Haddon’s most recent works show fragments of stories.  He starts with a pristine black surface, which he partially abrades with power tools to create areas of full gloss and of matt flatness.  Onto this surface he then paints images taken from local news stories but out of context, so that only part of the story is told.

‘Purblind’ can be used to describe the effect on the eyes when walking into a darkened room from a bright exterior. The momentary loss of vision fades as the eyes become accustomed to the difference in light. It is in this transitory space that Haddon has situated much of his recent work, where the details of half lit shapes are literally glossed over or conversely, almost entirely erased.

Born in England in 1967, Haddon moved to Tasmania in 1996 from Barcelona, Spain where he had been working as an artist and teacher for six years. His work is held in several private and public collections internationally and by the National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank, Sydney, The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Devonport Regional Gallery and the Gold Coast Arts Centre (acquired from the Conrad Jupiter’s Art Award). In 2008 Neil was awarded the Glover Prize for landscape painting.

In 2002 he was awarded a MFA from the University of Tasmania and since 1999 has lectured in Painting and recently Digital Media at the school. Enter the flash site here for more images.

Neil Haddon’s CV