AUCKLAND.- Auckland Art Gallery congratulates artist John Reynolds on receiving a prestigious Laureate Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. Reynolds was one of five Laureates to receive the $50,000 award this week, along with writer/director/actor Oscar Kightley, filmographer Alun Bollinger, poet/writer Ian Wedde and experimental musician Alastair Galbraith.

The Arts Foundation has distributed a total of $1.4 million and honoured 34 Laureate artists since the awards began in 2000. The independent charitable trust generates income from a $6 million endowment fund. Reynolds is one of New Zealand’s foremost painters and printmakers. The Aucklander started his career in 1980 exhibiting large abstract colour-fields before moving to structural text-based imagery. The multiple award-winner was a Walters Prize finalist in 2002 and featured at this year’s Biennale of Sydney. His spray-paint installation 4 Walls, 3 Layers, 2 Marks, 1 Light is currently on show at Auckland Art Gallery. The work was commissioned for the exhibition 5 4 3 2 1: Auckland Artist Projects, which counts down to the gallery’s $90 million development project.