John Reynolds | WalkWithMe…
30 August – 24 September, 2016
‘Colin McCahon lost his mind in the palm grove of Sydney’s Botanical Garden’, according to cinematographer Leon Narbey in conversation with writer Martin Edmond, following their chance encounter with the artist near the corner of K Rd and Ponsonby Rd, sometime in the mid-1980s. In his book Dark Night, Edmond went on to describe McCahon on that day as ‘a man in a hurry who nevertheless had nowhere to go. His eyes in particular were both haunting and haunted’.
In 1984 McCahon tragically went missing in the Botanical Gardens on the eve of the launch of his Sydney Biennale satellite retrospective I Will Need Words. He was found the next day disoriented and with no identification, five kilometers away in Centennial Park.
With this new project, WalkWithMe… John Reynolds speculates on the possible nature of those missing hours. Leaning on the psychogeography of Edmond’s rich text, Reynolds compiles across a variety of mediums,
a pedestrian philosophy of walking, a slow tracking of the fleeting imagery of the urban spectacle, a rummaging of hallucinations, visions and deliriums. Part missing persons archive, part pilgrimage, part art historical vagabondage. Reynolds wanders with accelerations and slowings across Wooloomooloo and Grey Lynn in a plaintive exhortation to WalkWithMe… Alone, together.
John Reynolds lives and works in Auckland. Solo shows include: Manifesto, Tauranga Art Gallery (2015); Epistamadolgies, Auckland Art Gallery (2015); Blutopia, Starkwhite (2014); Vagabondage, Starkwhite (2013); The Art of War, ART HK, the international art fair of Hong Kong (2010); NOMADOLOGY [loitering with intent], Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (2010); 1001 Nights, The Amory Show, New York (2010); Table of Dynasties, ART HK, the international art fair of Hong Kong (2009); John Reynolds: Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas, a collaboration between the artist and actor/director Geraldine Brophy, Christchurch Art Gallery (2008); Speaking Truth to Power, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland University (2007); HEVN: NOT TO SCALE, curated by Sophie McIntyre, Adam Gallery Victoria University, Wellington (2002): and From K Road to Kingdom Come, curated by Gregory Burke and Robert Leonard, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (2001).
Representation in recent group exhibitions include: ANZAC Centenary Print Portfolio, Parliament House, Canberra (2016); Julian Dashper & Friends, curated by Robert Leonard, City Gallery Wellington (2015); Lines across the ocean, MOCA, Santiago (2013); Kermadec, Maritime Museum, Auckland & City Gallery Wellington (2012); One Hand Read, presented in a three-person show at Art Los Angeles Contemporary, the international art fair of Los Angeles (2010); Dorothy Napangardi / John Reynolds, curated by Robert Leonard, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2009); Walters Prize Exhibition, Auckland Art Gallery (2008); Zones of Conflict, 15th Biennale of Sydney (his work Cloud was commissioned for the entrance hall of the Art Gallery of New South Wales), curated by Charles Merewether (2006); 54321: Auckland Artists Projects, curated by Ngahiraka Mason, Auckland Art Gallery (2006); and Nine Lives: The Chartwell Collection, curated by Robert Leonard, Auckland Art Gallery (2003).
Reynolds is also the recipient of a Laureate Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, a member of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Foundation and the subject of Questions for Mr Reynolds, a TV documentary produced by Shirley Horrocks.