Dick Frizzell
Dick Frizzell is one of New Zealand's most prominent and versatile artists. Known for its humour, his work often references the commercial world, pop culture and high-end art. He describes the ‘School Journal’ as “an unofficial history of New Zealand Art”.
Dick Frizzell was born in Auckland in 1943 and graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University between 1960 and 1963. After studying, he worked as a commercial artist in illustration, animation and advertising and was exhibiting as a painter by the early 1970s.
Since then, Frizzell’s practice has maintained a critical humour, mashing up images from the commercial world, popular culture and high-end art. Some of his more well-known artworks reference reinterpretations of the Four-Square man, Marvel comics, canned foods and more controversially, Māori tiki.
-
![An smiling old man with grey hair and beard wearing a striped shirt and khaki jacket, standing against a brick wall.]()
Click to expand
Alongside an interest in subjects that everyday Kiwis relate to, Frizzell believes that artists have a civic responsibility. This outlook was developed through his screen-printing practice and contributions to the ‘School Journal’. The first 5 illustrations depicted in the gallery below are his illustrations from the ‘Ready to Read’ book, ‘Horrakapotchkin’ (1983), these illustrate the story ‘Uncle Joe’ by Joy Cowley. These reflect a clear drawing style he used at the time, along with bold colours, which he has consistently employed in his art. These are then followed by a number of other illustrations by Dick Frizzell from other editions of the 'School Journal'. The final 8 illustrations are 'School Journal' illustrations from a story called, 'The Cake that Grew'.
Recalling his time illustrating for the ‘School Journal’ to writer Gregory O’Brien, Frizzell recounts how learning to draw everything at the size that the journal was printed (a cost saving method) saw his drawing skills improve. Describing the Journals as “an unofficial history of New Zealand Art”, he reflects that doing the job well means illustrating a story rather than trying to show how clever you are. “You quickly move on from all your fine art ‘classical training’...and fall back on the actual demands of the story…the clearest presentation of the ‘facts’.”
Dick Frizzell's artworks for the School Publications
-
![Coloured illustration with an old man sitting on an arm chair reading a newspaper, four kids standing in the front and talking to each other.]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of an old man sitting on a chair and hugging four kids]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of an old smiling man standing and wearing a checkered shirt and pant with suspenders]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of an old man standing, one girl standing on a chair and hugging him, a girl holding the chair and jumping and two kids stand on the right]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a woman wearing a yellow hat holding a water house and watering flower plants, four kids standing and smiling]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a boy and some alien creatures]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a woman sitting on a brown armchair holding a book and a boy smiling walking away from her]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a main with a wicked smile and driving a car and a boy sitting beside him shocked to see some human skull and bones on the car floor]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a man in a red car, a boy fallen down in the front and an elephant fallen on the footpath]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a sword and a red scarf with white dots]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of group of people dressed as pirates standing on a small island in the sea and a ship in the background]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a group of people onboard a ship holding swords in their hands and fighting.]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a girl with short curly hair digging a hole in the ground, a dog stands next to her.]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a smiling girl with short curly hair, a hand on the left holding some beans]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a girl with short curly hair and a red rooster, bending and looking at a hole in the ground]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a girl with short curly hair wearing a red dress and holding a water can in her hands, a cat sits near a plant pot]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a girl with short curly hair wearing a red dress sitting on the ground holding mud in her hands. a cat behind her and an old woman walking towards her]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a girl with short curly hair bending near a paper box that has soil and some green seedlings]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of a girl with short curly hair lying on the ground and looking amused at a box of saplings]()
Click to expand
-
![Coloured illustration of an old woman wearing a blue scarf and a girl with short curly hair, both standing beside a tree]()
Click to expand
