We heard yesterday that Greg Flint had died. He had been through a serious illness but when we spoke to him last Thursday he thought that things were working out ok and he was feeling good. When Greg had his gallery in Wellington we used to have coffee with him every morning at Continental Cakes and talk about the dramatic shifts in contemporary art that seemed to be happening around us. It was the time when Shane Cotton, Peter Robinson, Ronnie van Hout and et al. were all pulling great show after great show. It was a very exciting time and Greg was in the midst of it all. Later when he moved to Auckland he showed Michael Parekowhai and it was at his gallery in the Strand that we saw The Indefinite Article as well as one of Bill Hammond’s great Auckland Island paintings done on a locker door, Peter Peryer’s Antarctic pictures, Marie Shannon’s pipe cleaner photographs and early paintings by Michael Stevenson. Greg was still painting when we first met him but put it to one side to sell the work of others. It wasn’t always a smooth ride and we had not seen him for many years before our meeting last week. Typically he was with an artist and they were off to look at the galleries. It was great to talk with him that last time and sad that it is never to be repeated.
Image: From left to right: Gregory Flint, Barnard McIntyre, Cyril Wright and George Hubbard.
