Michael Smither

Five young men sunbathing on a beach – the scene presented in this painting by Coromandel based artist, Michael Smither – could be any New Zealand beach, anywhere, any time over the last 40 years. With its simple arrangement of sky, sand and gull it represents the typical Kiwi summer holiday. But look again. The young men fill the centre of the canvas – they barely fit within the edges of their spread-out beach towels. They lie without talking or looking, as if lost in their own private worlds. The perspective is shortened – even the seagull looks large and close. And behind them the horizon arches back as if the sun-baked bodies are stretching across the very curve of the earth in a symbolic celebration of youth.