Philippa Blair is one of New Zealand’s foremost abstract painters. Her paintings are composed of life and fire, they are colour explosions, the lines, loops, drips and minglings are a bravura orchestration of excitement, control and expertise built up over a lifetime. Her recent works reveal an artist at the top of her form — unbridled and running at full gallop.
Despite Covid, despite her 76 years, Philippa Blair is a powerhouse of energy and this show is testament to her long and distinguished career. For the past 45 years, she has exhibited regularly, from early shows across New Zealand in the 1970s, to international solo exhibitions in New York in the 1980s, and significant museum exhibitions and teaching positions in the 1990s in Los Angeles, a city that became her home for 20 years (1995-2014).
In 2020, Philippa was the subject of a major survey exhibition at Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, Waitakere.
