PETER WICHMAN

Loyalty

25 October - 12 November 2005

Peter Wichman is a literary historian as well as painter with an M.A.Hons from Victoria University, Wellington and a M.Litt from Magdalen College, Oxford. He brings his interest in literature and art history to bear on his paintings which generally deal with psychological and moral questions. Human passion and social responsibility, human passion and the intellect are themes which span his career. His pictures are highly narrative and often use references or symbols that suggest the recurring nature of human experience. He attempts to portray the human predicament as something both eternal and immediate.

Wichman came to New Zealand from Europe when he was fourteen. He began painting in 1984, when he concluded his career as a full time lecturer at Waikato University. He has exhibited his work regularly in Auckland and Wellington and has been a finalist in a number of National Art Awards. His work is represented in private collections throughout New Zealand, and in Australia, the United States and Europe.

Artist statement

There's nothing like a group to generate loyalty. But what sort of loyalty is it? Is it chosen, a duty enthusiastically welcomed, or simply a matter of compulsion? Is it idealistic, faithful, a generously bestowed fellow-feeling, or is it a mere self serving convenience, and in the end, how devoted is the group to the individuals who make it up?