Art seen: 24 August

When the Flowers Bloom #2 (2022), by Aiko Robinson.

(Milford)

Aiko Robinson’s current exhibition at Milford Galleries comprises eight predominantly ink and watercolour works that manifest erotic themes across three genres: Japanese shunga (erotica), outdoor floral scenes and still-life paintings. There are two approaches to apprehending Robinson’s multi-genre exhibition: firstly, as a transitional show that signals new directions (floral scenes and still life) alongside the artist’s more familiar shunga works, and secondly, as a disparate body of work that stretches the erotic framework. This could be an exhibition of work by two or three different artists, which is not necessarily a negative appraisal, but one that is especially marked when an artist is known for working in a particular genre and stylistic mode.

In a video interview, Robinson comments on her move away from explicit shunga and towards a gentler, more loving portrayal of erotic love, which is evident in the four shunga works. The vantage on to the couples and the tenderness of their embraces in at least three of the four shunga mark this transition. From a formal perspective, however, the expanse of white at the top right of Secret Whisperings From the Garden (2022) is also an interesting shift. It could represent an area of undefined anatomy, or (and perhaps most interestingly) an "unfinished" section of the painting. Either way, this spatial expanse is an effective juxtaposition to Robinson’s typical horror vacui (fear of empty spaces). Yes, it is almost spring and the shunga and floral paintings usher it in.

Dance of Life (2022), by Marie Strauss

(Olga)

"Sympathetic magic" is an anthropological term that describes an especially charged relationship between artefacts and people to heal, protect, or project ill will. With this titular framing therefore, Marie Strauss has issued an invitation for the viewer to potentially engage with her ceramic vessels and expressionist paintings beyond the visual sense implied by the term "viewer". Perhaps a more resonant response to this exhibition, as a writer, would be poetry rather than prose. Poetry would enable writer and reader to forego linear logic for the associations between the sounds of words and experiences, and for unexpected syntactic juxtapositions with the capacity to propel the reader/listener between known and unknown worlds.

If the paintings were sound or unmoored from canvas supports, they would be deep bass and the recesses of a cave. With a flare of light would come striations of higher-pitched sound and the emergence of intentional painted forms on the cave walls. In such a setting, the traditional scene of a hunt is not merely a representation but an insistence, a prayer, an offering. Strauss draws on this mode of intentionality, insistence, and cave-like forms. Hybrid bird-animal-human figures dominate Strauss’ paintings and wild animals roam the ceramic vessels. These works propose an existential question: do we still hold enough in common to access the symbolic magic imbued and insisted on by the artist? Do the fires and floods of climate emergency and the ongoing extinction of animals generate a smallness akin to the communities of Paleolithic peoples despite our billions? How might we cohere?

Te Awa i Tahuti (1983), by Katerina Mataira and John Bevan Ford

(Reed Gallery, Dunedin City Library)

"Maori Legends" in the Reed Gallery at Dunedin City Library is an exceptional exhibition of pukapuka Maori (Maori books) held in the heritage collections of the library. As the comprehensive publication (also titled Maori Legends) which accompanies the physical and online exhibitions makes clear, the title is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. It references the pukapuka Maori Legends: Some Myths and Legends of the Maori People written by Alistair Campbell and illustrated by Robin White included in the exhibition, and also celebrates the contributors as "legends" (heroes). This designation is perhaps especially warranted for those Maori artists who illustrated pukapuka written by Pakeha authors who would not have had the cultural knowledge or legitimacy to tell these stories. The artists were and are legends for working in compromised cultural situations and for creating drawings full of mana and beauty.

For those familiar with Maori artists, this exhibition includes some of the most celebrated working between 1960 and the 1990s (the exhibition’s predominant era of focus). Curated by Jill Bowie, Elspeth Moody, Aroha Novak and Alyce Stock, the selected pukapuka include illustrations by Dame Robin White (Ngati Awa), Cliff Whiting (Te Whanau-a-Apanui, 1936–2017) and Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngati Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngati Hau, Ngati Konohi) among many others. Exceptional Maori writers include Patricia Grace (Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa, Te Ati Awa, Ngati Porou) and catalysing educator and te reo advocate Dame Katerina Mataira (Ngati Porou, 1932–2011). "Maori Legends" celebrates and signals the ongoing importance of purakau (legends), te reo and matauraka Maori.

By Robyn Maree Pickens