Paul Annear, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetPaul Annear
Date of Birth: 17-Oct-1947
Place of Birth: Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand
Date of Death: 24-Apr-2016
Profession: jeweller
Nationality: New Zealand
Zodiac Sign: Libra 
About Paul Annear
- Paul Geoffrey Annear (17 October 1947 in Wellington, New Zealand – 24 April 2016 in Phnom Penh) was a New Zealand contemporary jeweller.Annear completed a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and psychology in 1973, but later dismissed his degree as 'unimportant'.
- As a jeweller, Annear was self-taught, like many of his contemporaries.Annear's early work was made in silver, and he also made paintings early in his career.
- In 1976 Annear read Theo Schoon's book Jade Country, and a few years later the work of John Edgar further piqued his interest in pounamu (New Zealand greenstone).
- On a 1986 trip to the west coast of New Zealand's South Island Annear gathered his first pieces of pounamu, and the material became very important for him.
- In 1991 he was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship to study ancient jade carvings in Asia, Europe, and North America.In a 1988 article for Craft New Zealand craft historian Helen Schamroth discussed Annear's work, with particular reference to his 'bangles'.
- She wrote: Not all of them are necessarily wearable - rather they function as visual objects.
- 'Bangle' seems an easily recognisable descriptive label he uses to describe a series of circular and cylindrical forms.
- It seems of little consequence that the aperture might be too tight to fit over a hand, or that a hollow cylindrical shape would imprison the arm.
- By simplifying the imagery Paul has in fact driven the function out, leaving a form, a shape to be admired, sculpture rather than jewellery.
- Annear was one of twelve artists selected for the 1988 Bone Stone Shell exhibition, a touring exhibition developed by the New Zealand Craft Council for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "show overseas audiences the new and important direction of New Zealand jewellery".
- The works Annear made for Bone Stone Shell were all made of pounamu: he noted in the exhibition catalogue that 'Jade is the material that dominates my work at this time'.
- He described his work from this time as being inspired by an ‘imagined neolithic culture’ rather than specifically Maori forms: the strong geometric shapes of the pieces are derived from arrowheads, adzes and other implements.From 1991 to 1996 Annear was a member of the contemporary jewellers collective, the Fingers group.
- His work was included in the 1993 survey of New Zealand jewellery Open Heart, curated by Elena Gee for The Dowse Art Museum.
- He also experimented with cast glass as a medium, with music and with animation, and in 2003 published The Artist – a colouring book for adults.Annear retired to Cambodia in about 2000, where he continued to make jewellery.
- He died in Cambodia in April 2016.Annear's work is held in a number of New Zealand public collections, including Auckland War Memorial Museum, The Dowse Art Museum and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
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