Gordon Walters: Koru

15 January - 28 February 2016

Free entry

Koru shows how one artist combined a customary Maaori symbol with European abstraction in seemingly endless ways.

Developed as part of Te Papa’s domestic touring programme, Gordon Walters: Koru features screen prints and paintings alongside preparatory studies and illustrations, and gives an insight into Walters’ approach not only as a painter and printmaker, but as a graphic designer.

The exhibition illustrates how the artist created his screen-prints from the Koru series, with colour studies and printing instructions giving an insight into his work Kura.

Also included are examples of Walters’ graphic design, including covers for Te Ao Hou magazine from the 1960s, and his enduring work on the New Zealand Film Commission logo from 1979, which is still in use today.

Walters’ obsession with the koru began early. As a boy, he spent hours exploring the Maaori and Pacific works at the Dominion Museum, Te Papa’s predecessor.

For Maaori, the koru symbolises new life and has a special place in customary art. Its use by non-Maaori artists like Walters has been hotly debated. Even so, this series has found its own special place in the hearts and minds of many New Zealanders.

Image: Gordon Walters, Karakia, 1977, acrylic and PVA paint on canvas. Te Papa (1978-0019-1).