Exquisite Mysteries

Works by Malcolm Harrison
2 May - 1 June 1997

Nineteen handmade tapestry works, with all the delicacy, complexity, and rich colour of medieval illuminated manuscripts, will adorn the walls of the McDougall Art Annex during May in an examination of the New Zealand psyche by Wellington fibre artist Malcolm Harrison.

No stranger to the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Harrison held, in 1987, an exhibition of South American inspired doll-like figures entitled The Family, and in 1994 his heroically fantastical `Magic Picture-book' was one of the highlights of the extremely successful Child's Play at the McDougall Art Annex.

The title of Exquisite Mysteries reflects Harrison's incredulity at the structure and operation of New Zealand society, and he uses whimsical and often playfully satirical scenarios to send up and re-evaluate our sense of cultural identity. Attacking the much-publicised myth of a Kiwianically cuddly society, full of blokes and buzzy bees, the artist contends that it is not a depiction which holds true when related to the lives of most New Zealanders. More real perhaps, is the possibility that we may soon be smothered under our own political correctness, a sinister development which Harrison believes;'takes the life and guts out of everything', smoothing out what have the potential to be our most revealing and refreshing characteristics.

Dismissing the well -recognised `tall poppy syndrome', Harrison believes the greatest threat we face in New Zealand is that of `the long knives' which, hidden and anonymous, reach out to stab in the back anything which is different and unusual. This is work that rewards the second look - it contains many different layers that offer a multitude of possible interpretations, dependent on the experience, background and mindset each viewer brings.

Some of the works find their source in the red tape of political and bureaucratic life. `It Looks Like Upside-Down to Me' explores the ways in which different cultures view one another and is related to Harrison's recent experience in making two large works for the new Galleria in Parliament House. Over one thousand people were involved in the project, and despite frustration at official hold-ups and machinations, Harrison received new insights into the varied, and often polemic approaches any group of people can bring to a single work.

The format of these elegantly slim horizontal works suggests a series of narratives rather than landscapes, and the intimate scale is conducive to such story-telling. Following the movement of the Western eye, the canvas, cotton and wool constructions read from left to right, gradually unfolding like the lines of a poem as you move around the room.

This exhibition was held at the Robert McDougall Contemporary Art Annex in the Arts Centre.