KEY POINTS:
Last century was for the avant-garde, when the artist stood in the present looking forward. In this post-modern century, some artists stand with their face towards the past.
The past is the essence of the monumental work of sculptor Robert Jahnke at the Bath Street Gallery until November 24. He is an artist whose work has weight in every sense, looking as heavy as a stone slab or steel driving wheel.
Its simplicity carries a weight of thought and history. The history is the relationship between Maori and the Crown.
Roses are featured in every work because, of all flowers, it is the most evocative - and it is a flower introduced to New Zealand. The Tudor rose is the symbol of the Crown but these are big Victorian roses connected also with women, religion; and the black rose, which was the symbol of revolution. All these many aspects of the symbolism of the rose are put to use, often simultaneously, in this show called A Rose by Any Other Colour. Jahnke uses black everywhere. He uses it to show how meaning is lost in the black obscurity of history and in works that look like polished basalt to give the feeling of things set in stone and of epitaphs.
The effect is created by using layers of lacquer that make a deep lustrous black. The work is often done in series and a typical group is An Act of Faith, which represents events between 1840 and 1849; An Act of Hope, which represents events of 1890-99; and An Act of Charity, which alludes to the working of the Waitangi Tribunal from 2000.
The single most impressive work is a group of 15 plaques that represent stages of interaction, beginning in 1840 with An Act of Faith. The other 14 almost identical plaques represent events linked to particular dates. There are Acts of Alienation, Acts of Reprisal and Acts of Hope. These are not "Acts of Government" but memorials to historic incidents loaded with emotion.
A feature of these inventive works is the imposing quality of the lettering and the patterning of roses precisely achieved by industrial cutting processes. One of the works is highly polished stainless steel, which emphasises the feeling of bright celebration rather than contemplation of grievance. It is called Mo Nga Wahaea (For the Mothers). Here the roses and lettering which appear deeply cut into the slab sing loud and clear.
This is a remarkable and technically brilliant exhibition. Jahnke is one artist whose clear structure of belief and spiritual strength certainly support the work.
Coincidentally, an exhibition by Rebecca Harris at the Milford Gallery until November 17, also about the interaction of Maori and European in the past, features roses as well. But the works are paintings and the point is made not so much with weight as with wit.
The show is called A Cameo Appearance and each work is like an enlarged brooch. All the paintings are circular, with an elaborate frame moulded by the artist herself that is Victorian in character. Within the frame on a slightly convex surface, we have people caught between two cultures, trying hard, slightly comic, but all full of reference to this country.
Careful Miss Charlotte, with roses in her hair and a Maori comb with a high-necked Victorian dress fastened with a brooch which has a little tiki on it, is an intriguing character. The ghosts of Maori stand behind her.
Absurdly, but rather touchingly, she sticks out her tongue in imitation of a Maori gesture.
Other personalities include Wearer of the Wreath with a mass of flowers in her hair, accompanied by weasels, cats, possums - pretty creatures, but all dangerous. It's a cameo with menace. Another work, which has a native bird masquerading as a peacock, is just plain funny.
It makes a delightful show, consistent in format but varied in character, about aspects of New Zealand's past that talk sensitively to the present.
The past is also present as the backdrop to the amusing work of Claire van der Plas at Oedipus Rex Gallery until November 17 where the works, mostly done on fancy little table-tops, have backgrounds deftly imitated from great painters from the past; Fragonard, Friedrich, Boucher and Landseer. These provide a setting for images of pony club activities. The piquancy of the contrast is reinforced by the titles, which refer to New Zealand places and have additional descriptions taken from real estate advertisements. So Richmond has a background taken from German Romantic painter Friedrich and it is suggested the whole ensemble has obvious "commercial potential". In this entertaining show, the sublime is truly suborned to the ridiculous so a miniature horse becomes Monarch of the Glen - Tui Glen.
The past is also present in the softly, lovely sculpture of Margriet Windhausen at SOCA Gallery until November 15. Her terracotta heads are all clad in Renaissance headgear and give varied shapes to the wistfully smiling, pale features of the young women portrayed. The pastel colour and the features are matched exactly and, although each face varies, there is an overall feeling of innocence and charm. The exhibition is shared by the over-life-sized, melodramatic faces painted by Donna Demente.
These are at their best when surrounded by heavy gold frames that pressure the faces into telling distortions and when they have the added frisson of a meaningful sidelong glance as in Still See You.
A brooding quality as in Nimbus and Eros adds real dramatic force to the work.
