William Franklin Culbert

Place: Port Chalmers

Born: 1935

Death: 2019

Biography:

Bill Culbert was a New Zealand artist, notable for his use of light in painting, photography, sculpture and installation work, as well as his use of found and recycled materials. He was born in Port Chalmers, near Dunedin, and divided his time between London, Croagnes in southern France, and New Zealand. He was married to artist Pip Culbert (1938–2016) and made many collaborative works with artist Ralph Hotere. He was educated at Hutt Valley High School and studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University College in Christchurch from 1953 to 1956. He received a National Art Gallery scholarship in 1957 and left New Zealand to study painting at the Royal College of Art, London. He began to experiment with electric light in 1967 and had a solo exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, London, in 1977. In 1979, with funding from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council the Brooke Gifford Gallery in Christchurch assembled and toured the survey exhibition Bill Culbert: London and New Zealand Works that was toured to public art museums throughout New Zealand. He died in 2019.