A survey of painter Dr Sandy Adsett’s long career, Toi Koru, opens on March 18 at Te Manawa Art Gallery. He is one of the modern masters of Māori art.
Adsett has been called “the master of colour and kōwhaiwhai” and “one of the most significant and respected Māori artists of his generation”. Toi Koru features artworks drawn from the collections of Te Papa and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, as well as new paintings created for this exhibition.
Trained in classical Māori art, Adsett is not afraid to deconstruct traditional forms, and his painting shows influences from western abstract artists such as Mondrian and Kandinsky.
The works in Toi Koru range from 1969 to the present day and encompass a number of stylistic evolutions that reflect changes in Adsett’s own life. For instance, his move from Gisborne to Hastings in 2003 saw him shift from complex compositions with vibrant colours to more minimalist themes painted mostly in black and white. Possibly, this was inspired by the style in which nearby marae were being restored at the time.
There is an intricacy to these paintings that is not immediately apparent. From across the gallery, arrow-straight lines and crisp divisions between colours can be seen; yet as the viewer approaches, more detail unfolds, like a fractal. Even the tiniest brushstroke is revealed to be deliberate.
