Love For The New Zealand Weather, Soundtrack And Road Trip Showcased By Sean Beldon

• Sean’s striking artworks speak to evolving moods, elements, and places, as well as the enduring impact of music on art;
• The Weather, With You. explores our rapidly changing weather, with a nod to the New Zealand music that found a home inside a troubled South African heart;
• 30 new works are unveiled at The Frame Workshop & Gallery, in Herne Bay, Auckland on August 22nd.

Sean Beldon is no stranger to unrest.

Growing up in South Africa, violence was an unwanted compatriot, and music became his solace. “My childhood was quite dysfunctional,” the artist begins. “We moved around a lot and there were some very turbulent times. I would escape by getting out of the house, putting my headphones in and listening to music.”

For Sean, who knew nothing of New Zealand at the time, it was the compositions of Split Enz and Crowded House he was most drawn to. “I was very much attracted to the lyrics, because I love words and I love stories. The sound was so distinctive and unique and almost strange to me – and the stories were about dreams and ideas and beauty. There was no ugliness. It made a very big impression on me.”

Young Sean could not have predicted that many years later, he would be stepping off a plane and making his home in Aotearoa – but that’s exactly what happened when, after some time living and working in London, he arrived here in 2011. Already an accomplished painter who had studied art and design, won a national award in his home country in 1990 and held his first solo show in 1994, he settled down with his wife, had two daughters and continued to paint, basing much of his work off photos taken on his many road trips around New Zealand.

His 30 new pieces – bold, evocative, and mesmerising – may centre around landscapes, but they also embody Sean’s personal connection to weather and place. Sean describes jumping in his car and traversing the country with his camera, “shooting from the hip, often shooting on the move” against a soundtrack of his favourite songs. It’s one of his favourite things to do. “I’d been depicting South African places for so long before I ever painted New Zealand. And when I did, I wanted to see it as a New Zealander would see it. I wanted to capture the essence of this place, be that through colours or atmosphere. I love clouds, storms, rain, fog – I enjoy how things sound different in different weather too. There’s a quietness when it snows, for instance, coupled with an echo. The Weather, With You explores a lot of that.”

Alongside the paintings, Sean is set to show a small number of sculptural and photographic works, which together will inhabit the entire gallery. “You can’t think about the landscape in New Zealand without appreciating the weather,” says the gallery’s Creative Director, Zekiah Heath. “It offers a constantly changing interpretation of our constantly changing landscape – very different to the weather on a continent like Africa.

“We think Sean’s work holds huge appeal to a broad range of art lovers. It’s an honour to represent him and to showcase our gallery to a new audience of collectors.”

As for whether a piece could be purchased by one of his musical heroes, Sean says it would be a privilege. “I always say I heard New Zealand a long time before I saw it, and that was through the music of the Finn brothers,” he muses.

“I’m happy to have two homes, two places I belong. And although I know I’ll never be a native New Zealander, I have a native heart.”

The Weather, With You. opens at The Frame Workshop & Gallery, 182 Jervois Rd, Herne Bay, Auckland on August 22nd and runs until September 7th.

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