Billy Apple
Encyclopedia
Billy Apple, ONZM
(born Barrie Bates in Auckland
, New Zealand
in 1935) is an artist whose work is associated with the New York and British schools of Pop Art
in the 1960s and with the Conceptual Art
movement in the 1970s. He collaborated with the likes of Andy Warhol
and other pop artists. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (New Zealand), Auckland Art Gallery / Toi o Tamaki (New Zealand), the Christchurch
Art Gallery / Te Puna o Waiwhetu (New Zealand), The University of Auckland (New Zealand) and the SMAK/Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Ghent
, Belgium
).
, New Zealand
in 1935. He left secondary school with no qualifications and took a job as an assistant to a paint manufacturer in 1951. Bates attended evening classes at Elam School of Fine Arts
, where he met Robert Ellis
, a graduate of the Royal College of Art
in London
.
In 1959 he left New Zealand
on a National Art Gallery scholarship. He studied at the Royal College of Art
, London
, from 1959 until 1962. During his time at the Royal College of Art, Bates met several other artists who went on to become a new generation of pop artists; including David Hockney
, Derek Boshier
and Pauline Boty
. He exhibited frequently during his time at the College in the Young Contemporaries and Young Commonwealth Artists exhibitions.
at Victor Musgrave
's Gallery One.
Apple moved to New York
in 1964: he progressed his artistic career and also found work in various advertising agencies.
A pivotal event was the 1964 exhibit "The American Supermarket", a show held in Paul Bianchini's Upper East Side gallery. The show was presented as a typical small supermarket environment, except that everything in it — the produce, canned goods, meat, posters on the wall, etc. — was created by six prominent pop artists of the time, including Billy Apple, Andy Warhol
, Claes Oldenburg
, Tom Wesselmann
, Jasper Johns
, Mary Inman, James Rosenquist
and Robert Watts
.
Apple was one of the artists who pioneered the use of neon
in art works. This is seen in the 1965 exhibitions Apples to Xerox and Neon Rainbows, both at The Bianchini Gallery. Then in 1967 at the Howard Wise Gallery, the exhibition Unidentified Flourecent Objects (UFOs) showed a collection of neon light sculptures.
In 1969 the artist established Apple, one of the first alternative spaces in New York
at 161 West Twenty-third Street in order, as he stated, "to provide an independent and experimental alternative space for the presentation of [his] own work and the work of others." Initially the exhibition space was part of his own studio. During its four years Apple produced 35 works in the venue and hosted work by other artists including Geoff Hendricks, Mac Adams
, Davi Det Hompson, Larry Miller and Jerry Vis. The space was considered both an exhibition space and a forum for art and discourse.
In 1974 Apple's first major survey exhibition was held at the Serpentine Gallery
in London
: From Barrie Bates to Billy Apple. In 1975 Apple returned to New Zealand for the first time in sixteen years. During the visit he embarked on a national exhibition tour with support from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. Apple was then invited back by the Arts Council for a tour over the summer of 1979-1980. The exhibition he toured was called The Given as an Art Political Statement. During each tour he exhibited in spaces throughout the country.
During the 1980s, Apple's practice focused on the economics of the art world. The exhibition Art for Sale at Peter Webb
gallery in 1980 was made up of a series of art works that were actual receipts for the payment given to the artist. This work progressed on to a series called Transactions. Other important series of work that began in the 1980s include Golden Rectangle series, and From the Collection.
He returned to New Zealand, permanently in 1990 and currently lives in Auckland. In 1991 the Wellington City Art Gallery staged a decade survey of his work: As Good as Gold: Billy Apple Art Transactions 1981-1991. Negotiations are underway between Saatchi & Saatchi
and the New Zealand horticulture research centre to develop an apple that could be named "Billy Apple". In 2001 Apple created a company, "Billy Apple Ltd" in anticipation of securing licensing of the marketing rights over this new apple.
The artist has a long-standing interest and involvement in motor racing, which was acknowledged with the inclusion of two vehicles from his own collection in the 1991 As Good as Gold survey, as well as in the accompanying publication. This interest was brought to the fore with The Art Circuit, a sound performance work incorporating famous bikes and riders staged on the Auckland Art Gallery forecourt in 2007. This was followed by the 2008 solo exhibitioon, The Bruce and Denny Show, presented at Two Rooms in 2008 as a tribute to the McLaren brand, and particularly to the motoring triumphs of Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme from 1967-1969. The exhibition included Hulme's $1.5 million McLaren M8A-2 racing car and text works that make reference to the tracks raced and the livery of the two drivers' cars.
In 2008 Apple was the subject of a feature length documentary called "Being Billy Apple". Produced by Spacific Films and directed by award winning filmmaker, Leanne Pooley
, the documentary tells the story of Billy Apple's life from his POP period through his involvement with the conceptual art movement in New York during the 1970s to his current "horticultural/art" Apple endeavors.
In 2009 the Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
staged the survey exhibition Billy Apple: New York 1969-1973, covering the activities undertaken by the artist in the not-for-profit gallery he ran from 161 West 23rd Street. Later in 2009 Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art in Amsterdam presented a major exhibition in two parts; the first Billy Apple: A History of the Brand, surveys the artist's entire practice from inception as his own brand to the present day; the second, Revealed/Concealed, focuses on his works that critique the site of art through architectural interventions.
Works include
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...
(born Barrie Bates in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1935) is an artist whose work is associated with the New York and British schools of Pop Art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
in the 1960s and with the Conceptual Art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
movement in the 1970s. He collaborated with the likes of Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
and other pop artists. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (New Zealand), Auckland Art Gallery / Toi o Tamaki (New Zealand), the Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
Art Gallery / Te Puna o Waiwhetu (New Zealand), The University of Auckland (New Zealand) and the SMAK/Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
).
Barrie Bates
Barrie Bates was born in AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1935. He left secondary school with no qualifications and took a job as an assistant to a paint manufacturer in 1951. Bates attended evening classes at Elam School of Fine Arts
Elam School of Fine Arts
The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded in 1890 by John Edward Elam is a part of Auckland University. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach.-History:...
, where he met Robert Ellis
Robert Ellis
-Other:* Robert Ellis , English classical scholar* Robert Leslie Ellis , English mathematician and polymath* Sir Robert Ellis, 1st Baronet , British Conservative Member of Parliament 1922–1923, 1924–1929, 1931–1945...
, a graduate of the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In 1959 he left New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on a National Art Gallery scholarship. He studied at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, from 1959 until 1962. During his time at the Royal College of Art, Bates met several other artists who went on to become a new generation of pop artists; including David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
, Derek Boshier
Derek Boshier
Derek Boshier is a British pop artist works in various media including painting, drawing, collage, photography, film and sculpture....
and Pauline Boty
Pauline Boty
Pauline Boty was a founder of the British Pop art movement and Britain's only notable female Pop art painter. Boty's paintings and collages often demonstrated a joy in self-assured femininity and female sexuality, and expressed overt or implicit criticism of the "man's world" in which she lived...
. He exhibited frequently during his time at the College in the Young Contemporaries and Young Commonwealth Artists exhibitions.
Billy Apple
In 1962 Bates conceived Billy Apple: he bleached his hair and eyebrows with Lady Clairol Instant Creme Whip and changed his name to Billy Apple. Apple had his first solo show in 1963 - Apple Sees Red: Live Stills - in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
at Victor Musgrave
Victor Musgrave
Victor Musgrave was a British poet, art dealer and curator. Described by David Sylvester as a 'true pioneer' Musgrave was the first gallerist to show Bridget Riley and was a champion of Art Brut...
's Gallery One.
Apple moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1964: he progressed his artistic career and also found work in various advertising agencies.
A pivotal event was the 1964 exhibit "The American Supermarket", a show held in Paul Bianchini's Upper East Side gallery. The show was presented as a typical small supermarket environment, except that everything in it — the produce, canned goods, meat, posters on the wall, etc. — was created by six prominent pop artists of the time, including Billy Apple, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects...
, Tom Wesselmann
Tom Wesselmann
Tom Wesselmann was an American artist associated with the Pop art movement who worked in painting, collage and sculpture.-Early years:...
, Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
, Mary Inman, James Rosenquist
James Rosenquist
James Rosenquist is an American artist and one of the protagonists in the pop-art movement.-Background and education:...
and Robert Watts
Robert Watts (artist)
Robert Watts was an American artist best known for his work as a member of the international Avant-garde art movement Fluxus. Born in Burlington, Iowa June 14, 1923, he became Professor of Art at Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Jersey in 1953, a post he kept until 1984...
.
Apple was one of the artists who pioneered the use of neon
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
in art works. This is seen in the 1965 exhibitions Apples to Xerox and Neon Rainbows, both at The Bianchini Gallery. Then in 1967 at the Howard Wise Gallery, the exhibition Unidentified Flourecent Objects (UFOs) showed a collection of neon light sculptures.
In 1969 the artist established Apple, one of the first alternative spaces in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at 161 West Twenty-third Street in order, as he stated, "to provide an independent and experimental alternative space for the presentation of [his] own work and the work of others." Initially the exhibition space was part of his own studio. During its four years Apple produced 35 works in the venue and hosted work by other artists including Geoff Hendricks, Mac Adams
Mac Adams
Mac Adams is an Internationally renowned sculptor. He studied at Cardiff College of Art before going on to Rutgers University. He is now a Professor at the State University of New York at Old Westbury, New York. He became a US citizen in 1990 but still keeps in touch with his Welsh roots.Mac...
, Davi Det Hompson, Larry Miller and Jerry Vis. The space was considered both an exhibition space and a forum for art and discourse.
In 1974 Apple's first major survey exhibition was held at the Serpentine Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
: From Barrie Bates to Billy Apple. In 1975 Apple returned to New Zealand for the first time in sixteen years. During the visit he embarked on a national exhibition tour with support from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. Apple was then invited back by the Arts Council for a tour over the summer of 1979-1980. The exhibition he toured was called The Given as an Art Political Statement. During each tour he exhibited in spaces throughout the country.
During the 1980s, Apple's practice focused on the economics of the art world. The exhibition Art for Sale at Peter Webb
Peter Webb
Peter Neil Webb is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in 2 Tests and 5 ODIs from 1980 to 1984.-References:...
gallery in 1980 was made up of a series of art works that were actual receipts for the payment given to the artist. This work progressed on to a series called Transactions. Other important series of work that began in the 1980s include Golden Rectangle series, and From the Collection.
He returned to New Zealand, permanently in 1990 and currently lives in Auckland. In 1991 the Wellington City Art Gallery staged a decade survey of his work: As Good as Gold: Billy Apple Art Transactions 1981-1991. Negotiations are underway between Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
and the New Zealand horticulture research centre to develop an apple that could be named "Billy Apple". In 2001 Apple created a company, "Billy Apple Ltd" in anticipation of securing licensing of the marketing rights over this new apple.
The artist has a long-standing interest and involvement in motor racing, which was acknowledged with the inclusion of two vehicles from his own collection in the 1991 As Good as Gold survey, as well as in the accompanying publication. This interest was brought to the fore with The Art Circuit, a sound performance work incorporating famous bikes and riders staged on the Auckland Art Gallery forecourt in 2007. This was followed by the 2008 solo exhibitioon, The Bruce and Denny Show, presented at Two Rooms in 2008 as a tribute to the McLaren brand, and particularly to the motoring triumphs of Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme from 1967-1969. The exhibition included Hulme's $1.5 million McLaren M8A-2 racing car and text works that make reference to the tracks raced and the livery of the two drivers' cars.
In 2008 Apple was the subject of a feature length documentary called "Being Billy Apple". Produced by Spacific Films and directed by award winning filmmaker, Leanne Pooley
Leanne Pooley
Leanne Pooley was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, she immigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1980s and began working in the New Zealand television industry....
, the documentary tells the story of Billy Apple's life from his POP period through his involvement with the conceptual art movement in New York during the 1970s to his current "horticultural/art" Apple endeavors.
In 2009 the Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
Adam Art Gallery, Wellington
The Adam Art Gallery is the purpose-built gallery of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Located in Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, it is a forum for critical thinking about art and its histories as well as the professional structure within which the Victoria University Art...
staged the survey exhibition Billy Apple: New York 1969-1973, covering the activities undertaken by the artist in the not-for-profit gallery he ran from 161 West 23rd Street. Later in 2009 Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art in Amsterdam presented a major exhibition in two parts; the first Billy Apple: A History of the Brand, surveys the artist's entire practice from inception as his own brand to the present day; the second, Revealed/Concealed, focuses on his works that critique the site of art through architectural interventions.
External links
- Official Website (lists only his contact information)
- Adam Art Gallery See exhibition Billy Apple New York 1969-1973.
- Ferner Galleries Represents Billy Apple
- Hamish McKay Gallery (Wellington, NZ) Represents Billy Apple
- Sue Crockford Gallery (Auckland, NZ) Represents Billy Apple
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) (Wellington, NZ) features Billy Apple in its permanent collection
- Spacific Films Documentary about Billy Apple
- Christchurch Art Gallery / Te Puna o Waiwhetu (Christchurch, NZ) features Billy Apple in its permanent collection
- Auckland Art Gallery / Toi o Tamaki (Auckland, NZ) features Billy Apple in its permanent collection
- SMAK / Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Gent, Belgium) features Billy Apple in its permanent collection
- KR Konnect Billy Apple collector Kevin Roberts' blog
- Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) 2009 Major Solo Show
Works include