Born and raised in Timaru, Brent Forbes studied at Aoraki Polytechnic in the late 80’s, followed by Nelson Polytechnic in 1994. Remaining in the Nelson area until 2003, Brent returned to his hometown of Timaru, and now paints prolifically from his home studio. Working primarily in acrylic, with mixed media elements, Brent has exhibited throughout New Zealand since 1989, and has works in private collections in Australia, Great Britain, Germany, U.S.A. and New Zealand.

Inspired by conversations between sea, sky and land, Brent’s artistic practice focusses primarily on abstract landforms. Time spent walking, biking or simply ‘being’ outdoors informs his painting process. He employs a hallmark monochrome or tonal palette in his painting, layering paint and then scraping back and manipulating to reveal a scene. While well-known for his larger scale works, Brent has more recently explored what it means to alter artistic expectations. This has seen him producing at a more engaged pace, a collection of smaller works and tonal studies in a reflection on the intersection between creativity and commerce.  

“In my work the landscape has been used to observe the time of day, the seasons passing, maybe (but not often) a particular place. Looking at these works as a whole, I see the main preoccupation has been water, and where the land meets it. The landscape, although more modelled and distinct in terms of handling, is not the main motivation – just as important is the inescapable fact of the ocean.” – Brent Forbes