New gallery a room with a view

 

By Julia Wade

A multi-talented local painter, whose artistic calling began in early childhood, has seen a long-time dream become a reality with the opening of his new studio and gallery. 

Surrounded by a crowd of family, friends and colleagues, local builder and artist Kevin Wilcox celebrated the launch of Barrier View Gallery on March 1, saying the opening was to acknowledge finally achieving one of his goals.

“The goal was to have a studio and gallery with magnificent views in a very proactive artist environment in a truly magical area,” he says. “A place I can have my artwork permanently on display and easily accessible to the public.” 

Specifically incorporated as part of the stunning brand new home Kevin and wife Maureen recently designed and built, the gallery’s walls carry the artist’s recent oil and acrylic nature scenes inspired by New Zealand coastlines including Mangawhai, Mairangi Bay, Tawharanui, Muriwai and Karangahake Gorge. As well as driftwood framing, his work also showcases the method of canvas draping, a unique design created from a process of moulding, primers and layers of paint and washes. 

To date the successful artists work has been exhibited and sold through a number of galleries across wider Auckland as well as through private commissions.

Kevin’s artistic vocation originated in early childhood, painting on an easel set up in his Mairangi Bay home bedroom after school and weekends, and nurtured and encouraged by an uncle who showed him how to use his first set of watercolours.

His career officially kicked off at the age of 10 with the sale of his first painting, an oil picture of a boat sailing on the river Nile copied from a National Geographic magazine. 

“I think my aunty who bought it still actually has it,” he says. “My primary school mate, Richard Moore, who now lives in Maungaturoto, was also a huge influence. His artist mother was giving him lessons… I’d go to his place after school and there would be these incredible oil paintings on easels that Richard was doing… he always has been an extremely talented artist.”

An established builder by trade, Kevin also often works in the movie industry creating set designs, a job he says he finds satisfying due to the hands-on creativity involved. 

“The desire to create, to paint, is always with me no matter what I’m doing. It is a deep seated part of me,” he says. “No matter what I’m working at or doing I’m always thinking of and designing artworks in the back of my mind…. it’s almost a subconscious thing. Sometimes I’ll wake up in the early hours of the morning with an idea and make a sketch before I forget it. Art is not just a passion for me but an obsession.” 

 Barrier View Gallery is open to the public mainly on weekends, 742 Barrier View Road, Mangawhai, top of the road on the right hand side. To contact Kevin, phone 027 448 7469 or email kevin@kwart.co.nz or visit his website kwart.co.nz.


Passionate artist and nature lover, Kevin Wilcox; “I can picture an artwork in the initial design stage in my mind before I even start it and know exactly how it will look. I love being creative.”