Gilbert van Reenen

Gilbert turned his life long interest and passion for photography into a second career fifteen years ago and rapidly gained a reputation as an innovative professional photographer.

Gilbert is best known for his detailed landscape art imagery but also enjoys his editorial and illustrative assignments for a wide range of publications. He was among the first photographers to adopt and embrace printing techniques which use archival pigment inks and acid free substrates that only watercolour painters had used previously. His highly distinctive images are widely sought after as fine art prints and large murals for décor in private and public buildings in several countries.

He has produced the decor art for a number of resorts and hotels in Australia and New Zealand.

Gilbert has had numerous solo and group shows throughout New Zealand. His latest in September  2009 at Gallery De Novo,  Our Wider World was a joint show with eminent New Zealand Poet Laureate, Brian Turner . The exhibition matched Turner's lyrical and eloquent poetry to van Reenen's striking imagery  - mostly of Central Otago.

Gilbert's Photographs are available in different sizes and on different substrates - many of his mural works are well over 2 meters in width and retain remarkable detail. Gilbert specialises in archival processes which do not degrade with time. The larger pieces can also be printed onto special reflective metallic paper which gives the works a realistic  three dimensional effect.  They are protected with a UV laminate film which gives them high durability.

Gilbert has so far produced three publications which showcase his work – his best seller Central Otago (2004)  has just been reprinted for the fourth time,  New Zealand South (2005) and The Nature of Wanaka (2010) have also been highly acclaimed. He has contributed to many other books by various authors. All of these books reveal the immense talent of Gilbert van Reenen.

Gallery De Novo stocks a large selection of Gilbert's work, including the three publications.