Robert Ellis: Turangawaewae | A Place to Stand

Robert Ellis: Turangawaewae | A Place to Stand
Robert Ellis
Megalopolis 1966
The Fletcher Trust, Auckland

Exhibition Details

Robert Ellis was born in 1929 in Northampton, England. From 1949 to 1952 he studied at London's Royal College of Art, arriving in New Zealand in 1957 to be Senior Lecturer at The University of Auckland Elam School of Fine Arts, where he taught until 1994 when he retired as Emeritus Professor Robert Ellis.

During the 1960s, Ellis created his Motorway City series in response to the topographic transformation made to inner city Auckland by the construction of a motorway network stretching across the isthmus. These arteries mapping urban transport symbolise new ways of city life.

Robert Ellis has long considered his art and life in Aotearoa New Zealand as entirely bicultural and he was one of the first Pākehā artists of his generation to affirm this perspective. During the 1970s and 1980s his focus shifted to the rural community of his family's marae at Te Rāwhiti in the Bay of Islands. Over many years he participated in the restoration of the Te Rāwhiti Marae and contributed to the whānau community, learning from local elders.

During the 1990s and 2000s, the symbolism in Robert Ellis's painting developed further by the placement of diverse emblems from different cultures into visual conversations. Motifs and signs from Māori and Pākehā traditions were juxtaposed in ways not previously seen in New Zealand art.

Date
Curated by
Ron Brownson
Location
Ground level
Cost
Free entry

Related Artworks

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Not on display

Rakaumangamanga Hanuere
Rakaumangamanga Hanuere

Robert Ellis

Production date
1981
Medium
ink, gouache, and collage on paper
Size (h x w)
760 x 575 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Chartwell Gift Collection, 2014
Accession no
2014/8/6
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Motorways
Motorways

Robert Ellis

Production date
1969
Medium
screenprint
Size (h x w)
558 x 455 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1970
Accession no
1970/25/1/7
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Urban city
Urban city

Robert Ellis

Production date
1965
Medium
oil and acrylic on canvas
Size (h x w)
1676 x 1625 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1965
Accession no
1965/24/1
View Artwork

Not on display

Motorway/City
Motorway/City

Robert Ellis

Production date
1969
Medium
oil on board
Size (h x w)
1219 x 1054 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1969
Accession no
1969/14
View Artwork

Not on display

Rakaumangamanga Turangawaewae 29 Maehe 1982
Rakaumangamanga Turangawaewae 29 Maehe 1982

Robert Ellis

Production date
1982
Medium
ink on paper
Size (h x w)
785 x 575 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Chartwell Gift Collection, 2014
Accession no
2014/8/5
View Artwork

Not on display

Te Rawhiti
Te Rawhiti

Robert Ellis

Production date
1975
Medium
woodcut
Size (h x w)
585 x 670 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1980
Accession no
1980/44/1
View Artwork

Not on display

Te Rawhiti II
Te Rawhiti II

Robert Ellis

Production date
1974
Medium
oil on board
Size (h x w)
1240 x 1242 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Chartwell Gift Collection, 2014
Accession no
2014/8/4
View Artwork

Not on display

Te Rawhiti III
Te Rawhiti III

Robert Ellis

Production date
1974
Medium
oil on hardboard
Size (h x w)
1220 x 1220 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1974
Accession no
1974/32
View Artwork

Not on display

Turangawaewae Maehe 1983
Turangawaewae Maehe 1983

Robert Ellis

Production date
Mar 1983
Medium
acrylic on canvas
Size (h x w)
1720 x 4420 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Friends of the Auckland Art Gallery to celebrate their 60th anniversary, 2014
Accession no
2014/4