Billy Apple was a New Zealand artist whose work is associated with the New York and British schools know all about him in this article as like his Family, Net Worth, Parents, Wife, Children and Cause of Death
| Bio | |
| Name | Billy Apple |
| Birthdate ( Age) | 31 December 1935 |
| Place of Birth | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Spouse/Partner | Mary Morrison |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents | Joe Appiah, Peggy Cripps |
| Profession | New Zealand artist |
| Net Worth | $1 Million – $2 Million |
| Last Update | September 2021 |
Billy Apple ONZM was a New Zealand artist whose work is associated with the New York and British schools of pop art in the 1960s and with the Conceptual Art movement in the 1970s. He collaborated with the likes of Andy Warhol and other pop artists.
His work is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (New Zealand), Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki (New Zealand), the Christchurch Art Gallery / Te Puna o Waiwhetu (New Zealand), The University of Auckland (New Zealand), and the SMAK/Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Ghent, Belgium).
Early Life and Family
Barrie Bates, born in Auckland on 1 January 1935,left secondary school with no qualifications and took a job as an assistant to a paint manufacturer in 1951. Bates attended evening classes at Elam School of Fine Arts, where he met Robert Ellis, a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London.
In 1959 he left New Zealand on a National Art Gallery scholarship. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London,from 1959 until 1962.During his time at the Royal College of Art, Bates met several other artists who went on to become a new generation of pop artists; including David Hockney, Derek Boshier, Frank Bowling, and Pauline Boty.
Billy Apple Wife
Billy Apple married with his partner Mary Morrison and the couple have three children but about his personal life there is no more information is available on social media.
Billy Apple Net Worth
Billy Apple ONZM was a New Zealand artist whose work is associated with the New York and British schools has an estimated Net Worth of $1 Million – $2 Million in 2021.
Professional Career
Apple was one of the artists who pioneered the use of neon in art works.This was seen in the 1965 exhibitions Apples to Xerox and Neon Rainbows, both at The Bianchini Gallery. Then in 1967, the exhibition Unidentified Fluorescent Objects (UFOs), which showed a collection of neon light sculptures, was held at the Howard Wise Gallery, a fore-runner to the organisation Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI).One of Apple’s UFO’s was included in a 2013 exhibition that reconsidered the influence of the Howard Wise Gallery.
In 1974, Apple’s first major survey exhibition was held at the Serpentine Gallery in London: From Barrie Bates to Billy Apple. In 1975 Apple returned to New Zealand for the first time in sixteen years. During the visit, he embarked on a national exhibition tour with support from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. Apple was then invited back by the Arts Council for a tour over the summer of 1979–1980. The exhibition he toured was called The Given as an Art Political Statement. During each tour, he exhibited in spaces throughout the country.
In 2008, Apple was the subject of a feature-length documentary called “Being Billy Apple.” Produced by Spacific Films and directed by award-winning filmmaker, Leanne Pooley, the documentary tells the story of Billy Apple’s life from his POP period through his involvement with the conceptual art movement in New York during the 1970s to his current “horticultural/art” Apple endeavours.
In 2015, Apple was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, curated by Tina Barton.Billy Apple had a citywide presence during the retrospective with many other institutions and galleries in the city independently holding presentations of the artist’s work at the same time including Artspace NZ,Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Melanie Roger Gallery,Starkwhite and Gow Langsford Gallery.
The occasion of the retrospective also saw the commercial launch of Billy Apple Ciders and an application developed by the Albert Eden Local Board called the Billy Apple Compass which could be used to navigate the artist’s public sculptures.In 2018, Apple was named as an Icon by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, an honour limited to 20 living New Zealanders.Apple died on the morning of 6 September 2021 after a “short illness”.
