Today's
art post is about a New Zealand artist who died not very long ago – Ralph Hotere (1931-2013).
He
was born in the Hokianga (one of 15
children) and that is where his tangi and funeral were held – a moving occasion
from the TV images I saw.
Hotere
incorporated words into some of his images and also did works in support of
various causes such as his Aramoana series which was to protest the putting of
an aluminium smelter there – the protesters were successful and it didn't
happen.
Quite
a lot of his later works utilised corrugated iron and old timber.
While
his colour range is a bit too dark for me, there is no denying the power of his
work. Hotere almost never spoke about
his work, preferring it to speak for itself.
I've never heard of this artist. I love his work! Sorry he is no longer around to create more. Headed to see what I can find on him, so thanks for turning me on to a new artist!
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