Philip Trusttum

Philip Trusttum is one of New Zealand’s most recognised contemporary painters of major works. He graduated with a Diploma in Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury School of Art in 1964. In 1967, he was awarded on a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council scholarship for travel to develop his practice. Since then has travelled and worked in Europe and North America.

Impossible to categorise because of his immense creativity, Philip's paintings and collage works have been referred to as neo-expressionist and abstract. He experiments with and refines ideas and techniques to suit his own artistic temperament. Philip is a prolific and biographical painter, the personal subject matter ranges from his gardens and his grandson's toy trucks to the dynamics of tennis and is grandiose in style and scale. His large works are uninhibited with paint brushed, daubed, or scraped onto the surfaces with expressive energy.

Philip has represented New Zealand on many occasions. In 1984, he was invited to participate in ANZART at the Edinburgh Arts Festival. The same year he exhibited on New York's 57th Street at the Jill Kornblee Gallery. Philip has been awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, only the second New Zealander to receive the award. Philip Trusttum is represented in all major public and private collections throughout New Zealand.