http://nz-artists.co.nz an independent guide to contemporary New Zealand art Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:14:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://nz-artists.co.nz/artists/wolfgramm/#comment-75 rex armstrong Thu, 01 Sep 2011 01:14:35 +0000 http://nz-artists.co.nz/?page_id=578#comment-75 Artlover you are absolutely right. The work is developed with many layers each imposing another series of lines and movements that never obliterate what is below but seem to intensify and magnify the overall image as they build... the more you look the more you see.... like looking into intense weavings, foliage, structures, roadway systems and buildings, all mixed in with smaller details of carvings, tattoo marks, fish, nets and birds and even urban graffiti. Is this the 'real' look of Auckland's (and new Zealand's) younger Pacific artists or can we now dispense with the term 'Pacific' and say it's New Zealand painting now, unafraid to be 'regional' and reflective of 'here and now'. 'Here' being New Zealand, a place with a huge diversity of cultural influences that can all legitimately and confidently be pulled into our own representation of what we see as an art that is about and from 'us'. With our clamoring for some sort of 'international' look to our work some have tended to dismiss the 'regional' as too restrictive, too small, to give us any standing within the world, but it is our very difference that sets us apart and gives us our distinctive voice. Glen's work is distinctive, different, and regional, but like all good writing that is deeply personal and individual it speaks to the wider audience because it reminds them of what it is to be a single voice, human, touched by another's singularity in this crowded world. Artlover you are absolutely right. The work is developed with many layers each imposing another series of lines and movements that never obliterate what is below but seem to intensify and magnify the overall image as they build… the more you look the more you see…. like looking into intense weavings, foliage, structures, roadway systems and buildings, all mixed in with smaller details of carvings, tattoo marks, fish, nets and birds and even urban graffiti. Is this the ‘real’ look of Auckland’s (and new Zealand’s) younger Pacific artists or can we now dispense with the term ‘Pacific’ and say it’s New Zealand painting now, unafraid to be ‘regional’ and reflective of ‘here and now’. ‘Here’ being New Zealand, a place with a huge diversity of cultural influences that can all legitimately and confidently be pulled into our own representation of what we see as an art that is about and from ‘us’. With our clamoring for some sort of ‘international’ look to our work some have tended to dismiss the ‘regional’ as too restrictive, too small, to give us any standing within the world, but it is our very difference that sets us apart and gives us our distinctive voice. Glen’s work is distinctive, different, and regional, but like all good writing that is deeply personal and individual it speaks to the wider audience because it reminds them of what it is to be a single voice, human, touched by another’s singularity in this crowded world.

]]> http://nz-artists.co.nz/artists/wolfgramm/#comment-16 Artlover Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:11:30 +0000 http://nz-artists.co.nz/?page_id=578#comment-16 I saw the Orex stand with the large Wolfgramm paintings at the Auckland Artfair this weekend. While his work looks good in these images, when you actually see them in their full large scale they are impressive. He seems to achieve a deep 3D layering that actually moves out and off the canvas. I saw the Orex stand with the large Wolfgramm paintings at the Auckland Artfair this weekend. While his work looks good in these images, when you actually see them in their full large scale they are impressive. He seems to achieve a deep 3D layering that actually moves out and off the canvas.

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