Art of the Week
There is a revival of interest in painting the New Zealand landscape but, unlike the sweetness and light that were characteristic of the many view paintings of a generation ago, recent aspects of this genre have been sombre and weighty. The hills and beaches of the West Coast near Auckland have become a frequent subject, not the surfers, SUVs, umbrellas and lifesavers, but the bare and rocky hills that line the coast near the sand. What is captured here is the abrupt steepness and solemn weight of the mountainous shapes arising from the flats and the meandering of streams running to the sea. The moody atmosphere of bare rock, the fading light of evening and the ominous oncoming rain are characterised very powerfully in this painting. It is an alternative truth to the happy, crowded beaches.