffield Museums: Graves Gallery
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
The University of Nottingham
France
Centre National des Arts Plastiques
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO
2018
Bill Culbert: Desk Lamp, Crash, Hopkinson Mossman, Wellington, New Zealand
Time Tables, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Colour Theory, Window Mobile, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland, New Zealand
2016
Central Station, The Return, Andata Ritorino, Geneva
The Key to the Fields (with Andrew Barber), Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland (two-person)
2014/15
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole, France
Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland
National Art School Gallery (NAS), Sydney
Château des Adhémar, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Montélimar
2013
Front Door Out Back, New Zealand Pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice
Long View, Royal Festival Hall, The Southbank Centre, London
Light Marks, Laurent Delaye Gallery, London
Hut, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
2012
Bill Culbert: Hut, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
2011
Bill Culbert: Light Levels, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
Bill Culbert: Backlight, Laurent Delaye Gallery, London
2010
Bill Culbert: Light State, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
Par hasard, Galerie Martagon, Malaucène
2009
Flat Light, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
State of Light, PEER, London
Flat Out, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
2008
Groundworks, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2006
Bill Culbert, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Bill Culbert, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland New Zealand
2005
Bill Culbert, Galerie Catherine Issert, April-May 2005, France
Bill Culbert, Pinboard Gallery, London
Light wine things, Whangara Art Gallery, New Zealand
2004
Light wine things, Dunedin Public Gallery, New Zealand
Daylight and Nightlight, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Bill Culbert, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2003
Bill Culbert, New Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Wine, Light and Things, Millenium Gallery, Blenheim, New Zealand
2002
Bill Culbert, Centre d'Arts Plastic, St Fons, Lyon, France
2001
Spacific Plastics, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
New Works, St Roseline (Château), Galerie Catherine Issert, Les Arcs, France
2000
HalfLight, Gitte Weiss Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Ralph Hotere Black Light: Major Works Including Collaborations with Bill Culbert, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
1999
Bill Culbert, Six Friedrich Gallery, Munich, Germany
Photoworks, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France
1998
Lightworks, Govett-Brewster, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Whalebone, (with Ralph Hotere), Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Lightworks, Dunedin Public Gallery, New Zealand
Bill Culbert, Galerie Municipale, Vity-sur-Seine, Paris
1997
Musée-Château d’Annecy, France
Bill Culbert: Photoworks, Ecole d’arts d’Annecy, France
Photoworks, BUPA, London
Lightworks, City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Stoplight, Gitte Weiss Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Incident in Marlow’s Office, Musée Calvet et Cité Appolinaire, Avignon, France
1996
Vessels, Jars and Plains I, Viewpoint Gallery, Salford
Vessels, Jars and Plains II, Zone Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
1995
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mulhouse
Pacific Plastics, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
New Work II, Kunst, Sydney, Australia
1994
Six Pack Blue, Kunst, Sydney, Australia
Citroën Series, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
FRAC Limousin, Chapelle Saint Libéral, Brive
FRAC Limousin, Les Coopérateurs, Limoges
1992
Galerie Carsten, Berlin
Galerie l’Ollave, Lyon
Photos, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Galerie Six Friedrich, Munich
Vol au Vent, Champs Elysées, Paris
Château d’Oiron, France
1991
Galerie Froment Putman, Paris
La Criée, Rennes
Victoria Miro, Florence
Andata Ritorno, Genéve
Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Watermans Gallery, Brentford, London
1990
Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Galerie Six Friedrich, Munich
1989
Very Close, Saint-Satunin Les Apt, France
1988
Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1987
Orchard Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland
Corner House Gallery, Manchester
1986
Athenaeum, Dijon, France
ICA, London
Tour de Wellington, Christchurch et Dunedin, New Zealand
1985
Coracle Press Gallery, London
1984
Staircase Project, ICA, London
Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand
1982
Coracle Press Gallery, London
1980
Sunderland Art Gallery
1979
ACME Gallery, London
1978
National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1977
Serpentine Gallery, London
Arts Council Tour, Grande-Bretagne
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Mapping Art Gallery, Sheffield
Musée Industriel de Bradfort City, Yorkshire
1976
Forum Kunst Gallery, Rottweil, Germany
1965
McRoberts et Tunnard Gallery, London
1964
Nottingham University Art Gallery
1963
Nottingham University Art Gallery
Hatton Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
Picadilly Gallery, London
1961
Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London
Edinborough Festival, Scotland
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
Spring 1883 Art Fair, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Melbourne
2017
State of Play, Roslyn Oxley9, Sydney
Poor Timing, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland
2016
GROUP SHOW, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
2015
Light Show, Musuem of Contemporary Art, Sydney (touring exhibition)
2014
Nada se detiene, Centre d’Art la Panera, Lleida
Galerie Catherine Issert, Saint-Paul de Vence
Doble dirección, Centre d’Art la Panera, Lleida
Portmanteaux, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland
The International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Cartagena de Indias, Cartagena de Indias
Light Show, Hayward Gallery, London and Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand (touring exhibition)
2013
Pièces montrées, Fondation Fernet Branca, Saint-Louis
Hotere Culbert, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
Core Purpose, Laurent Delaye Gallery, London
As Many Structures as I Can, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt
Défilé de sculptures, Les Coopérateurs, Limoges
Luminousflux: Light Works, The University of Western Australia, Crawley
Modern & Contemporary Paintings & Prints, The Art Stable, Kelly Ross Fine Art, Dorset
Association Château de Servières, Galerie Martagon, Malaucène
Partner Dance: Gifts from the Patrons of the Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
2012
Peripheral Relations; Marcel Duchamp and New Zealand Art 1960-2011, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington.
Singular Companions: Scuplture from the Collection, Govett-Brewster, New Zealand
Escultura/objecte, Fundacio Suñol, Barcelona
Look Closely Now, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Booragul
2011
GROUPS WHO, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Group Show, Galerie Martagon, France
2010
Fully Booked, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne
Unpacking My Library, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland
Par Hasard, Galerie Martagon, France,
2009
AC/DC The Art of Power, Gus Fisher Gallery
Lucky Town, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney
Bill Culbert and Ralph Hotere: P.R.O.P, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
2007
Grey Water, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Light Time and Three Dimensions, PaceWildenstein, New York
Royal Academy of Arts: 239th Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Collect: New Acquisitions, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch
ULTRAMarte — Contemporary Art from New Zealand, Casa-Museo Benlliure, Valencia
Op Art, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt
In View: Works from the VUW Art Collection, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
2006
High Tide: Currents in Contemporary Australian Art, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland and Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
Void, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
Art Contemporain en Provence 2006: Bill Culbert & Jean-Claude Guillamon, Galerie Martagon, Malaucène
Norsewear Award 2006, Hawke’s Bay Exhibition Centre, Hastings
Sammelsurium 1: 1970–-1981-— Mitglieder des Kunstvereins sammeln, Forum Kunst Rottweil, Rottweil
Art & the 60s from Tate Britain, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tämaki, Auckland
Accommodate, St Paul St, AUT University, Auckland
2005
Hotere: Empty of Shadows and Making a Shadow, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch
effervescence: la sculpture «anglaise» dans les collections françaises de 1969 à 1989, Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers, Angers
Fall of Water Fall of Light, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tämaki, Auckland
Shadowplay, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
El estado de las cosas — el objecto en el arte desde 1960 hasta nuestros dias, Vitoria-Artium Centro-Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, Gasteiz
SOFA Print Project, SOFA Gallery, Christchurch
2004
Prospect 04, Wellington City Art Gallery, New Zealand
Light Art, Richmond, New Yorkshire, England
Image & Object - Contemporary Still Life in New Zealand, Pataka Porirua Museum of Arts & Cultures, Porirua, New Zealand
SCAPE: From a Different Angle. New Zealand Communty Trust Art & Industry Urban Arts Biennal 04, various locations, Christchurch
Telecom Prospect 2004: New Zealand New Art, City Gallery, Wellington
Some Versions of Light, The Telephone Repeater Station/ Saint Paulinus Projects, Brompton-on-Swale
Signs and Wonders He Tohu He Ohurere, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
Image and Object: Contemporary Still Life in New Zealand, Pataka Museum of Art and Culture, Porirua
Home Sweet Home: Works from the Peter Fay Collection, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2003
Image and Object, Pataka, Porirua, New Zealand
Reinvention, FRAC collection, Centura, Corsica
Editions Alecto— A Fury for Prints: Artists Prints and Multiples 1960-81, Bankside Gallery, London
Réinvention de la collection, Couvent de Morsiglia, Centuri
Ultimate Ground: Ralph Hotere, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
Qu’est-ce que la photo-sculpture? FRAC Limousin/Les Coopérateurs, Limoges
The Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 2002, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
2002
La Cuite, La Galerie Martagon, Malancène, France
Aramoana / Pathway to the sea (collaboration with Ralph Hotere), Second Asia-Pacific Triennale, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia
L’art vu à distance: l’art et la television à partir des collections du Centre Pompidou et du Frac Limousin, FRAC Limousin/Les Coopérateurs, Limoge
2001
Works from Paper Graphia, ADAM Art Gallery
Azerty, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Collection FRAC Limousin
Bright Paradise, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
Bill Culbert and the Sainte-Roseline Chateau, Galerie Catherine Issert, St Paul de Vence, France (White Shadow)
Mutiservice programme, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
Bright Paradise: The 1st Auckland Triennial, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tämaki, Auckland
Diversions: Recent Acquisitions from the University Art Collection, Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland, Auckland
Blackhole, Congreve House, Takapuna. Permanent installation of work made in collaboration with Ralph Hotere
Prospect 2001: New Art New Zealand, City Art Gallery, Wellington
Works from the VUW Art Collection, Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei
Group Show, Galerie Catherine Issert, Saint-Paul de Vence
Bill Culbert, Ralph Hotere, John Reynolds— Works from PaperGraphica, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
2000
Alive, still life into 21 century, ADAM Art Gallery, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
Drive, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Black Light, collaborative works (with Ralph Hotere), Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
Black Stump, Royal Sun Alliance Building, Auckland. Permanent installation of work made in collaboration with Ralph Hotere
Art & Industry 2000 Biennial: Contemporary Visual Arts Festival, Art & Industry, Christchurch
A ConTemporary OutWork: ‘Sky Light IV’, 2000, Bill Culbert & Ralph Hotere , Waitemata Plaza, Auckland
Black & White, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch
L’enfance de l’art: 1. L’ombre, Andata/Ritorno — Art contemporain, Geneva
Skyline, Millennium Dome, London
Present Tense: Part 3 – Life and Limb, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
The Chartwell Collection: Recent Acquisitions, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tämaki, Auckland
Wonderlands: Views on Life at the End of the Century, at the End of the World, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
1999
Toi toi toi, 3 Generations of New Zealand, Art Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, German
Toi toi toi, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand
Eclipse, CEAAC, Strasbourg, France
Iluzje optyczne: Fotografie ze zbiorów Regionalnej Fundacji Sztuki Wspólczesnej (Optical Illusions: Photographs from the Collections FRAC-Alsace, National Museum of Warsaw, Warsaw
Home and Away: Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art from the Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tämaki, Auckland
Autumn Exhibition, FhE Galleries, Auckland
Leap of Faith: Contemporary New Zealand Art 1998, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
1998
Inauguration exhibition, Wellington
Switch, Art Electric, Sir Herman Black Gallery, Sydney, Australia
The Shape of Light, Eich Gallery, Humberside University, Hull England
Bildhauerzeichnungen de Gegenwart, Rottweil, Germany
Bill Culbert/Ralph Hotere: ‘WhaleBone’ 1997, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
Lights and Shadows, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
Dream Collectors: One Hundred Years of Art in New Zealand, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington (touring show)
1997
Off the Peg, Rack Gallery, London
Dream Collectors, One Hundred Years of Art in New Zealand
Multiplication: The Multiple Object in Art, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne
5 ans d’acquisition 1991-1995: Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain d’Alsace, le FRAC Alsace, Sélestat and Centre Européen d’Actions Artistiques Contemporains (CEAAC), Strasbourg
Light, Richard Salmon, London
Fever, Gitte Weise Gallery, Sydney
1996
Transformers, New Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Milky Way, FRAC Corse
un siècle de sculpture anglaise, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris
Collection Exhibition for Opening of New Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
1995
New Zealand Light, Govett- Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
A Collection of Sculptures, Wassenaar
Cabinet Art, Jason & Rhodes, London
Contemporary Art in View 1982–1994, Centre for Contemporary Art, Hamilton
‘The Sinking of the Titanic’ by Gavin Bryars, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, 6 December 1994. Incorporated Radio Post, installation performance by Bill Culbert. — Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, 15 April 1995.
Aus der Küche der Künste, Forum Kunst Rottweil, Rottweil
1994
Fault (with Ralph Hotere), Wellington Art Gallery, New Zealand
Some Notes on Drinking and Driving, workfortheeyetodo, London
Contemporary New Zealand Sculpture from the Collection, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch
Works of Luminous Art, Gallery 360º, Tokyo
Collection Exhibition at Logan Park, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin
1993
Sixties in London, Barbican, London
Château d’Oiron, France
Luminaries, Monash University Gallery, Melbourne
Landform, John Leech Gallery, Auckland
Collaborations, Govett- Brewster Gallery, New Plymouth
Drei Räume Drei Künstler, Galerie Six Friedrich, Munich
Group Show, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
Lux Europae, various locations, Edinburgh (E.U. Cultural City of Europe 1993)
1992
Post Black (with Ralph Hotere), Sue Crockford, Auckland
Northern Adventures, Camden Arts Centre, London
International Group Show , Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland
After Dark, Govett- Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
Chartwell Collection— A Drawings Show, Centre for Contemporary Art, Hamilton
Headlands: Thinking Through New Zealand Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and National Art Gallery, Wellington
1991
Aramoana (with Ralph Hotere), Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand
PROP (with Ralph Hotere), RKS Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
L’insoutenable légèrete de l’Art, Musée de Poitiers et Musée de la Roche-sur-Yon
1990
Tyneside International Art Exhibition, Gateshead
Nature artificielle, Foundation EDF, Paris
Biennale of Sydney, Australia
Beelden Buiten 1990, Tuin De Brabandere, Cultureel Centrum Gildhof Tielt, Tielt
A New Necessity: The First Tyne International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Laing Art Gallery,Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead; Garden Festival Site, Dunston
1989
Les acquisitions 89 du Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris
1988
Asher Faure Gallery, Los Angeles
NZXI, City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia
Nature Inconnue, Nevers, France
30 ans de Sculpture, Britannica, Le Havre, Rouen, Evreux, Toulouse, France et Anvers, Belgium
1987
Airwaves, Museum of Holography, New York
Erehwon, Nowhere, New Zealand House, London
1986
Incidentally, Winchester Art Gallery, England
Furniture Sculpture, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
The Illuminations, Camera House, London
Foto Cliché, Victoria Miro Gallery, London
1985
Interim Art, London
Barbara Toll Gallery, New York
1984
Plus-value, Galerie Eric Fabre, Paris
Salon de Automne, Serpentine Gallery, London
Low-Tech, Rees Martin, London
1983
The Sculpture Show, Serpentine and Hayward Gallery, London
Assemble Here, Puck Building, New York