Max Gimblett
b. 1935, New Zealand
Lives in New York, USA
Max Gimblett’s practice is rich with influences and philosophical engagement, from Abstract Expressionism to Eastern and Western spiritual beliefs. Known for creating distinct canvas shapes, particularly the quatrefoil, he engages in his own form of expressive abstract painting. Gimblett continues to experiment with gesture, colour, and precious metals in his practice today. Bridging cultures and spiritualities, his work draws from concepts of consciousness and enlightenment. This is reflected in the production methods and colour choices behind his gestural abstract paintings.
Born in New Zealand, Gimblett has been primarily based in New York since 1972. He continues to exhibit regularly in both locations. This mix of geographic locations and cultures is evident in the aesthetic of his work. His practice consists largely of object-based painting, with the use of shaped canvases to convey various associations and meanings. The particular shapes Gimblett has used include the oval, rectangle, tondo, keystone, and the quatrefoil – for which he is most recognised. The quatrefoil dates back to pre-Christian times and is found in the iconography of both Western and Eastern religions. It has been used to symbolise various spiritual symbols including the window, the cross, the rose, and the lotus. Gimblett states, “The quatrefoil is the female cross, the curvilinear, the Jungian ‘anima’, the transition from the Trinity to the Quaternity. It is the dominant shape of my oeuvre.”
Gimblett has exhibited in a range of prominent international contexts, including the 2009 exhibition The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York. In 2011, he presented a solo exhibition in the series The Word of God at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In New Zealand, Gimblett’s profile is prominent. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki hosted The Brush of All Things, a major survey exhibition curated by Wystan Curnow. His works are held in the collections of all major public galleries and institutions in the country. He became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Art in 2015, and in 2017, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Waikato for his contributions as an artist, scholar, teacher, and philanthropist.
Gimblett is the subject of several publications including the monograph Max Gimblett (Craig Potton and Gow Langsford Gallery, 2002), Max Gimblett: The Brush of All Things (Auckland Art Gallery, 2004) Workspace (Charta, 2010) and Max Gimblett (Charta, 2013).
Gow Langsford Gallery has represented Max Gimblett since 1988.
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Sound, 2024
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Holy Gesture, 2023
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Paradise, 2023
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Pilgrim, 2023
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The Altar, 2023
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The River and the Jungle, 2023
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Full Sail, 2022-23
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Hands of Gold, 2022-23
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A Map of the World, 2022
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Against the Grain, 2022
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Before the Storm, 2022
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Being, 2022
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Birth of Light, 2022
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Eclipse, 2022
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Go Drink Your Tea!, 2022
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Herald, 2022
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In The Garden, 2022
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Sea of the Land, 2022
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The Wild One, 2022
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Tiger - Homage to Delacroix, 2022
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To Turn a Somersault on a Needle's Point, 2022
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Turning Tide, 2022
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A Walk by the River, 2021
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The Open Road, 2021
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Lady of the Lake, 2019
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Panther - After Henri Rosseau, 2019
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Passages of Light, 2019
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Sheridan Square, 2011
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The Birth, 2009/2022
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Hands of Gold
Max Gimblett 5 - 29 Jun 2024 Auckland CityGow Langsford is delighted to present Hands of Gold, an exhibition of new works by Max Gimblett. Hands of Gold features a stunning array of paintings, the majority of which take the quatrefoil shape – a hallmark of Gimblett’s oeuvre. While this essential form repeats, the treatment of surface varies considerably from work to work. There are evenly surfaced monochromes, grid-like patterns, and extravagantly gestural brush strokes in a rich array of colours. What shines through in this diverse range of approaches to painting is the quality of Gimblett’s craft and his distinctive artistic vision.Read more -
Serenity
Max Gimblett 22 Feb - 18 Mar 2023 Auckland CityThis exhibition is made up of a series of small new paintings by Max Gimblett. It encompasses his signature shaped canvas, the quatrefoil, along with Enso tondo works and rectangles in a mix of bright hues and reticent gold gilding. His unique blend of Eastern philosophy, calligraphy, and abstraction has made him one of this country’s most recognised and respected artists of his generation.Read more -
The Open Road
Max Gimblett 24 Aug - 17 Sep 2022Max Gimblett is a national taonga. Having moved to New York in 1972 as a young adult, he has maintained strong ties with his homeland while building a life for himself in the USA. In normal times he would spend around a month of every year in Aotearoa, visiting more than 55 times since 1959. His last visit was in 2019.Read more -
The Path of Light
Max Gimblett 17 Feb - 13 Mar 2021In The Path of Light, esteemed contemporary painter and calligrapher Max Gimblett’s vibrant energy plays out across the surface of his canvases. Punctuations of gilding in precious metals, for which the artist is well-known, are suggestive of alchemy and both western and non-western religious beliefs. The use of gold, in particular, has a long history which dates back to Egyptian tomb reliefs and paintings. More recently, it has associations with honour, consciousness and enlightenment, which Gimblett draws upon, embracing its significance across cultures.Read more -
Many Worlds
Max Gimblett 30 Oct - 23 Nov 2019When one considers contemporary abstraction in New Zealand, Max Gimblett is an artist who has been at the forefront of this movement for decades. Having lived in New York since 1972, New Zealand born Gimblett uses his dual citizenship to his advantage with regular visits back to his home country that he greatly adores. The results are works that are filled with the vibrancy and immediacy that comes with living in New York, and an innate ease from his Kiwi roots. Max’s Zen Buddhism philosophies impact greatly on his practice, represented not only physically through gesture and movement whilst creating the works, but also on a deeper spiritual level.Read more -
Almost Blue
Group Exhibition 20 Feb - 16 Mar 2019 Auckland CityAssociated with the sea and sky that surround us, the colour blue has seduced artists and their audiences for millennia. Unlike red or yellow ochre, the blue we see day to day cannot be turned into a pigment - instead artists have turned to rare and precious sources to create the colour. The captivating colour has seen artists from Raphael to Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky to Yves Klein dedicate periods of their practices to studies in blue. This summer, Gow Langsford Gallery applies a blue filter to present Almost Blue, an exhibition which brings together works by international heavy hitter Anish Kapoor alongside prominent Australasian artists including Dale Frank and Max Gimblett.Read more -
Sunset Moon
Max Gimblett 21 Feb - 17 Mar 2018At the age of 82, Max Gimblett shows no signs of slowing down. The upcoming solo exhibition across both our Lorne St and Kitchener St Galleries showcases new abstract paintings that are vital and energetic, utilizing a fresh colour palette of pastels, which are contrasted with dark accents and gilded gestures.Read more -
One Day in the Afternoon of the Gods
Max Gimblett 24 Feb - 19 Mar 2016 Auckland City, Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]Max Gimblett exhibition 2016Read more -
Sea of Dragons
Max Gimblett 3 - 28 Mar 2015 Auckland CityThere is a lot written about Max Gimblett’s paintings yet there is an element of his practice that resists definition. In a sense his works are easy to define: they are mostly abstract, mostly expressionist or sometimes a bit hard-edged; there could be a reference to the divine or Eastern philosophies; they may be bright and wild or perhaps calculated and reticent. Yet beyond this lies something else, something captivating and knowing, ephemeral – something like emotion. Standing before a painting in Sea of Dragons there is an undertow of energy. It is as if these works emit fleeting pulses that are briefly tangible.Read more -
The Gold Thread
Max Gimblett 28 May - 21 Jun 2014 Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]The Gold Thread is a new collection of work from the Max Gimblett studio in New York. The colourful gilded works in their tropical colours are spiritual and alive, with acid palettes and bold clear brushwork. The dark works, in contrast, are more serious. Studio manager, Matt Jones, describes them as 'answers to questions', they've decided what's right and what's wrong. The gold and silver works represent individualism; they are old magicians, as though heading for retirement, leaving behind their alchemy.Read more -
Full Circle
Group Exhibition 4 Dec 2013 - 1 Feb 2014 Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]Full Circle is a group exhibition which examines the way in which a number of contemporary artists use the tondo as a form on which to work.Read more
An ancient shape that stretches back to the beginnings of time, first recorded in replicas of the sun and moon, the tondo, or circle, has long been linked with religion and mythology as well as with nature. The shape of the circle symbolises eternity and creating a circular work of art results in giving it a wholeness, as well as a sense of movement and energy gained from freeing the painted surface from more restrained square and rectangular stretchers.
Full Circle includes work by three key gallery artists, Reuben Paterson, Dale Frank and Max Gimblett. -
The Ballad of the South Pacific
Max Gimblett 28 Nov - 31 Dec 2012 Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]The monumental works of The Ballad of the South Pacific began as most of Max's paintings begin. Stretchers are ordered to his specifications from an art supply company in Brooklyn...Read more -
Driven to Abstraction
Group Exhibition 21 Oct - 12 Nov 2011 Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]Driven to Abstraction is a group show of contemporary artists who together represent a diverse range of entry points into abstraction.Read more
Judy Millar’s paintings, based on gesture, lend themselves to elements of both Abstract Expressionism and Lyrical Abstraction. Millar plays on the notion of gesture in abstraction but adds an ironic twist to the discussion by using screen-printing techniques to generate the final image. Like Millar, Simon Ingram’s non-objective canvases signal more contemporary approaches in his innovative use of modern technologies combined with the hand drawn, in his painting practice. The slug-like painted forms in the two Untitled works appear to devour the formal geometric elements of the painting and one senses that with the passing of time these works will return to the pristine plain white surfaces that existed prior to Ingram making his marks.
Max Gimblett’s large diptych Either/Or from 1983 appears at first glance to be a classic piece of American minimalist painting. However the surface of the work is activated by Gimblett’s masterful use of heavy brushwork to create texture. In the centre of each square a rectangle painted in the same colour and manner as the rest of the painting subtly reveals itself to the viewer. Allen Maddox’s ardent and impassioned paintings established him as one for the most noted Abstract Expressionists New Zealand has produced. Colin McCahon’s Jump painting is indicative of the abstracted landscapes for which is well known.
Although not strictly abstract American Isaac Layman’s photographs offer an alternative perspective on everyday subjects, as the context of his subjects is shifted. By shifting scale and limiting colour creates formal abstract compositions. In Blackout Laymen photographs a blind in a window to produce a work that references the American painter Agnes Martin.
Through myriad approaches, media and materials Driven to Abstraction considers the visual language of abstraction. -
Spring Catalogue 2011
Group Exhibition 31 Aug - 17 Sep 2011 Auckland City, Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]The Spring Catalogue has become an annual tradition at Gow Langsford Gallery. This year the catalogue exhibition boasts a stellar line up of works. Spring Catalogue 2011 brings together significant works from the local secondary market including paintings by Colin McCahon, Don Binney and Ralph Hotere, works by prominent contemporary international artists including Ai Wei Wei, Damien Hirst; shown alongside works from artists in the gallery stable, including Tony Cragg, Bernar Venet, John Pule, Max Gimblett and Judy Millar.Read more -
The Daring Young Man on The Flying Trapeze
Max Gimblett 2 - 26 Feb 2011 Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]The Daring Young Man on The Flying Trapeze is a collection of new works by visionary painter Max Gimblett. For Gimblett, the notion of time is circular and, fittingly, his recent paintings emanate a youthfulness that belies his seventy-five years. Although continuing with elements that have defined his practice over the past five decades, in The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze his works are particularly celebratory. Flamboyant colours are fused with his often reticent surfaces and geometric patterns sit alongside his vivacious brushwork.Read more -
Full Fathom Five
Max Gimblett 5 - 29 May 2009 Lorne Street [2008 - 2021]Max Gimblett is one of few New Zealander's to exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum, New York City. His recent inclusion in The Third Mind is milestone in recent New Zealand art history is directly followed by his exhibition full fathom five at Gow Langsford Gallery. The exhibition presents a collection of new paintings in his signature style of luscious surfaces, shaped canvases and fluid brushwork.Read more
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Max Gimblett: From Grafton to the Guggenheim
2016Hardback, 176 pagesRead more
Publisher: Gow Langsford Gallery And Max Gimblett
ISBN: 978-0-9941276-0-0
Dimensions: 280 x 237mm -
The Sound of One Hand
Max Gimblett's Calligraphy Practise 2015Hardback, 195 pagesRead more
Publisher: Charta, Milan
Dimensions: 295 x 245 x 20mm
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Mural of Max Gimblett by Owen Dippie Unveiled in Ponsonby
January 23, 2024If you’ve been walking the streets of Ponsonby/Grey Lynn recently, you may have come across Owen Dippie’s incredible mural of Max Gimblett. Located on Pollen...Read more -
Spirit of Adventure Trust Charity Auction
November 2, 2023Each year, Gow Langsford lends its support to a worthy cause through an art auction. Raising funds to assist a charity that we believe in...Read more -
Max Gimblett Donates 275 Artist's Books to Getty Research Institute
March 9, 2022Max Gimblett with his wife Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett have donated 275 artist's books to the Getty Research Institute which has one of the largest art and...Read more -
Max Gimblett x Lawson's Dry Hills Wine Collaboration
August 14, 2021Marlborough wine producers Lawson's Dry Hills have collaborated with Max Gimblett as part of their Art Series. Only 300 hand-numbered bottles are available of their...Read more -
Max Gimblett Collaborates with American Poet Lewis Hyde
September 1, 2020Max Gimblett has produced his most significant book collaboration with American poet, cultural essayist and MacArthur Fellow Lewis Hyde. Published in September 2020 by the...Read more -
Max Gimblett 'Ocean Wheel' at Christchurch Art Gallery
August 1, 2020Max Gimblett's Ocean Wheel curated by Peter Vangioni is now on at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū until 15 November. 'From brightly coloured...Read more -
Max Gimblett Podcast Interview on Art as Spiritual Practice
April 14, 2020Max Gimblett has given a personal and insightful interview with Brian James for his Medicine Path Podcast on Art as Spiritual Practice. You can listen...Read more -
Max Gimblett Rug Collaboration
August 12, 2019Max Gimblett has partnered with designer Lucy Tupu to collaborate on a series of hand-knotted rugs based on his vibrant ink works on paper. The...Read more -
Artists Collaborate with Top Musicians to Raise Money for the Salvation Army
April 10, 2019Seven of our artists, Reuben Paterson , Darryn George , Dick Frizzell , Michael Hight , Max Gimblett , John Walsh and Karl Maughan have...Read more -
Max Gimblett Awarded Honorary Doctorate from AUT
March 19, 2019At an intimate ceremony held at the Auckland Art Gallery, Max Gimblett received an honorary doctorate from AUT. Kate Powell from The Big Idea was...Read more -
Max Gimblett to host Sumi Ink Workshop at AUT
February 12, 2019Join Max Gimblett as he leads two special Sumi ink workshops at AUT on Saturday 16 March. Contact AUT for further information or visit their...Read more -
Max Gimblett: Original Mind
January 30, 2019Max Gimblett: Original Mind documents the life and process of New Zealand born, New York based artist Max Gimblett and his devoted studio assistants. Directed...Read more -
Max Gimblett on NZ Herald
October 30, 2018Sarah Catherall interviewed Max Gimblett in his New York studio and discussed his recent move to their new studio on Broadway, being a proud New...Read more -
Max Gimblett at Britomart Project Space
July 21, 2017Freshly installed in the Britomart Project Space located at 26-28 Customs Street East are three of Max Gimblett's latest screenprint series, South Pacific Paradise. This...Read more -
New Max Gimblett Screenprints now available exclusive to Gow Langsford
June 1, 2017South Pacific Paradise is the title of a new series of screenprints by Max Gimblett now available at the gallery. With this series of prints,...Read more -
Max Gimblett: Original Mind Documentary
May 3, 2017Max Gimblett: Original Mind is set to have its international premiere in May/June. The documentary, directed by Rhys Mitchell, features the artistic practice of Max...Read more -
Meet Max Gimblett this Sunday
July 20, 2016Highly regarded Gallery artist, Max Gimblett will be attending a public event this Sunday the 24th of July at Presbyterian St David's Church on Khyber...Read more -
'The Universe: Max Gimblett' on view at Tauranga Art Gallery
July 14, 201631st of July is the final date to view The Universe: Max Gimblett on at Tauranga Art Gallery. The exhibition includes a large selection of...Read more -
Max Gimblett – Part of the Living History of Artists in NY
July 9, 2016Paul Barbera interviews Max Gimblett for his Where They Create project. Barbera describes Max as a “true maverick” and “part of the living history of...Read more
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Sydney Contemporary 2022 | Booth B02
8 - 11 Sep 2022The central focus of our presentation is a grouping of bronzes by Barry Flanagan (1941-2009, UK). His anthropomorphic hares engage in a variety of playful and spirited activities; they bound, balance, dance and contemplate. Shown alongside is a suite of new works by Shane Cotton (1965, NZ), and a selection of monochromatic works by revered painter Colin McCahon (1919-1987, NZ) together with paintings by John Pule (1962, Niue), Gordon Walters (1919-1995) and Max Gimblett (1935, NZ/USA).Read more -
Auckland Art Fair Virtual Fair 2020
29 Apr - 6 Jun 2020Gow Langsford Gallery is pleased to be taking part in the Auckland Art Fair Virtual Fair from 30 April - 17 May. Artists included are Frances Hodgkins, Tony Cragg, Judy Millar, Louise Henderson, Dale Frank, John Pule, Paul Dibble, Karl Maughan, Reuben Paterson, Simon Ingram, Virginia Leonard, Max Gimblett and Colin McCahon.Read more -
Sydney Contemporary 2019 | Booth B02
12 - 15 Sep 2019For Sydney Contemporary 2019, Gow Langsford Gallery is showcasing a range of works from New Zealand and Australian artists and works from prominent British sculptor Tony Cragg. Find us at Booth B02 to view works by John Olsen, Dale Frank, Lisa Roet, Colin McCahon, Gordon Walters, Laurence Aberhart, Dick Frizzell, Michael Hight, Reuben Paterson, Hugo Koha Lindsay, Judy Millar and Max Gimblett.Read more -
Auckland Art Fair 2019 | Booth B8
1 - 5 May 2019For the 2019 Auckland Art Fair, Gow Langsford Gallery is presenting new works by Paul Dibble, Karl Maughan and Max Gimblett at Booth B8.Read more -
Sydney Contemporary 2017 | Booth B02
7 - 10 Sep 2017Gow Langsford Gallery will be participating in the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair from 7 - 10 September 2017. The gallery's booth (B02) will feature an international line up of artists including five significant works by Tony Cragg, and works by Dale Frank, Lee Ufan, Brett Whiteley, Rosalie Gascoigne, and Katharina Grosse. Works by prominent New Zealand artists, such as Colin McCahon, Judy Millar, Paul Dibble, Max Gimblett, and André Hemer will also be exhibited during the course of the Art Fair. Sydney Contemporary will be held at Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh NSW 2015.Read more -
Auckland Art Fair 2016 | Booth B14
25 - 29 May 2016For the 2016 Auckland Art Fair, Gow Langsford Gallery will present a solo project by Dick Frizzell and a group showing of new works by selected gallery artists, both local and international. Frizzell’s I’m here for the Monkey painting is based on his Phantom works that began in the 1990s. Like a pick-a-path book, viewers are encouraged to make their own narratives by creating their own groupings of several smaller works. The title is based on a famous Phantom adventure. 2016 is the year of the monkey.Read more -
Sydney Contemporary 2013 | Booth C103
20 - 22 Sep 2013Sydney Contemporary is Sydney’s first international art fair showcasing work by emerging and established artists from leading Australian and international galleries. For the inaugural event Gow Langsford Gallery will curate a group exhibition including new work by gallery artists Judy Millar, Dale Frank, Tony Cragg, Sara Hughes, Max Gimblett, Bernar Venet and John Pule, alongside works by British artist Damien Hirst.Read more