Dick Frizzell’s work is instantly recognisable to many Kiwis. Whether colourful pop-art iterations of icons such as the “Four Square Man” or his vast landscapes and still-life works, the Frizzell vision is part of our culture.
Previously the author of books including Dick Frizzell: The Painter (Random House, 2009) and Me, According to the History of Art (Massey University Press, 2020), this month he releases “a love song to a small New Zealand town”.
Hastings: A Boy’s Own Adventure (Massey University Press) recalls a well-spent childhood of digging tunnels, unsupervised adventures in the freezing works, motorbikes, guns and, at the centre, his adored parents and a local community rich with character.
Answering our Cultural Attaché questions, the artist now resident in Auckland shares the joys of painting, designs for fancy hair salons and dream dinner guests.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I wanted to be a cook in the Merchant Navy at one point. And then I wanted to open a hairdressing salon in Napier ‒ a big flash one with a central fountain that all the hair-drying posts faced into. The role of “artist” hadn’t been invented. And I really wanted to be an archaeologist. I read everything I could get my hands on in the high school library about “the seat of civilisation” – The Bible as History, African Genesis. But I soon realised that I’d have to go to Africa to find all this buried treasure and there didn’t seem to be a lot to dig up in New Zealand. Definitely nothing BCE anyway. You could see that I was already sharpening my “demystification” tools even then.
When were you happiest?
In my little bedroom copying images out of books and comics.
What’s your greatest fear?
That every new painting will be my last. That I’ll strike a bit I can’t do or move beyond.
What trait in yourself do you least like?
Trying to line everything up all the time, even though my studio looks like a complete shambles.
What trait in others do you least like?
Trying to look serious.
When is it okay to lie?
When it saves your arse without managing to hurt anyone else.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever been given?
A Jeep. From my family for my 60th.
What was the last book you read?
Frances Spalding’s bio of Roger Fry. [Roger Fry: Art and Life by Frances Spalding, first published in 1980.]
Who is your favourite character of fiction?
Jack Reacher – before Lee’s young brother got hold of him.
What book do you recommend to others to read?
Hastings: A Boy’s Own Adventure.
What words or phrase do you overuse?
“Anyway …”
Do you have a quote you live by?
“Do what you do well.”
What is your favourite museum or art gallery?
The National Gallery in London seems to have every painting you want to see just around the corner. Mind you, so do a lot of others. When we took the kids on a six-month motoring tour of America in 1979, apparently I’d cry out, “Oh, there’s my favourite painting” in every gallery we visited. At some point, young Josh, 10, looked up at me and said, “How many favourite paintings have you got, Dad?”
What particular artistic talent would you like to have?
Being able to sing.
What is your favourite film?
La Strada [a 1945 drama directed by Federico Fellini]. Anthony Quinn as “the Great Zampano” doesn’t seem to know he’s acting. He just sort of does it. Wrapping that chain around his mighty chest as he rants and raves to Gelsomina. He teaches her to play the trumpet, whipping her legs as she gets it wrong. And that theme – I can’t hear it without tearing up. The Great Zampano on his knees in the sand, sobbing at the moon.
If a movie was made of your life, which song would be played over the end credits?
Autumn Leaves, by Mark Lanegan.
Who would play you?
My grandson, Sonny Frizzell.
What has been your most enjoyable live theatre experience?
Equus, on stage in New York City.
What has been your most enjoyable live music experience?
Roxy Music at the Auckland Town Hall, about 100 years ago.
What are your favourite genres of music?
Alt-country, I guess, or dorky subversive pop.
What song always gets you dancing?
The Warehouse jingle!
What is a streaming series or favourite TV show you recommend?
The White Lotus. Fingers crossed for series 3.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be doing instead?
I’d be painting for a hobby.
Which three people, dead or alive, would you like to have dinner with?
Richard Dawkins, Yuval Noah Harari and Christopher Hitchens.
Where is your favourite place in New Zealand?
Central Otago.
What is your favourite place outside of Aotearoa?
It used to be America.
What is a destination you’d love to visit some time?
The Hermitage [St Petersburg], but I can’t see that happening any time soon.
A good day starts with …
The Listener.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Painting.
Hastings: A Boy’s Own Adventure, by Dick Frizzell, Massey University Press, $37 is in bookstores from March 13.
