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Toi Aotearoa

Michael Parekowhai, The Indefinite Article, 1990 (centre) and John Reynolds, Sun Tree Beginning, 1993 (far right)

Michael Parekowhai, The Indefinite Article, 1990 (centre), in Toi Aotearoa

Toi Aotearoa

  • Where

    Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

  • When

    3 September 2011 - 31 August 2014

Toi Aotearoa spanned centuries of New Zealand’s art history, considering art from the 1700s till the present day. By blending contemporary artists with earlier well-known modernist painters, and artworks from early European contact with Aotearoa, the exhibition considered the legacy of New Zealand’s unique art-historical canon and its impact on today’s contemporary artists.

A diverse range of artworks from the Chartwell Collection contributed to the exhibition, including pieces from early influencers such as Theo Schoon’s Maori Pattern (1962) and Colin McCahon’s May His Light Shine (Tau Cross) (1978-79) to Fiona Connor’s contemporary work A section of Something Transparent (please go round the back) (2009) and Michael Parekowhai’s McCahon-inspired work The Indefinite Article (1990).

Curated by Ron Brownson, Ngahiraka Mason and Natasha Conland.

Installation Images 

One of the ground floor galleries at Auckland Art Gallery is depicted. In the centre of the room large white three-dimensional lettering spells out 'I AM HE'. To the left hangs a red and blue work which reads '1/2 price cash only' on loose canvas. Above it, multiple identical signs bearing the letter 'O' are hung together on an angle. On the right wall hangs a pink and orange work with a smaller blue and yellow work next to it, and in the top right hand corner is a cluster of pink squiggly acrylic shapes.

Michael Parekowhai, The Indefinite Article, 1990 (centre) and John Reynolds, Sun Tree Beginning, 1993 (far right), Chartwell Collection. 

One of the ground floor galleries at Auckland Art Gallery is depicted. On the left wall hangs a red and blue work which reads '1/2 price cash only' on loose canvas. Above it, multiple identical signs bearing the letter 'O' are hung together on an angle. A tall doorway to the right of these works looks into the adjoining galleries.

Julian Dashper, The Scream, 1991-93 (pictured top) and Billy Apple, Cash Only 1/2 Price, 1984-1990 (centre), Chartwell Collection.

One of the ground floor galleries at Auckland Art Gallery is depicted. On the right hand wall hangs a large pink and orange canvas with a spindly tree painted onto it. To its right hangs a narrow figurative painting depicting suburban scenes. In the corner of the room, a salmon pink circular mattress is half propped up against the wall. On the right hand wall, above the mattress hangs a man's suit with sharp studs all over it. On the far right hangs a large framed painting depicting a tree.

John Reynolds, Sun Tree Beginning, 1993 (far left) and Giovanni Intra, Untitled (Studded Suit), 1990 (pictured top, second from right), Chartwell Collection.

Multiple artworks hanging on the walls of a ground floor gallery space at Auckland Art Gallery. A woman stands in front of two loosely hung large photographs on the far wall of the gallery, looking at them. Next to her is a figurative sculpture of a person. On the wall closest to the viewer, a small grey figure of a business man hangs facing the wall, high above visitors. Below the figure is a framed painting. On the right of the framed painting, a coat hanger draped with bright white coils emitting light hangs from the wall. On the far right of this work, two ambiguous shapes wrapped in dark black wool are hung on the wall.

Michael Parekowhai, Rainbow Servant Dreaming, 2005 (pictured top, left wall), Chartwell Collection.

The image shows a wall in the ground floor galleries at Auckland Art Gallery. On the left is a series of photographs of socks, arranged in a grid. In the centre a tall board is propped against the wall, with a large black tap spray painted onto it and emitting black lines of 'water'. On the right hang two diamond shaped works filled with a random assortment of shapes.

Simon Denny, And Still Faster, 2007 (centre), Chartwell Collection.

The image looks through a tall window on the mezzanine floor of Auckland Art Gallery. The window looks into the ground floor gallery, where a work consisting of multiple large black spheres connected to smaller black spheres hangs from the ceiling.

Peter Robinson, Universe, 2001, Chartwell Collection.

The image depicts a wall in one of the ground floor galleries at Auckland Art Gallery. On the far left hangs an artwork filled with horizontal koru patterns in alternating black and white. Next to this hangs a long narrow panel with a brown background, depicting a stylised figure in black. In the centre hangs a loose canvas with an orange and yellow section at the top depicting a sun, and an ocean view broken up by sections of solid black. On the left hangs a white artwork with black and white vertical lines all over it, with two horizontal blue lines on either side.

Colin McCahon, The Care of Small Birds: Muriwai, 1975 (centre), Chartwell Collection.

The image depicts a corner of a room in Auckland Art Gallery. On the left hangs a loose canvas with a black background, with a T shape in the middle in beige and an arc of golden paint surrounding it. 'He's the one' and 'may his light shine' are written in white paint underneath the T shaped cross. On the right wall hangs another loose canvas with a black background, which is filled with lettering written with white paint.

Colin McCahon, May his light shine (Tau Cross), 1978-9 (left) and Are there not twelve hours of daylight, 1970 (right), Chartwell Collection.

The image depicts a wall in Auckland Art Gallery, with multiple framed artworks hung at different heights next to each other along the wall. In the centre is a work filled with swirling kowhaiwhai inspired patterns in black, white and red. The other works are a mixture of abstract geometric shapes and figurative but geometric landscapes.

Theo Schoon, Maori Pattern, 1962 (centre) and Gordon Walters, Untitled, 1952 (bottom, second from right), Chartwell Collection.

The image depicts a rounded bay room in Auckland Art Gallery. In the centre of the room a carved sculpture of a curvy, stylised person half crouches on a plinth. Behind the sculpture, two pieces of pottery sit in glass vitrines. Multiple windows surround these artworks, looking out onto Albert Park.

Theo Schoon, Incised Gourd, c. 1955-1965 (rear, far left plinth), Chartwell Collection.

The image is taken from an angle showing the length of a corridor with a very long artwork stretching down the whole wall. The work is a lacqured, glossy panel with a series of fine lines running vertically down it, with sections of bright colours of the rainbow dotted in between.

Ralph Hotere, Godwit/Kuaka, 1977, Chartwell Collection.

Featured Artworks

Untitled (Studded Suit)

Untitled (Studded Suit)

Giovanni Intra
The Indefinite Article

The Indefinite Article

Michael Parekōwhai
May His Light Shine (Tau Cross)

May His Light Shine (Tau Cross)

Colin McCahon
Cash Only 1/2 Price

Cash Only 1/2 Price

Billy Apple®
Untitled (The Scream)

Untitled (The Scream)

Julian Dashper
Are there not twelve hours of daylight

Are there not twelve hours of daylight

Colin McCahon
The care of small birds: Muriwai

The care of small birds: Muriwai

Colin McCahon
Sun Tree Beginning

Sun Tree Beginning

John Reynolds
Maori Pattern

Maori Pattern

Theo Schoon

An obscure portrait extracted <<daisy chopper accelerated>>

Jacqueline Fraser
Rainbow Servant Dreaming

Rainbow Servant Dreaming

Michael Parekōwhai
Universe

Universe

Peter Robinson
And Still Faster

And Still Faster

Simon Denny
Yellow Curtain

Yellow Curtain

Layla Rudneva-Mackay
Raw Material #2

Raw Material #2

Richard Maloy
You make loving fun

You make loving fun

Kate Newby
Lover

Lover

Alicia Frankovich
Take These With You When You Leave

Take These With You When You Leave

John Pule
Godwit/Kuaka

Godwit/Kuaka

Ralph Hotere
Read more at Auckland Art Gallery