Museum now permanent home for ‘stunning’ paintings
A quartet of paintings by one of New Zealand’s leading Mā ori artists, recently on display in Waikato Museum as part of a travelling exhibition, will be sticking around in Kirikiriroa.
Pah Paintings 1 – 4 by Star Gossage (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Ruanui), a vibrant artwork consisting of four large oil paintings, has been acquired by the museum with funding from a strategic partnership with Trust Waikato.
‘‘This purchase, for the benefit of Hamilton with no cost to ratepayers, would have been impossible without the generosity of Trust Waikato,’’ museum director Liz Cotton said.
‘‘The work is a stunning example of Star Gossage’s mastery of technique and content, and will significantly enhance the museum’s collection.
Born in Otorohanga in 1973 and now based in Pakiri, Gossage’s work is held in several private and public collections including the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the James Wallace Arts Trust, and Auckland University.
Her use of portraits and figures in the landscape weaves together European art traditions of expressionism and impressionism with the view that people are bound by wairua, whenua, whakapapa and whā nau – spirit, land, ancestry and family.
Trust Waikato chief executive Dennis Turton said it was special to have the paintings find their home in the museum.
‘‘We’re excited that a locally-born Mā ori artist’s work has been added to enrich the collection and are pleased that Trust Waikato’s funding helps enable such artworks to stay in the region to be enjoyed by all.’’
The trust donated its art and taonga collection to Hamilton in 2015 and continued to contribute funding to grow the collection and keep or bring significant artworks to the region.
Pah Paintings 1 – 4 was on display at Waikato Museum as part of Star Gossage: He Tangata The People, which covers 20 years of Gossage’s artistic work and has been on nationwide tour from the NZ Portrait Gallery Te Pū kenga Whakaata. Hamilton was the final stop for the exhibition, which closed yesterday.