Anchor Me
30 September, 2014 - 23 November, 2014
Little Gallery
Colin McCahon, Evening Muriwai (1971), Oil on paper
Let the salt spray lash
The shivering skin
Where the green waves crash
And the whirlpools spin
Anchor me
Anchor Me, The Mutton Birds, 1993
Anchor Me displays an eclectic selection of artworks by prominent and contemporary artists with the common theme of the sea and its importance to New Zealand life. Inspired by the 1994 song ‘Anchor Me’, by iconic Kiwi band The Mutton Birds, Anchor Me features works by Colin McCahon, Pat Hanly, Simon Kaan, Marc Blake, Betty Curnow, Quentin McFarlane, Sam Rountree-Williams, and Richard Mathieson.
From the waka voyage of Kupe from Hawaiki, to the Victorian fixation on the notion of the Sublime in nature, to the beach culture of today, the sea has always been an integral part of New Zealand life. The long and narrow form of Aotearoa means that you can never be more than 120 kilometres from the sea, and this has helped define the character of our nation. The waters surrounding our country are used as a source of food, a place to swim, and as a means of transportation. Anchor Me explores our relationship with the sea and the moods and emotions it evokes within us, particularly those of isolation and vulnerability, but also those of joy and playfulness.
The bodies of water that separate us from the rest of the world continue to be a vital source of inspiration for musicians and visual artists alike. In ‘Anchor Me’, Don McGlashan compares the power and turbulence of the sea to that of love. The song was recorded in 1993 and released on Virgin Records, then re-recorded in 2005 by a selection of New Zealand artists in memory of the 1985 bombing of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior. While campaigning against French nuclear testing the Rainbow Warrior was sunk in Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour by two explosives planted by French agents, killing Greenpeace photographer and crew member Fernando Pereira. Many artists responded to the tragedy, including painter and anti-nuclear activist Pat Hanly, whose 1985 painting The Fire This Time depicts the blast. Artists’ efforts to express their views on threats to the sea highlight the sense of duty New Zealanders feel to protect and conserve their natural surroundings.
Curated by Arts Trust Art History Intern Phoebe Driver