About Us
Biography:
Michael Duncan Smither, born 29 October 1939, in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. Attended Elam Art School in Auckland 1959 -1960.
Returned to New Plymouth, became a founding member of 'Group 60', with Don Driver, his mentor.
Exhibits paintings, sculptures and integrates his musical expertise in his art. Now lives on the Coromandel and travels throughout New Zealand exploring landscape, art galleries and collections of paintings.
Awarded CNZM 2004.
In the 1960?s Michael begins to explore the possibility of making screenprints, having spent his early years witnessing his father, Bill Smither, working in that medium.
Worked with Bill in his basement studio over the next 15 years making approximately 250 different image screenprints.
Earlier works were made as multiples without signatures and sold from $3 - $6 each.
Screenprinting at this stage was not considered an "art" medium.
Later, at the request of many people, the signed editions began.
These were not individually numbered but included a numbering system that indicated a first edition by the number 1 followed by a date and a catalogue number. This last number was necessary because many prints were of the same topographical feature of Taranaki.
In 1985, after the death of Bill Smither, several years went by before Michael began making prints again, this time working the screen himself.
These prints, while still using the topographical features of Taranaki, were more concerned with his developing theories of how colour related to sound, which culminated with the ?After Seurat? series printed in his present studio at Otama.
These prints and all subsequent prints are signed and numbered in the traditional manner.
The stress of working with ?toxic? printing materials brought a halt to further hands-on printing.
See also:
"Michael Smither Painter" by Trish Gribben, published by Ron Sang. Publications ISBN 0-476-00743-7
https://ondemand.nzfilm.co.nz/search.html?q=michael+smither
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