This
is the second day in a row that is a significant date in the lives of prominent
New Zealand artists. Both of them having
worked mostly overseas. Yesterday was
the kinetic sculptor and film maker, Len
Lye.
Today
is the birthdate of Billy Apple. Another unusual artist.
He
was born as Barrie Bates but completely invented himself with the persona of
Billy Apple. He was ahead of his time in
seeing himself rather than his art as a brand.
He became a registered trade mark in 2007.
And
you guessed it, quite a lot of his work does depict apples. He has even now had
a new breed of apple named after him.
In
early days his work was exhibited with David Hockney and Andy Warhol.
His
most well-known works are commentaries on the economics of the art world. He also bartered artworks for bills he had to
pay – often signing and framing the bills or receipts themselves. He has been categorised as a Pop Artist.
It
is difficult to assess his art. He
doesn’t even do it all himself. Many of
his works are done by an expert signwriter to his instructions.
Billy/Barrie
returned to live in New Zealand in 1990 where he still happily scandalises the
intellectual art scene by poking borax at it whenever possible.
I
have scattered some examples of his works around this post so you can get a
feel for how quirky he is.
