Dennis Knight Turner

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About Dennis Knight Turner

Along with Theo Schoon and Gordon Walters with whom he once shared a Wellington studio space, Wanganui born Dennis Knight Turner was one of the first New Zealand European artists to incorporate Maori motifs into his art. In 1958 he exhibited a series of works based on Oceanic art forms

Turner left New Zealand for England in 1964 discouraged by the lack of support his art had received in this country. His interest in Oceanic art forms did not end however with extensive research being carried out at the British Museum & Museum of Natural History.

In 1992 he returned briefly to New Zealand taking up artist's residency at Tylee Cottage, sponsored by Wanganui's Sarjeant Gallery. The result was an exhibition titled 'Turner's Tiki'.

Turner's works have also drawn on other aspects of New Zealand culture depicting everything from old hotels, farming scenes and gum digging and other aspects of New Zealand rural life.