Gordon Crook 1921 – 2011

Gordon Crook was born in England, and taught textile design at London’s Central School of Art. He came to New Zealand in 1972, where his art flourished. In 1979 he was commisioned to create 20 enormous banners for the New Zealand embassy in Washington, and a few years later made the banners that still hang in the entrance of the Michael Fowler Centre. In the decades that followed, his art – textiles, prints, paintings and collages – was exhibited throughout the country. Te Papa, who own some of his works, has a more detailed biography online here.

We hold a number of items that relate to Gordon Crook:

Gordon Crook : A Life of Art, is a a documentary from 2011 that looks at his life and his art. I personally recommend it.
Gordon Crook [Kaleidoscope]; this is a recording on VHS of the 1987 Kaleid0scope episode about his life, art, and philosophy.
Catelogue of an Exhibition of Tapestries and Drawings Based on the Theme of Adam and Eve (1978). Reference copy only.
Gordon Crook, by the Brooker Gallery. This was published in 1993, and is only 62 pages long, but is a very good collection of biographical articles and reproductions of Crook’s work.

Gordon Crook passed away on the 26th of August. In addition to being one of Wellington’s best artists, he was also a regular library user. He came in daily and was a friend to many library staff members; he will be sorely missed.

2 thoughts on “Gordon Crook 1921 – 2011”

  1. I am gutted that my dear Uncle Gordon has passed away and I didn’t know. I have lost my mother and my uncle within three weeks. Two family lines close. My memories of him and our visits to his home where he had knocked down walls to place his loom; the wild flower book he gave me and my little wooden doll. I will really
    miss having him as my uncle and fellow artist to whom I have enormous admiration. God rest his soul.

Comments are closed.