Book review: The man who focused on work, not himself

Auckland sculptor Fred Graham.

Book review: Fred Graham: Creator of Forms - Te Tohunga Auaha
by Maria de Jong with Fred Graham
(Huia Publishers $49.99)
Reviewed by Michael Dunn

When Fred Graham was selected for the New Zealand Maori rugby team in 1955, the keen sportsman and popular art teacher would probably have been surprised to learn that some 60 years later he would have high status as a leading sculptor and mentor with an international reputation.

Brought up in the small settlement of Horahora on the Waikato, he has emerged as an acclaimed artist with large works in prominent public spaces, including two in Queen St, Auckland, and another in Auckland Domain. Held in high regard for his contributions to Maori culture he is, however, less well known to a wider public because he rarely exhibits in galleries and does not seek attention.

This makes the publication of a book on him by Maria de Jong an important and long overdue recognition of his achievements that will be a revelation for many. It has been a long wait - he is 86 years old - but it is a handsome and very accessible account of his family life, his teaching career and his evolution as a sculptor, illustrated in colour with many photographs of his work by Geoff Dale.

Maria de Jong's extended essay on his life is informative, easy to read and peppered with historical family photographs and quotes from her interviews with Fred Graham. She deals well with his Maori background, the carving history in his family, his supportive parents and his happy marriage.

She dwells on the importance of art educator Gordon Tovey in recognising Graham's talent and that of other art specialists of Maori background like Ralph Hotere. Fred Graham became part of the renaissance of contemporary Maori art drawing, not only on his Maori carving heritage but also, like Para Matchitt and Selwyn Muru, introducing ideas and new materials from Western sculpture by masters like Picasso and Henry Moore.

Jonathan Mane Wheoki notes, in his informative essay, that Graham stands at the beginning of a whakapapa of contemporary Maori art which links back to ancestral canoes, weavers, pattern makers and graphic artists. Graham introduced diverse materials such as aluminium, custom wood, glass and brass to his works that depart drastically from the traditionalist Maori carvings.

An excellent example of his work is Manu Torino, 2005, fabricated from stainless steel and positioned in front of the Visitors Centre at the Auckland Botanical Gardens. It evokes a flock of birds taking flight, spiralling upwards with wings fluttering as if responding to a disturbance. Birds are characteristic of Graham's sculpture because he has a fondness for using them in his works to the extent that he has been called "The Birdman". As is the case here, his works have a recognisable figurative content, making them accessible to the general public and are largely free of the politics endemic in much contemporary Maori art practice.

However, his works do reflect concerns about loss of tribal lands and disenchantment with the Treaty of Waitangi. He has exhibited and worked in Canada, identifying with the issues confronting indigenous artists of the west coast of North America. He has also been active as an art teacher and adviser to secondary schools, ensuring Maori elements are incorporated in the general scheme of creative art education, as Jill Smith demonstrates in her important essay.

A feature of the book is a useful catalogue of his major works, complete with colour photographs of each. They date from 1959-2013. Looking at these amazing sculptures and paintings, many unfamiliar, makes one very aware how Graham has focused on his work rather than on self-promotion. His youngest son, Brett Graham, has followed his father into a career as a sculptor and Fred Graham notes that he is now sometimes known as Brett's father rather than as an artist in his own right. This fine book makes abundantly clear that he, too, is a major sculptor with a place at the forefront of contemporary practice.

Emeritus Professor Michael Dunn was formerly the Head of Elam School of Art.