McNamara T.J, VIEWERS ARE PART OF THE PROCESS – NEW ZEALAND HERALD, Arts on Monday, Mon 13 August 2001
A peek at UNITEC Design Lecturer, Jane Henzell reveals clever, complex, loaded imagery disguised in a veil of seductive simplicity. Working on wallpaper supports, Art never exists in void. It is a two way process. Viewers who participate help to create the phenomenon. In Remuera the young artist of the Elam School of Fine Arts are showing paintings and installations of the shopping area. The students are competing for a prize but the real winners are the shoppers who may be startled (not much) or soothed (a good deal) by this participatory process.
The award was divided between Kiran McKinnon for painting and Jill Sorensen for a window installation.
There is another kind of participation apparent in the fascinating display about the work of Japanese architect Toyo Ito at Artspace in Karanghape Rd. Here the viewer takes part in decisions and debates about architecture.
In the main gallery four projectors cast computer-generated drawings onto a large screen. The constantly moving images all suggest possibilities for the oraganisation of space. In one of the smaller rooms, television monitors show discussion about the architects work and the problems of building in a city. In the third room we watch the building of a large structure designed by the architect. We can see it rise floor by floor and appreciate both the functionality and rhythmic beauty of the titled support columns inspired by Tatlin's great monument that are Ito's trade mark.
The most complex and lively participation this week is offered by the grand one man show by Robert McLeod at the Judith Anderson Gallery where we can meet Rapunzel , Mutant Mickey , Joseph and other large paintings.
These swooping, subtle paintings full of cut-out, coupling shapes are full of wild energy, energy of paint as well as energy of thought. And we can part all of it if we surrender to the work and let our eye follow the intricate adventures that the shapes and textures offer.
Such journeys for the eye offer much that is joyous and funny : Mickey's big ears grafted onto a long, caressing tongue that reaches across Conversation to link excited shapes and hectic reds with some pale and relaxing forms on the other side of the work. It is a conversation between lively emotion and quiet calm, although the calm forms have teeth.
All is not sweetness and light in these big, intricate paintings. There is a dark centre to the painting Joseph's Dark Years.
The centre is collaged with spiky form and a long wound laced tight but leaving paint standing proud like scar tissue. This expands outward to happier, more lyric forms but these are hampered by chains linked to pots and pans. These are real chains but swooping in, separate from the main body of the work, comes a red form delicately holding a brush. It is like the hand of God bringing the gift of painting to complex life alongside.
This delicate gesture with a brush is also found in Hooligan , which elsewhere runs riot with violent highways and byways, crutches and groins and the Lord knows what. All these shapes have their origin in a couple of forms at the top right which are shot full of holes like a sign on a back road when the boys with the 22s have passed.
These big confident paintings are the impressive work of a mature artist with a style unique in New Zealand charging top gear.
The exhibition is shared by Jane Henzell who also uses paint in big gestures but on conventional rectangles that lack the power of McLeod's inventive shapes. Her gestures suggest flowers, petals, pistils and stamens. The effect is we stand back and admire rather than getting involved.
At Oedipus Rex we can participate in the nostalgia evoked by the work of Paul Chapman because he consistently uses an iconic figure that is everybody's grandmother. She is seen against a bright green background that plays witty games about Granny Smith apples. She is also seen on teaspoons that are like all the things your grandmother collected.
Although this amusing, clever show is called Attack of the 50 ft Granny it is not so much satirical as nostalgic fun.