Freeman White

Freeman White (b.1979 Aotearoa, New Zealand) is one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent landscape painters. The artist’s works are known for their visceral effect; connecting the viewer to Aotearoa’s timeless and ever-changing beauty. The artist’s beautifully textured and layered brushstrokes give his canvases a charged energy whereby the viewer experiences the breath-taking and fluctuating vistas of the land. 

Formerly focusing his practice on portraiture, White started his career winning first prize in the 2006 ADAM National Portrait Awards. This award gained White international recognition leading him to exhibit in the REAL international symposium for Figurative Art in Germany in both 2007 and 2009. White also spent six months painting portraits in Edinburgh after being invited by the Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, James Holloway.

In 2009 White embarked on painting landscapes, pushing the genre through both technique and context. His masterfully painted canvases place the viewer in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand.

White often paints ‘en plein air,’ recording and reproducing what he sees in front of him onto the canvas. In his landscapes, the artist draws focus to the other subtle natural elements that make his works so appealing. His masterful ability to capture the shifting sun, a glowing warmth on one side of a rolling hill with an encroaching shadow on the other enlivens the senses for the viewer. He doesn’t just focus on the beauty of the vistas visually, rather how they might feel if you were to stand there too. The rolling hills and turbulent oceans plant the viewer in the work as if they too are on the beach about to feel the onslaught of salt spray or tumbling waves at their feet.

White's works are held in many private and public collections, including the New Zealand Portrait Gallery and The Royal Society of New Zealand. The artist holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts.

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