 | The glitter paintings of Reuben Paterson are extremely seductive, attracting viewers like magpies to shiny objects of promise. They hint at the ideas of beauty as a magnet for visual attraction. The sparkling glitter enables the artist to explore much more than merely the twinkling light qualities of the material. Its intrinsic character transcends the everyday, the mundane or the worldly, and now implies the celestial, the spiritual and the celebratory. (1)
Patersons’s decorative traditional kowhaiwhai designs in glitter dust suggest “the assured defiance of Maori culture in the face of loss”. But they also “emit an air of melancholy”. (2)
“A Maori motif is often the centre of reclamation.” In traditional painting or kowhaiwhai these motifs could allude to elements of Nature. “The main visual function was genealogical.” They provided the connections between all parts of the meeting house and, by utilising the images of Nature, reinforced the intimate genealogical and holistic relationship between humankind and the environment. (3)
Paterson continues the contemporary tradition of resuscitating and updating traditional Maori motifs by the use of non-traditional media that can be seen in the work of artists such as Sandy Adsett, Cliff Whiting and Buck Nin.
His work extends the traditional Maori use of design and pattern, of weaving and layering. They may resemble glittering piupiu or fishing net or a swatch of fabric, or a detail from an haute-couture creation. Fashion is a strong influence. He states: “it is an art form that combines aspects of decorative art and industrial design and a definite part of popular culture that permeates our social history. It is a symbolic system, a protective clothing form and a kind of performance art.” (4)
Born in Auckland, New Zealand 1973. Ngati Rangitihi, hapu of Te Arawa and Tuhoe tribes. He has received numerous awards and residencies including the Moet et Chandon Fellowship to Avize, France in 1997, the youngest recipient and the second Maori to receive the award. In 2005 he won the Development Prize in the Wallace Art Awards - the prize a three-month residency with the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York valued at $15,000.
Reuben Paterson has been exhibiting since 1995 and more recently has had numerous prestigious public exhibitions: including the 8th Festival of Pacific Arts Biennale d’Art Contemporian, Noumea, New Caledonia, Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, the International Biennale of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery in Prague the Asia Pacific Triennial in Queensland and the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Australia.
glossary:
- kowhaiwhai: painted rafter panels on the ceiling of the whare nui.
- whare nui: the main house on Maori land. The history Maori lives in the carved, woven and painted panels within the house. The whare nui is seen as a body, where Maori meet, protected. (4)
- piupiu: traditional skirt (noun); as a verb it describes the movement of the garment – to wave about, move to and fro.)
(1). Rhoda Fowler, “The Wharenui that Dad Built,” Te Tuhi, 2001
(2). David Broker, Eyeline magazine concerning Biennale Noumea 2000
(4). Artist Statement (1997) | |
![I Know You Like To Think Your Shit Don’t Stink [Pink Dog] (2004)](/artwork/{3DC18E81-E2F9-4121-A5A8-97CB1C36FD01}.jpeg)
