Morrinsville Gallery, Waikato
29 July – 21 September
On Paper: Drawings from The Arts House Trust Collection
Superfluous (Wednesday), (2014) Marita Hewitt
On Paper showcases a selection of works on paper from The Arts House Trust collection, created using graphic and paint media. Spanning more than seventy years of New Zealand art, this exhibition highlights the breadth and diversity of the Trust’s archive. The featured works—primarily drawings and watercolours—are grouped into three key themes: mid-20th century art, drawings by sculptors, and contemporary practice.
The mid-20th century selection captures observations of daily life, with subjects ranging from portraiture and figure studies to depictions of local industry. These works reflect a documentary impulse, preserving a sense of time and place. A notable example is Tail Gunner (c.1940) by Christopher Perkins, which portrays a crew member stationed in a military aircraft, defending the rear of the plane. The image powerfully conveys the immediacy and tension of wartime experience.
Drawings by sculptors often bear traces of their three-dimensional thinking, transposed onto the flat surface of paper. In Untitled (1992), Marté Szirmay’s use of tonal rendering gives her forms a striking sense of mass and volume, evoking the presence of actual sculpture. Such works often serve dual roles—as both conceptual studies and artworks in their own right. Chris Booth’s Working Drawing (1986) is a case in point: part technical blueprint, part visual landscape, it outlines a sculptural installation while also depicting a real rooftop scene overlooking the sea.
In contemporary practice, drawing has taken on a renewed significance. No longer seen solely as preparatory, it is embraced as a primary mode of expression—often central to an artist’s identity. Contemporary works on paper are marked by their immediacy and material honesty, where even a single gesture or brushstroke is valued as complete. For many of the artists in this selection, working on paper represents a constant thread—an enduring element of their creative process.
On Paper reveals the enduring power and versatility of works on paper across generations. From historical documentation to conceptual exploration and contemporary expression, the exhibition affirms that drawing and painting on paper are not merely ancillary forms but vital practices in their own right— rich with texture, thought, and artistic innovation.
Chris Booth, Mark Braunias, Kushana Bush, Derrick Cherrie, Tony De Latour, Judith Eastgate, Luise Fong, Steve Galpin, Michael Harrison, Marita Hewitt, Dennis Knight Turner, Eric Lee-Johnson, Sam Mitchell, Christopher Perkins, Aleksandra Petrovic, Michael Prosee, William Sutton, Marté Szirmay, Lorene Taurerewa, Francis Upritchard, Terry Urbahn.