Being

Creative visual thinking is fundamental to us all as human beings as we strive to understand our sense of self and the world. Chartwell seeks to deepen understanding about the importance of art and creative thinking for our future and our wellbeing.

Making

Chartwell supports artists as they make and think. Making is an active and connected process, involving the interaction of intention, intuition and intellect with the mediums of the world. Chartwell is making too - making a difference through philanthropy and enabling access to creative activities and research.

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Michael Harrison

Michael Harrison studied at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, graduating in 1997 with a Masters degree. He worked as a part-time senior tutor there from 1995 to 1998 before becoming a full-time artist. Since 1987 he has exhibited regularly at galleries throughout New Zealand and Australia. His work was included in the inaugural Wellington City Gallery biennial exhibition 'Prospect 2001: New Art New Zealand', and a survey show of his work, 'Love in the Shadows', initiated by Artspace Aotearoa, toured the country in 2002-3. In 2004 a selection of his work was included in the 14th Sydney Biennale, 'On Reason and Emotion'. Michael Harrison's art has been described as inventive, romantic, playful yet sincere, ambiguous, sometimes uneasy. His mostly small-scale paintings of people and animals are sourced from imagination, book illustration, art history, photography and life itself.

- Hamish McKay Gallery

Rock Chick

Hot Pursuit

Magnetism

In step

Blue Bear

First Hand

Being

Seeing

Making

Thinking

Michael Harrison