Gregory O'Brien

Welcome to the North Island

Welcome to the North Island by Gregory O'Brien

Artwork Detail

Like most New Zealanders, I was brought up on all kinds of maps: road-maps, illustrated postcard-maps, and class-room maps which divided the country according to land usage. Over the years, my own mental map of New Zealand was shaped largely by the artists and writers who lived (and the work that was produced) in various places the length and breadth of the country. When writing a book for young readers about contemporary art, Welcome to the South Seas, I found the opportunity of mapping the book's contents irresistible. Instead of hydro-dams or rugby parks, the two maps featured artists' birth-places and public art galleries. Here we have Aotearoa/New Zealand as a field of imaginative energy and potential.

Gregory O’Brien to Ron Brownson

4 September 2017

Title
Welcome to the North Island
Artist/creator
Gregory O'Brien
Production date
2004
Medium
gouache on paper
Dimensions
479 x 297 mm
Credit line
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the artist, 2009
Accession no
C2009/1/23/1
Copyright
Copying restrictions apply
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

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