Both friend and longtime client of Ryder, Artist Michael Parekowhai is representing New Zealand at the Venice Biennale with a series of works entitled “On first look into Chapman’s Homer”. It’s on right now until the end of October at the Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore. Many visitors to Ryder will recognise Michael’s work adorning our walls as part of an ongoing collaboration.

We were privileged to attend a preview of the latest work at a showing at a warehouse in Henderson, Auckland before it was shipped off to Venice.

But the exhibition features a ‘surprise’ element in Venice for those who had viewed the work earlier .  The intricately-carved Steinway concert grand piano, He Korero Purakau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand river, has been repainted a deep red from its original black colouring.

As Michael said “The artist must always have the last laugh”.

The new colour scheme reflects the flag of the Venice republic (red and gold) and the brass inlay is now gold, a clever feat of alchemy; “Alchemist is an anagram of St Michael”.

Reflecting on the installation in Venice, Michael Parekowhai said he is waiting to see how the work unfolds. “After the event back home in Henderson, the installation is now in its intended location and the emphasis is now on its reception in Venice.”

On first looking into Chapman’s Homer pays tribute to the poem of the same title by the nineteenth-century English Romantic poet John Keats. The work references notions of discovery, exploration, and the cultural interplay between the old and new world.

Music and performance are a central aspect of the installation, of which Parekowhai says, “While the objects in On first looking into Chapman’s Homer are important, much of the real meaning of the work will come through music, which fills space like no object can.”

In addition to the carved Steinway concert grand piano, there are two concert grands fabricated in bronze supporting two cast bronze bulls. On one piano a full-size bull rests on the closed lid (A Peak in Darian) with its massive body suggesting the folding forms of landscape. On the other piano (Chapman’s Homer) the bull is standing firm offering an eye-to-eye challenge for anyone prepared to take a seat at the keyboard. The installation also features a figure from the Kapa Haka series (Officer Taumaha) and two small bronze olive tree saplings (Constitution Hill).

Thanks to Creative New Zealand for some images and words.

Here are some more pictures of the work:

As part of an ongoing series of installations and to celebrate our tenth birthday, Michael has installed his Consolation of Philosophy series at Ryder. Following is a description of the works courtesy of Michael Lett Gallery

THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY 2001

THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY - Piko nei te matenga (when our heads are bowed with woe)

The titles of these works all refer to places in France and Flanders where the Pioneer Maori Battalion made a contribution in World War I. During the Great War most Maori soldiers were not conscripted into the army but ‘volunteered’ for military service. The right to take up arms and fight for God, for King and for country was regarded by many both as a sacred obligation and as an opportunity for adventure. Death on the killing fields of Western Europe was believed to be a ‘just price’ which would secure for Maori the same privileges and recognition that Pakeha already enjoyed at home. This work is also about how Maori initiatives that help to shape the course of mainstream history making have a tendency to get ‘left out’ of popular accounts of the fact. Not many people know that it was Maori skill in engineering and logistics while under prolonged bombardment and gas attack which gave the Anzac troops the nickname, ‘Digger’. However, the use of flower symbolism in this work memorialises much more than just the war exploits of our glorious dead. It is also about re-claiming a pre-Pakeha Maori appreciation of the floral as an authentic badge of masculinity. Our family name ‘Pare-kowhai’ literally means ‘Garland of yellow’ (kowhai of course) and was won for us by a great warrior, who was as much a conqueror in the field of love, as he was a conqueror in the field of war. In this work the ability to express a sensitivity to, and a respect for, ‘flowers’, is seen as a staunch affirmation of manliness made only by true sons and grandsons of ‘real’ men. Cushla Parekowhai