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

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