He is the first artist in New Zealand’s history to exhibit concurrently with both the pop art and street art global elite including Warhol, Haring, Lichtenstein, Obey, Brainwash and Banksy (Toronto, 2015).
Novak’s art practice covers two main themes.
The first is the subjective nature of identity – which, through his Hybrid series, relates to the flawed human tendency to label each other, and ourselves, limiting our potential. Novak rejects this through his ongoing endeavours, to combine dual careers as not only a professional artist but also a public health doctor.
The second deals with what he calls 'The Digital Dilemma' - in the artist's own words:
"This increasingly technological age hasn’t made us any happier, or connected us more deeply, rather it’s been doing the exact opposite!"
Novak currently shows internationally with galleries in the USA, Canada, UK and NZ.
About the Starman editions
"Back in 2015, I was fortunate enough to visit the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition in Melbourne. It blew my mind and made it obvious that he was more than just an amazing musician. He was a creative genius not only with fashion and using early technology to generate lyrics, but he also broke down barriers with the androgynous characters he portrayed, and continually charted his own unique direction.
I was working on several Bowie paintings the day of his passing. It felt weird to finish those after his death. But several months later I decided to create tribute screen-prints with Bowie’s face halo’d by the moon for some nice visual and emotional synergy… Ground Control to Major Thom etc. More recently I revisited this theme via several ready-to-hang screen-prints with the moon cut out as a suspended disc. The feedback from Bowie fans has been overwhelmingly positive. He sure was a Starman!"
