Don Binney (1940-2012) is a well known and respected New Zealand artist who was named an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to the arts in 1995. He has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and has been the subject of a touring retrospective exhibition. His work is represented in many public collections including those of the Auckland City Art Gallery and Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand.

The artist is best known for his iconic paintings of birds. He has said that through his interest in bird watching he discovered a passage into the landscape and the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with it. Binney has described himself as a figurative painter concerned with the ‘psychic metaphor’ of the environment.

Over Oaxaca is one of Binney’s Pacific Frigate Bird series, with which he started to hang his birds against large expanses of flat skies. His emphasis on smooth space, contrasts with the strong, textured handling of paint used on the bird. The monumental scale of this painting allows it to act like a large picture window into the artist’s landscape.