
Ralph Hotere Black Painting 1: Red on Black 1968-1969. brolite lacquer on hardboard. Govett-Brewster Collection. Image courtesy of the Hotere Foundation Trust
Exhibition
22 Sep — 3 Dec 2017
Ralph Hotere: Black Paintings 1–7
Ralph Hotere’s Black Paintings (1968–69) were the first works acquired for the Govett-Brewster Collection in the years preceding the opening of the museum in 1970.#ralphhotere #govettbrewster #lenlyecentre #govettbrewstercollection
Ralph Hotere’s Black Paintings (1968–69) remain at the cutting-edge of minimal geometric abstraction painting produced in Aotearoa New Zealand and equally foreground conversations about the interplay between Māori aesthetics and consciousness and European cultural ideals and art practices.
It’s a timely celebration of Hotere’s Black Paintings as the final suite in this series (1973) from the Christchurch Art Gallery collection is currently on display in the influential festival exhibition ‘documenta’ in Kassel, Germany – putting the work back on a world stage.