News
A glittering prize for the Gallery - 02 Jun 2010
The sheer scale of Reuben Paterson’s glittering, colourful Whakapapa: get down upon your knees, installed in Tauranga Art Gallery’s Atrium from Saturday 12 June, is impressive.
Originally painted to hang on one wall for the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT6), in Brisbane, from which it has just arrived, Paterson’s massive 16 square metres of work will be displayed here as four smaller segments. Considering the work is about family, or whakapapa, having either one large 8x8 metre work or four individual paintings, fits well with the concept that whakapapa can represent various reconfigurations of families.
Whakapapa: get down upon your knees is about family and lineage. Paterson’s lineage is diverse, being Mäori and Scottish and the objects from which Paterson has drawn inspiration, explore both his Scottish ancestry and the nuance of Paterson’s iwi, Ngati Rangitihi and their long association with art and craft.
This manifests in Whakapapa: get down upon your knees through traditional koru and paisley designs. As Gallery Manager, Penelope Jackson states in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, the design aspect is fundamental to Paterson's painting, with strong use of colour, repetition and lines, which are used to link the present with the past. Paterson’s inspiration came from wallpaper and op-shop fabrics, Hawaiian shirts, his father’s ties and kuia’s (grandmother's) party dresses. These colourful swatches of pattern and design encircle a darkened centre, the Mäori concept of creation, and all is topped with a lavish dusting of glitter.
Glitter is Paterson’s signature. Historically, glitter and sparkle were associated with wealth. Gems, precious metals and elaborate church interiors bedecked with gold. Even today, glitter adorns gifts and cards, decorations and items considered special.
Whakapapa: get down upon your knees was created by Paterson for the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art as a family tree, or whakapapa, both current and ancient. The APT6 featured 313 works by artists from more than 25 countries, including collaborations and collectives, which reflect the diversity of practices across Asia, the Pacific and Australia.
“For Tauranga Art Gallery, hosting Whakapapa: get down upon your knees is a coup,” says Jackson. “Not only is the Gallery the first venue in New Zealand to host this impressive work, but also Paterson and his whakapapa hale from the Bay of Plenty. His family came from and still live at Matata and it is fitting the painting has returned to his people.”
Whakapapa: get down upon your knees can be viewed at the Gallery from 12 June until 31 October.
Reuben Paterson will give a floortalk on his work at 11am, Saturday 12 June. Entry will be by gold coin donation.
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