In 1962, Binney began painting at Te Henga, and views of Puketotara with indigenous birds became a common motif in his artworks.[3] In birdwatching, Binney said he discovered a passage into the landscape and the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with it.
Binney described himself as a figurative painter concerned with the psychic metaphor of the environment.[4] Working in oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink and carbon pencil, many of his works depict the west coast of Auckland and Northland, containing sea, sky, native birds, still life and occasionally, figures.
Binney died of a heart attack while in hospital in Auckland[7] for an unrelated illness on 14 September 2012, at the age of 72, and was survived by his second wife Philippa and daughter Mary.[8][9][10] His first wife was the historian Judith Binney.[8]
Exhibitions
In 1965, Binney was included in a survey show of New Zealand painting, held in London and in the "Eight NZ Artists" touring show of Australian state galleries. In 1967, he was the recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council travel fellowship. He lived in Mexico, London and Australia, but returned to teach at Elam, becoming the senior lecturer in fine arts in 1979.
Binney has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and was the subject of a thirty-year survey show at the Fisher Gallery, Pakuranga in 1989. He also had a retrospective exhibition curated by Damien Skinner that toured the country from 2003 to 2004. His work is represented in many public collections including the Auckland Art Gallery, The University of Auckland and Te Papa.[11]
^Stringer, John. "My Friend Don Binney Has Died". coNZervative. Retrieved 16 September 2012. – Sources are (even self-) inconsistent, saying he was 72 or 73, yet born in 1940, resulting in a possible range of birth dates from 15 September 1938 to 14 September 1940. However, based on input from this source, 24 March 1940 seems likely to be correct, and more sources are starting to list his age as 72 as time passes.
^ abTyler, Linda (2009). "Look this Way". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. pp. 284–285. ISBN9781869790080.
^ abWynn, Kirsty (16 September 2012). "Don Binney's death a 'complete shock'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2012. – mis-spells Philippa as Phillipa, but later obit and other sources confirm Philippa.