“Intuitive ambiguity enlivens the marks which make up these paintings. The feeling of something about to be revealed is achieved by allowing the hand freedom to respond to the explorations of the mind and the process and the marks come together to produce the work… There is a gesture and movement, passages of painting, chaos and order, repetition and lines...” - Press release for Big Drawings, 4-29 August 1986 at Centre for Contemporary Art, found in hardcopy in the Chartwell archives

Last year, The Chartwell Collection invited Galleries across Aotearoa to participate in a yearlong celebration of their 50^th Anniversary. Fittingly, their initiative put the focus on artists and highlighted the integral role of dealer galleries in how they built their collection. The Chartwell Collection began in Hamilton in the early 1970s and has emerged as a champion of visual arts in Aotearoa.  Their contribution in fostering local artists and supporting dealer galleries is unparalleled in this country.  We share a rich history with Chartwell and as Gary Langsford notes,

“Chartwell engaged with Gow Langsford right from our inception in 1987. At this time, only a few collectors acquired works by New Zealand artists, along with the public galleries which were notoriously underfunded for acquisitions. The Chartwell Collection became a significant part of the collector base, and their strategic acquisitions not only supported the artists but also the handful of commercial galleries that existed.”

Likewise, founder Rob Gardiner wrote to me in a recent email,

“My location in Hamilton where Ev and I and family lived from 1962 to 2001 meant that connections to dealer galleries in Auckland were important to the growth of the Chartwell Collection and that included gaining confidence and understanding of the Charitable Trust model for acquisitions. Chartwell is not a private collection as was the usual model for ownership in New Zealand at that time. I would respond whenever I could to visiting shows when asked.”

Our immediate response to their invitation was to schedule an exhibition focused on the early days of our relationship with the Collection and the artists that Chartwell were exhibiting at their Hamilton gallery, the Centre of Contemporary Art, during the late 1980s-90s. Sue Gardiner generously shared their archives with us, which included handwritten notes, photographs, printed exhibition lists and the details of the earliest Gow Langsford acquisitions.  Using these and our own archives, we mapped out links between works, between artists and between Gow Langsford and Chartwell and over time settled on this exhibition of a trio artists who were prominent in these two decades: Allen Maddox (1948-2000), John Reynolds (b. 1956), Julian Dashper (1960–2009).

At the heart of this grouping lies a shared focus on drawing, mark making and abstraction. For Chartwell, the 1980s saw a heightened interest in exploring large-scale abstract expressionist paintings, a trend that continued into the 1990s as acquisition practices evolved (ibid Rob’s email).

Although A Moment in Time: Dashper, Reynolds, Maddox examines a specific period in local art history, and visions have evolved over the years, it feels distinctly Chartwellean to us. This connection is underscored by personal memories, anecdotal links, and sometimes quirky associations.

Disclaimer, we have taken the liberty by connecting some dots based on collective memories that could not be substantiated by the archives and added some works by these artists that are indicative of other bodies of work. 

JULIAN DASHPER

"Dashper was an artist of his time and place who reflected on his time and place."  Robert Leonard Julian Dashper & Friends, (Wellington: City Gallery Wellington, 2015, ex. Cat).

Julian Dashper is one of the most represented artists in the Chartwell Collection, with more than 100 of his works being held. Three works shown in this exhibition are from the same editions or series that Chartwell currently holds. Cass, 1986 is an edition of ten and poses a bold compositional reinterpretation and questioning of the famed bus stop that has been used by several Aotearoa artists, most notably Rita Angus in 1936. Two works from his 1985 series Regent are in the collection, with another from the same series included in this exhibition along with a painting on velvet with the same title.

Last month, Wellington collectors Jim and Mary Barr posted various photographs of Daspher in his studios on their Instagram, to acknowledge 15 years since his passing.  In one of the images, he is seen holding Design for Coffee Set, a little seen 1988 collage featuring cut out photographs of Gary Langsford and John Gow which is serendipitously included here. Another photo from the same source shows Dashper in his studio in 1986, standing in front of a painting by Allen Maddox, that he owned.

Dashper's estate is represented by Michael Lett, Auckland and Hamish McKay, Wellington.

JOHN REYNOLDS

“Julian Dashper and John Reynolds met at Elam in 1978, Reynold's last year, Dashper's first. In the 1980s they shared a studio and often exhibited together. They were a dynamic duo. Their big, brash, painterly paintings tapped the neo-expressionist zeitgeist.” (ibid Leonard)

The exhibition includes two major works by John Reynolds. The large format mixed media works are emblematic of his practice during this period and relate closely to his 1985 work Armature for a Headland, acquired by Chartwell the same year. Liberty During Construction, 1983 was shown in Big Drawings 4-29 August 1986 at Centre for Contemporary Art, Hamilton. We found the press release for this exhibition in hardcopy in the archives:

“Intuitive ambiguity enlivens the marks which make up these paintings. The feeling of something about to be revealed is achieved by allowing the hand freedom to respond to the explorations of the mind and the process and the marks come together to produce the work. The resources required for this kind of work are a total understanding of the visual language available and interest in the tension between abstraction and reality. The artist, in responding to his own marks, interacts with the work as it evolved. There is a gesture and movement, passages of painting, chaos and order, repetition and lines that both act as lines to define space and forms floating in spaces."

Although the unknown author is clearly talking of Reynolds, the description could also be fitting for Maddox and Dashper's paintings as these artists explored the language of expressionism in the 1980s.

Like Dashper, Reynolds is well represented in the collection, the most recently acquired in 2019. Chartwell holds a 1985 collaboration from the two artists' Omaha Beach series.

Reynolds is represented by Starkwhite, Auckland and McLeavey Gallery, Wellington.

ALLEN MADDOX

In the Chartwell archives is a 1998 letter Gary Langsford wrote to Rob Gardiner about the large Maddox triptych, Charlie Horse, which was later purchased for the collection. This was the second significant Maddox work to enter the collection having previously acquired Clowning Wanker from John Leech Gallery in 1987. There are now eleven works by Maddox in the collection.

Gow Langsford has represented Allen Maddox since 1987 and continues to represent his estate.