Michael Reed
18 August - 1 October 2000
In July and August this year, local printmaker Michael Reed will transform the
McDougall Contemporary Art Annex with a multi-media installation protesting armed conflict
in the 1990s. The space, which will be activated by screen printed bandages and loose
hanging wallpaper with repetitive designs, constructs a battle zone, symbolising the
civilian casualties of military invasions/evasions and appropriately marking the end of
what has been called the bloodiest Millennium in history.
In order to express his belief that "the admirable aims of the United Nations and
its first world hierarchy are, regrettably, under-pinned by duplicity and self
interest", Reed strategically employs text and colour in his work and emphasises
aspects of the process of printmaking. The 'shopping mall' language of promotion; the
language of termination, the listing of world-wide conflict in the 1990s and the concise
phraseology of the paradoxical operation of the United Nations have been integrated into
Reed's works. The limited palette of black, white and red is symbolic of truth and blood
and also alludes to the earliest printing pigments and the development of print for both
protest and propaganda. Reed has also adapted elements of indigenous and Hispanic culture
into the design for his wallpaper works. He was influenced by the cut-out, a Mexican folk
art practice, and the festivities of the Mexican Day of the Dead, Dia de Muertos, which
incorporates older indigenous traditions. A daisy-chain series of silk-screen stencils,
with the recurring form of the skeleton, makes an uncomfortable reference to the swastika
and the magnitude of the casualties of all wars, both global and civil. Reed's banner
works - horizontal rows of silk screen-printed bandages - present compelling and emotive
"binding statements" about the impact of war. The blood red statements summarise
Reed's major concerns in a bold and uncompromising way, reinforced by the clarity of the
typeface. The cotton crepe bandages are pinned to the wall (a metaphor for
uncompromisingly pinning down the facts) and pulled taut to the point of fraying,
symbolising the extent to which these printed facts stretch credibility.
Michael Reed was born in Christchurch in 1950. He completed a Diploma of Fine Arts
(Printmaking) at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury in 1969 and a
Diploma of Teaching in 1972. Reed has received numerous awards since 1970, including the
Jean Herbison Award in 1998/99 and a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council in
1991. His artwork is held in both public and private collections in New Zealand and
private collections overseas, and he has participated in many group exhibitions including
Aotearoa to Antwerp, (1998), State Bank of Belgium, Belgium; Part of the Furniture,
(1997), Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch; Print and Paper, (1993) Kurashiki
Public Art Gallery, Kurashiki, Japan and McDougall Contemporary Art Annex, Christchurch
and Five New Zealand Printmakers, (1991), Memphis College of Art, Memphis, USA. Reed
currently teaches printmaking at the Christchurch Polytechnic.
Belinda Jones
This exhibition was held at the Robert McDougall Contemporary Art Annex in the Arts Centre.
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