Exhibitions
Bio
Graham Downs is a fine artist from Auckland, New Zealand, known for his stunning land-, sea-, and cityscapes. His style is diverse, ranging from early metal collages of boats and sailing life to classic plein-air landscapes to modern downtown city scenes. More recently, Graham has enjoyed painting beautiful and wildly colourful flower gardens, often with a white villa stark against the sky in the background.
I have the whole world in my garden, a place for reflecting on life and nature.
Graham has been carrying his paint box around since he was about eight years old. He paints in both oil and acrylic, depending on the artwork. In his early quirky conceptual collages, he was known to upcycle metal and found objects. New Zealand art critic, T. J. McNamara, has described Graham's paintings as "filled with light and full of charm and joy in water, clouds and sky.”
I have had a lifetime of conceptual art, but I find that now I have returned to the beginning. My paintings are a synthesis of sketchbook drawings and memory, expressing the visual poetry that resonates within the bounds of my past and present. To express that tranquillity in my own language and to acknowledge how beauty can be in the common world around us and let my paintings be a refuge from the everyday tribulations, and to celebrate nature is my raison d’etre.
Starting his career as an advertising art director and illustrator, Graham worked for many international agencies. He won many awards in this role, working on iconic NZ brands like Air NZ, Edmonds, Hubbard cereals, Cuisine Magazine, Belly-Gully, and more. Up until his retirement, painting was Graham’s escape from the commercial world. Now, he is able to devote more time to his passion.