Overview
Gordon Walters (1919-95) was a pioneer of modernist abstraction
in New Zealand. This painter showed an unflinching commitment to
abstraction at a time when landscape was the norm. Walters is best
known for his Koru works, whose unique stylisation of the
Maori koru motif developed out of a phase of experimentation in the
1950s. The exhibition Gordon Walters: Prints + Design
considers his printmaking and graphic design work as integral to
his project.
Walters' earliest training was in commercial art, and for many
years he worked at the Government Printing Office in Wellington.
This background prepared him to successfully adapt his ideas to a
variety of design contexts. The exhibition includes Walters'
remarkable designs for such publications as Landfall,
Ascent and Contemporary Maori Writing, along with
a selection of Walters' page art for the magazine Te Ao Hou/The
New World. This magazine, which reflects a key moment in New
Zealand's bicultural history, was published by the Department of
Maori Affairs and from 1962 to 1965 was edited by Walters' wife
Margaret Orbell. A selection of works on paper from the late 1950s
show how Walters drew on his painting in his designs for Te Ao
Hou, publishing these images at a time when he was not
exhibiting his paintings.
Walters' adoption of printmaking was part of a burgeoning
interest in the medium in the late 1960s and 1970s. Printmaking
enabled Walters' to bring his work to a wider audience, and the
relatively new medium of screenprinting was perfectly suited to his
hard-edged style. Indeed, Walters' screenprints are a highpoint in
the medium in New Zealand. Printmaker Mervyn Williams, himself a
painter, produced most of Walters' prints and ensured that they
were realised to the artist's exacting standards. In addition to
the prints, the exhibition includes collages, colour studies and
camera-ready artwork, showing the intensive process by which
Walters' developed his prints. "I find there is more work in all
this than there is in doing a painting", he wrote in 1977.
Walters' use of Maori motifs has been the subject of much
debate. His koru design for the New Zealand Film Commission has an
important place in this exhibition. The logo, which was
commissioned in 1979 and remains in use, has been enormously
influential on New Zealand graphic design. As designer Michael
Smythe wrote to Walters in 1983. "I believe you have essentially
solved the problem of representing New Zealand's identity." Walters
later remarked, "It seems that my approach is useful to graphic
designers. I find it interesting that in spite of all the
criticism, it is my reinterpretation of the [koru] motif which has
been taken up and used to good effect."curated by William
McAloon. also includes Walters' 1984 artist's book A
Geometric Order. A collaboration with his friend, the painter
Richard Killeen, its images were developed through a series of
collages and working studies, a selection of which offer unique
insight into Walters' working process.
Organised and presented by the Adam Art Gallery, Victoria
University of Wellington. Was