Biography Angus Collis
Angus Collis was born in 1976 in Masterton, New Zealand. From 1982 he grew up in Kutarere, a small township on the Ohiwa harbour. Angus and his older brother attended the local primary school while their parents worked as lawyers in the Opotiki district. The land and sea were a constant backdrop to his rural upbringing until at age twelve Angus was sent to attend boarding school at St Peters, near the Waikato town of Cambridge – quite a contrast to his early schooling. At that time Jane McKay was head of the art department at St Peters – an important early teacher for Collis. He recalls that although he had always been entranced with the process of image-making, it was with her encouragement that he really began developing his artistic abilities.
Collis was accepted to Elam directly after leaving school and duly attended the campus in Auckland. Straight from boarding school he admits he found the first year challenging, with some of the conceptual ideas feeling a little irrelevant to his 18-year-old self. Instead he tended to thrive on the mastery of technique and craftsmanship via practical making and experimentation. Collis felt out of his element in the city and had heard of the art school in Dunedin. Close to the wild coast, with plenty of surf and isolated landscapes at hand, he found himself heading south with a similarly minded friend to begin his second year at the Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 1995.
Making art had always been an enjoyable constant in Collis’s life, but the idea of it being a way to earn a living was yet to take hold. An art-school friend remembers a lecturer asking her “When you see Gus, please tell him to come in and do some painting!” – however in Dunedin Collis had found a better fit for his temperament. More craft-oriented, the campus had good access to high quality facilities. Importantly to Collis there was an excellent printmaking department in addition to large painting studios with lecturers at hand. He found freedom to experiment widely, work through different ideas and do a lot of “not great work”, imperative for any young artist. He met others who would become friends and colleagues such as Shannon Silcock in his year, and the painter Peter Cleverly who was an influential lecturer. Angus recalls a memorable piece of advice from Cleverly – words to the effect of always trusting your own voice, and that ‘once you are confident with your personality and philosophy it will make your work’. This call to integrity resonated with the somewhat shy, independent and deep-thinking young man, and stayed with him as he forged his approach to his art practice over the coming years.
Angus Collis stayed on in Dunedin after graduating, living in an old bach out at Brighton on the Otago peninsula and “mostly surfing” before making a conscious decision to focus on his art and head back up to the Auckland art scene. Joining some graduate friends in forming an artists collective, he was briefly resident in West Side Studios (still operating on the corner of Hopetoun St and Ponsonby Road) before getting a tip about a first-floor warehouse nearby, now a part of the Ponsonby Central complex. At that time it was empty, a vast light-filled industrial space, full of potential. With the support of his parents, Collis set to work securing the lease and building partitions with members of the collective. Twelve enormous studios were created, where as many young artists took up residence. With the addition of a large gallery space accessed from the Brown St side, ‘Cite’ studios was born. Lively fortnightly shows organised entirely by the collective provided an opportunity for the artists to show their work in a prime location without paying commission on sales. Collis recalls being sustained by the famous ‘Ponsonby Pies’ and ‘Two Dollar Sunday Special’ – satay sauce and rice from around the corner on Karangahape road, as he focused on his painting practice and managing the studios.
Image Above: Old student flat Brighton Dunedin.
Collis’s first solo show was held at Cite and was successful; an encouraging experience for any young artist and testament to his new-found dedication. Here works such as ‘Untitled’, 2000, (image to the right) combined an already accomplished technical execution with a postmodern approach. Collaged references from aspects of NZ landscape, architecture and kitsch created a unique perspective on the world around him. Drawing from photographs, employing subtle abstractions and careful consideration of light and tonal contrasts, full of intriguing, somewhat dystopian atmosphere; many of Collis’s signature motifs and technical concerns are indicated in these early works. Cite studios were also the conduit for many of Collis’s peers, some having similar success in their fledgling shows. However, after several years the studios and accompanying social scene had run their course, with Collis returning to Opotiki, making use of an old family bach at Waiotahi. There he was able to concentrate entirely on his work. A solitary but productive time, Collis notes this turned out to be “the best thing that could have happened” for his art, leading to a successful show at the McPherson gallery in Auckland.
It was around this time Angus took a significant trip to New York and Paris with his father, an intense experience taking in floors of galleries every day for over a week. He gained an invaluable understanding of the art world on an international scale and useful perspective and feedback on his own work. In Paris Collis visited the Louvre and through his brother (who worked in a Parisian bar at the time) was introduced to his future wife, Iryna. The visit also holds precious memories in the sense that shortly afterwards his father became ill with cancer which led to his death a few years later. Some difficult years followed, with another show at the McPherson gallery around this time not doing as well.
Angus Collis came to a fresh focus in a different landscape, this time deep in the Coromandel bush. Acquiring some land in a shared venture with friends, he set about building a new studio on a sun-dappled site next to the Waiwawa river of the Coroglen valley. He describes this tranquil place as feeling almost “out of time”, remote from the pressures of the outside world. Building his own studio by hand felt testament to the fact he was becoming increasingly serious about his painting. Renowned artist Michael Illingworth had also lived and worked in the area, another painter of integrity whose work ‘needed a landscape’ and with a strong connection to it.
However, a different landscape altogether lay in store for Collis: after several years of intermittent contact, Iryna visited Angus in NZ. The stars had finally aligned for the couple and Collis followed her back to Spain soon after his studio was completed. Thus began an extended period in Europe, spent largely in the vibrant city of Barcelona where the Ukrainian born Iryna and her young daughter lived.
Image Above: Collection 80x100cm. Image Below: Fancy Diamond 80x130cm.
Over time Angus Collis learnt Spanish and met a dealer Victor Saavedra, who wholly supported the Kiwi artist’s unique, enigmatic work, which drew comparisons to the Italian metaphysical tradition. Well received shows in Paris, Barcelona and Madrid followed. The global exposure and proximity to European culture and works of great masters, notably Picasso and Miro, were stimulating. Collis was particularly drawn to Miro, both as an artist and as a man, a humble person with rural roots. During his years in Europe Collis continued to paint the NZ landscape from afar. Some works such as ‘Garraf’, 2015, seen below echoed his personal position through incorporation of both Spanish and NZ architecture into somnolent, light-filled facades.
Fading architecture and histories were slowly outweighed by the tree as a prominent motif within these landscapes. Collis notes the distance from home benefited his painting through an intensity of focus and atmosphere, enhanced through the use of trees as both a symbolic and compositional device.
Finally returning in September 2018 after a decade away, the Coromandel property was sold and Angus and Iryna found their NZ home back on the Ohiwa harbour. A stones-throw to where Collis grew up yet within a new beginning, coming home was “a little surreal” says Collis with typical understated humour. Here he continues his disciplined, full-time painting practice from his studio on the property. As much as art may echo life, Collis emphasises he does not overthink the subjects of his work, trusting the viewer will have their own response to his offerings; this interaction between viewer and object being the ultimate reward and driver of his practice.
Never having lost his fascination for the alchemical process of image making, Collis sees his painting as much a vehicle for his craft as a personal expression. Experimenting with mark-making and materials, refining and expanding technique, masterful play with subtle abstractions, multiple layers, contrast in light, scale, tone; with an Angus Collis work we are not only invited into a breathtakingly convincing world ‘out of time’ but are reminded this is a physical painting, which thus takes its own place in history.
In recent works Collis has been pursuing his interest in utilising printmaking techniques to contrast detail and achieve simplification of form. The underlying geometry of the natural world comes to the fore in the process, and he sees exploring this evolution as significant to the long-term arc of his work.
Writing by Shannon Silcock.