The Desire Of The Line: Ralph Hotere Figurative Works

Description

A simple and elegant book on the line drawings and paintings of women which Hotere has produced from 1959 through to the late 1990s. The works fall into three groups, the largest of which is from the Woman series, sensual, beautiful images, mostly nudes, making superb use of line. Carnival is a small group of works on paper depicting the annual carnival in Avignon and Nice; the Song Cycle works were originally drawn for a stage performance in 1975. The drawings are an aspect of Hotere's work that is little known. They are captivating and also richly varied; they contrast vividly with the large abstract works for which Hotere is so widely acclaimed. First published October 2005.

Author description

Kriselle Baker is an art historian who recently completed a highly regarded thesis on the artist Ralph Hotere: "Ralph Hotere: the Vence paintings: Sangro, Polaris, Algerie". She was born in 1960 in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, and completed a BA in Russian and Japanese at The University of Auckland. She spent the next decade living in Tokyo and Sydney before returning to Auckland to complete her MA in Art History at Elam, University of Auckland. She is currently writing her PhD thesis, also on the work of Ralph Hotere, focusing on the use of text in his art. She is also compiling a digital catalogue raisonne of Hotere's works. Ralph Hotere, of Maori heritage, is one of New Zealand's foremost contemporary artists. Although his work is predominantly abstract it invariably carries a powerful political statement in the New Zealand context.