Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, October 3, 2023
Hamilton is busy entertaining the children during the school holidays, and Waikato Museum is definitively one of the most preferred destinations for young and curious minds. A perfect excuse to spend the day at the Museum is a vibrant display of artworks by the legendary master of Māori art, and observe the details that make him a legend in the art world.
Spanning a monumental six decades, ‘Toi Koru: Sandy Adsett’ is the first major survey exhibition of paintings by Māori artist Sandy Adsett, regarded as a master of colour and kowhaiwhai (traditional Māori pattern design). The exhibition is now open at Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato from Friday, September 29, 2023; entry is free.
Dr Sandy Adsett (Ngaati Kahungunu, Ngaati Paahauwera) is one of his generation’s most influential contemporary artists, with a bold abstract style that has given a new voice to customary approaches to Māori art. Dr Adsett is also highly regarded for his lifelong contributions as an educator, curator, and arts administrator.
About the Exhibition
‘Toi Koru: Sandy Adsett’ has been developed by ‘Pātaka Art + Museum’ and is on tour nationwide. It features artworks from major public collections, including the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, as well as a new series of paintings created by Dr Adsett, especially for the exhibition.
“Over the last sixty years Sandy Adsett has had a hugely successful career as an artist in Aotearoa and internationally, and yet Toi Koru: Sandy Adsett will be only his third solo exhibition. It is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the significant contribution Sandy has made to contemporary art in Aotearoa New Zealand,” said Liz Cotton, Director of Museum and Arts, Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato.
She said, “Sandy is recognised as a true exponent of merging traditional mahi toi (Māori artwork) with contemporary Western art practices. It is thrilling to have our gallery filled with his bold, vibrant, and innovative works.”
The paintings in the exhibition trace the important moments in Dr Adsett’s career, from the establishment of the contemporary Māori art movement in the 1960s to his intergenerational influence as an educator and advocate.
About the artist
Dr Adsett’s immense career has seen him train many celebrated Māori artists, while his influence and artwork can be found across Aotearoa New Zealand in meeting houses, churches, art museums, government and corporate venues, and private collections.
A renowned artist, he hails from Ngati Porou where his inspiration is mainly drawn from.
Born in Wairoa in 1939, Sandy Adsett attended Raupunga Native School where he first witnessed kowhaiwhai painted on an old whare. He received his formal art training from renowned Ngaati Porou master carver Pine Taiapa (1901-1972) as part of the Department of Education’s Art in Schools itinerant teachers training programme of the 1950s and 1960s.
Dr Adsett then went on to become one of the co-founders of Te Toihoukura School of Māori Visual Arts in Gisborne in the 1990s and was the principal tutor at Toimairangi School of Māori Art in Hawkes Bay from 2003 to 2021, named as adjunct professor by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa for his contribution to art education and the Māori community.
In 2005, Dr Adsett was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to art. He was presented with the Creative New Zealand Te Waka Toi Supreme Award Te Tohu Aroha mo Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikahu in 2014 and was honoured as an Arts Foundation Icon in 2020.
The retrospective exhibition Toi Koru: Sandy Adsett is on display at Waikato Museum until 10 March 2024, Open daily from 10 am to 5 pm and entry is free.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
