Ralph Hotere

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.

Ralph Hotere was awarded the Order of New Zealand in the New Year Honours

Being awarded the Order of New Zealand is a big deal in NZ terms.  Only 20 living people at any one time can hold the order.  While it doesn’t carry a title it is New Zealand’s top honour.

Ralph Hotere is, of course, one of New Zealand’s best known and loved artists.  His works mostly had biographical or political origins.  Much of it has a dark palette.  Some of the ones I like include:

 

"There are very few things I can say about my work that are better than saying nothing." - Ralph Hotere 


To see another post about New Zealand art click here 

The other current holders of the honour are (in order of appointment):

Lady Blundell

Dame Miriam Dell

Margaret Mahy

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Sir Miles Warren

Jim Bolger

Ken Douglas

Cliff Whiting

Mike Moore

Cardinal Thomas Williams

Jonathan Hunt

Sir Lloyd Geering

Sir Kenneth Keith

Sir Don McKinnon

Sir Murray Halberg

Helen Clark

Sir Bob Charles

Ralph Hotere takes one of the spots left vacant as a result of the deaths of Ivan Lichter, Dame Doreen Blumhardt and Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan.  I didn’t even know who 2 of these people were!  Talk about flying below the radar – Ivan Lichter was a surgeon specialising in palliative care and Dame Doreen was a potter and art educator.