Role Models.

I don’t have much to say about Christmas but have made an effort anyway:

Christmas in the art world doesn’t mean that everyone starts painting pictures of Santa Claus and Reindeer. But they are similar in the sense that they are both partly about consumerism and materialism. Some of the upper echelons of society will be buying some serious art for Christmas – the dealer galleries will push their products just as Borders do. One great aspect of Christmas is made presents. Make someone art for Christmas. It’s not that stingy, plus there is a recession and stuff.

Only recently with the release of Richard Wolfe’s book on New Zealand portraiture has portraiture been recognised as a central part of New Zealand’s painting history. Traditionally, and at the most common level, painting in this country has been centred on the landscape. And not surprisingly either, it is a remarkable place. However it must be said that there is a vast amount overly indulgent and totally unjustified adoration in landscape painting. The two are not entirely exclusive either – just as there are personal assumptions that affect the manner in which a landscape is depicted, so too are there assumptions that affect the way a sitter is depicted.

The show was utterly nationalistic. Edmond Hillary had his own wall with three portraits – two of which were of him in the midst of success and another decrepit and old, not long before death. The Queen and other dregs of the monarchy weazled their way into the show. Maori were ‘adequately’ represented of course. As well as many other major historical public figures. My favourite was a portrait of Michael Joseph Savage clutching his papers and beaming back at the viewer.

It was a collection of work that represented the legacy of a country rather than a collection of works by our greatest painters. These people were set up like icons – almost religiously – in the hope that people would come and reflect. The viewer is urged to realise the relationship between these ideals of leadership and portraiture as a discipline. Neither does the show belie the fact that portraiture is a major source of political and social manipulation.

There are certain people who would spend hours at a show like that, but there wasn’t much in it for the fine art practitioner or the like. There was a constant duality between the importance of the subject and the quality of the artwork. But for the most part the subject trumped artistic expression.

The Power of Portraiture

28 November 2008 - 24 January 2009

 The Gus Fisher Gallery

 

Jerome William Lee Webby