Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Reuben Paterson
City Gallery Wellington and Extended Whānau
RRP $110.00
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
City Gallery Wellington has recently published a stunning monograph on Reuben Paterson which follows on from his exhibition Reuben Paterson: The Only Dream Left which was exhibited at the gallery last year.
The book is lavishly illustrated with works covering his thirty years of art practice and features writings by Witi Ihimaera, curator and writer Geraldine Barlow, and the exhibition’s curators Aaron Lister and Karl Chitham.
There are over 100 full colour illustrations as well as some ”booklet” inserts which captures the unique range and depth of Paterson’s art from his early glitter paintings to his recent major sculptural commissions.
There are images of several of his monumental works such as the “Get Down Upon Your Knees”, the 8-metre square work shown at the Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane as well as the mural work “Andale, Andale” at Auckland’s Newmarket Railway Station. There are also the “The Golden Promise” at the Massey University Albany campus as well as the controversial ”Freedom Flowers”, the ANZ cash point terminal on Ponsonby Road commissioned for the 2015 Pride Festival.
His use of glitter and diamond dust on canvas or paper of stereotypical images are manipulated and transformed by his individual treatment of colour, design, pattern and texture. His images often referenced botanical, op art, or Māori iconography along with images which are commercial or kitsch. The sparkling surfaces create an ambivalent visual description with works such as the “Take my hand and off we stride” featuring the idyllic Pacific Island palm tree landscape.
Underneath the seductive images there are more complex ideas and viewpoints which take the viewer into the artist’s view of nature, the tangible and the symbolic as well as his own whakapapa referencing his Ngati Rangitihi, Ngai Tuhoe, Tuhourangi and Scottish descent.
Paterson’s political or social messages are also referenced in some of the works where he has used animal images such as the tiger in “Blessing”, conveying the sense of power, sexuality and fear. These works were motivated by his efforts to highlight the inequality of the ‘gay panic’ provocation defence for murder that was in place before a repeal of the Crimes Act in 2009.
A culmination of many of his ideas and technical expertise has been “Guide Kaiārahi” the major commission for the Auckland Art Gallery. The idea for the ten-metre-high waka which is made from hundreds of shimmering crystals, originated in the legend of a phantom waka that appeared at Lake Tarawera ten days before the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886. Combining references to natural and supernatural realms, the sculpture draws upon Māori cosmology and creation narratives.
The book shows the extent of his influences and interests apart from his use of cheesy imagery – Dutch still life painting, elements of Greek and Roman art, Op art and Rorschach patterns. The essays also reveal some of his interests in scientific, political and social ideas along with the spiritual aspects of his work.
Nature and botanical subjects are central to the artists life and many of the artist works His father was a landscape gardener and he has a garden himself which can be seen as an influence on his work with its emphasis on colour, seasons, birth and transformation.
One major work which focusses on Nature is “The Golden Bearing”, a life size golden tree which links to the various emblematic trees over history, from George Fraziers “The Golden Bough”, Eastern and Mayan ideas of creation as well as that of Maori.
As Witi Ihimaera says of the work “In Paterson’s garden the tree is a promise of the legacy of nature for a humankind that appears hellbent on destroying the planet. It is an achingly awe-inspiring way point from which we can orient ourselves to a future if we wish it to become a paradise regained rather than lost”.
The book itself is an elegant and lavish production with designers Extended Whānau ensuring that Paterson’s work is presented in a way which allows for an appreciation and understanding of his paintings and sculptural work.
The images and texts manage to not only show the development of the artist’s work but link the poetic, the political and the personal to show an artist who is deeply committed to exploring the many threads which make up contemporary New Zealand culture.
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