Dick Frizzell

Giant Double Moderne Manaia

Giant Double Moderne Manaia by Dick Frizzell

Artwork Detail

In Māori culture, the Manaia is a spiritual guardian and carrier of supernatural powers. Usually depicted as a figure with the head of a bird, body of a man and tail of a fish, the Manaia acts as a provider and protector over sky, earth and sea.

In Dick Frizzell’s modernist-style painting the Manaia is fractured, difficult to make out. The artist frequently employs painting styles of the past. Here, he applies Cubism’s multi-perspective approach to a mythical character which, as a chimera, is an entity already made from different parts.

Title
Giant Double Moderne Manaia
Artist/creator
Dick Frizzell
Production date
1992
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
2200 x 1600 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Patrons of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1996
Accession no
1995/26/1
Copyright
Copying restrictions apply
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

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