Three New Works by Mark Cross Tue, 28 Oct 2008

New Zealand born artist Mark Cross is considered one of the South Pacific's leading contemporary realist painters. At the age of 23 he and his family moved to his wife's village of Liku on the Island of Nuie. Whilst still living in Nuie Cross regularly spends time in New Zealand where his distinctive paintings are sought after by collectors from the Pacific rim and further afield.

His work achieves a uniqueness that avoids the trappings of regionalism, so often associated with realism, and replaces it with an acutely perceptive worldview. Cross's figures are totally and harmoniously integrated with the landscape echoing an ecological hope of growing respect for our planet. On a personal level, the quality of work is an indication of artist's closeness to nature, much of this initially fostered by time spent in Nuie.

The nineties saw Cross venture into other areas of art production such as the establishment of a sculpture park in the rain forest in the east of Niue. A collaboration with his wife and several other artists, crafts people and musicians saw the creation of the Shrine to Abundance, an installation inside a shipping container that toured Australia, New Zealand and more recently, Rarotonga . Painting however, continues to be his main focus and works are to be found in many private and corporate collections in Australasia, America and Europe.