Gordon Walters | Art Basel Hong Kong 2014
15.05 - 18.05
In partnership with the Walters Estate, Starkwhite will present pioneer abstract artist Gordon Walters at Art Basel Hong Kong from 15 -18 May 2014. The gallery will also present a large-scale, commissioned work by Perth-based artist Rebecca Baumann in the Encounters section of the fair, which has been curated by Yuko Hasegawa.
Gordon Walters (1919-1995) is best known for his paintings employing the koru, the curving bulb form from Maori moko and kowhaiwhai rafter patterns. He Mondrian-ised the koru, straightening and regimenting its scroll-like forms, taking it from organic to strictly geometric. The exhibition at Art Basel Hong Kong will present koru paintings from 1956 – 1983, along with Chrysanthemum (1944), which is considered to be one of his most important early works.
Walters is a revered figure in New Zealand, recognised for a long and productive career spanning four decades. The Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki presented a retrospective exhibition his work in 1983 and a survey exhibition Parallel Lines in 1994, and he has been included in many survey shows, including A Very Peculiar Practice: Aspects of Recent New Zealand Art at the City Gallery, Wellington. Walters is represented in the country’s major public collections and his place in our art history is also memorialised in the bi-annual Walters Prize exhibition and award at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.
However, aside from Australia where his work has been seen in Headlands: thinking through New Zealand Art at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (1992) and the 5th Asia Pacific Triennial at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (2006-2007), Walters’ work has not found its way onto the international stage. This provides an opportunity for an important initiative by Starkwhite and the Walters Estate – to stage a solo exhibition of his paintings at one of the world’s greatest art fairs where it will be seen by international curators, exhibition makers and influential collectors. It will be a step towards granting Walters the international recognition he so richly deserves.
Starkwhite’s presentation at Art Basel Hong Kong is with the support of Creative New Zealand.
Please contact the gallery for further information and images.