Colin McCahon / 14 October - 7 November 2008

Colin McCahon is considered one of New Zealand's most reputable modernist painters. He has played a major role in establishing an identity for New Zealand art which is distinct from international trends and has subsequently become an inspirational model for successive generations of New Zealand artists. John Leech Gallery is pleased to present Colin McCahon, an exhibition of exemplary paintings spanning three decades of the artist's career.

The gallery is also thrilled to be able to offer one of McCahon's most significant works, Urewera Triptych (1975). Consisting of three large unstretched canvas panels, this painting was conceived as a preparatory work for the now famous Urewera Mural (1975). McCahon was commissioned, in the early 1970s, to create a mural specifically for the visitor centre at the Urewera National Park in the Gisborne region. In 1997 the finished painting became headline news when it was stolen from the Department of Conservation headquarters at Lake Waikeremoana and returned fifteen months later. The theft was a political protest and emphasized Tuhoe grievances over land and sovereignty. The painting addresses the Urewera region's cultural significance and centrality to Tuhoe history. In the preparatory work similar themes are adhered to and it is said that McCahon favored this piece over the finished canvas. Visitors to John Leech Gallery can judge for themselves since the Urewera Mural (1975) can be viewed next door at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki where it is currently on loan from the department of conservation as part of the Shifting Light Exhibition (concluding 12 April 2009).

Across the triptych the names of Maori prophets Te Kooti and Rua Kenana and that of the local iwi Tuhoe are rendered in large white text. The direct use of text reflects McCahon’s observation of the New Zealand landscape. "The sign painting of roadside stalls is often talked about by commentators as an indication of the genesis of his style of graphics. But this too was a deflection of intent by Colin in response to persistent questioners. In fact, the source of this idea was the religious graffiti once common throughout New Zealand. Taking the form of Bible texts of slogans such as 'Jesus Saves', these messages were emblazoned in large letters on walls, overhead bridges, and the natural blackboards of rock faces." (William McCahon, 'A letter Home' in Bloem & Browne, Colin McCahon: A Question of Faith, Amsterdam: Stedilijk Museum and Nelson: Craig Potton Publishing, 2002, p16)

As an artist, McCahon was truly experimental, navigating a wide range of artistic styles over the years from regional realism and cubism to abstraction and abstract expressionism and these influences are very much represented in the group of works on display. Particularly evident is the bold formal style for which McCahon is renowned where the language of landscape is reduced to simple yet sensuous geomorphic forms found in works such as Untitled (Northland), 1962 and Untitled (Landscape), 1963. Northland became the subject of several major series - most notably the Northland Panels, 1958 which is now held in the collection of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand.  In Untitled (Northland), 1962, the chief formal interest comes from exploiting the relationship between cloud and hill forms. Works from this period can also be seen as a precursor to such series as the Landscape Theme and Variation paintings from 1963, where the curved semi-circular hills become a recurring symbol of both the landscape and Christ.

Throughout McCahon's oeuvre there is a continual reference to the landscape which is often enlisted as a spiritual metaphor. "Once more it states my interest in landscape as a symbol of place and also for the human condition. It is not so much a portrait of a place as such but is a memory of a time and experience of a particular place ... the actual valley I saw was like a geological diagram, only overlaid with trees and farms. In my painting all this has been swept aside to uncover the structure of the land." (Colin McCahon quoted in Introducing Our New Zealand Artists: Colin McCahon, Betts and Ritchie 1985.)