Description
This beautiful, heavily illustrated book traces Peter Cleverley’s formation and evolution as an artist, identifying the myriad influences that aroused in him a profound sense of the transience of human life and the paradoxical complexity of the human condition. The portrait that results shows how Cleverley’s sense of the human condition has allowed him to convey it symbolically in a way that simultaneously captures not only the fragility of human life, but also its joys. His art communicates an appreciation of the beauty of this world and the gift of being alive, together with the value of art as a means of transcending mutability. Cleverley is a painter whose work is destined to be recognised for making an important contribution to the history of art in Aotearoa New Zealand.
About the Author
Alistair Fox is professor emeritus at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, where he held a Personal Chair in English and also served as Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Division of Humanities. Born in Richmond, Nelson, he attended Waimea College, and gained BA Honours and Masters degrees at the University of Canterbury before being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to study for a PhD at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. His honours include the award of a Nuffield Visiting Fellowship to Claire Hall, Cambridge (1980–1981), appointment as a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford (1987–1988), and an invitation to La Chaire Roger Odin at La Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.
Initially known for his scholarship on English Tudor literature, since 2008 Fox has turned to topics addressing New Zealand literature and culture, cinema studies, art history, and theories of literary and cinematic representation. From 2019–2022, he has regularly written catalogue essays, most frequently for RDS Gallery, Dunedin, which he owned from 2020–2022. Peter Cleverley: Between Transience and Eternity evolved as a consequence of two catalogue essays written for two exhibitions by the Otago artist Peter Cleverley, “Blue Daisy Chain” (9 October–7 November 2020) and “Never There Yet” (29 October–21 November 2021) This book extends the concerns defined in his earlier work, here within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand art history.
Specifications
ISBN: 978-1-99-110371-0
Pages: 176
Dimensions: 210mm x 250mm (portrait)
Format: Hardcovers
Author: Alistair Fox
Published: 14 April 2025
Look Inside
To sample some spreads, click on this link below:
