Race Relations. 2nd panel
Emily Karaka, Artist
About the Work
'The
painting
of
Emily
Karaka
is
cross-cultural.
Her
paintings
have
a
strong
neo-expressionist
quality
not
unlike
Philip
Clairmont
or
Allen
Maddox.
Her
debt
to
McCahon
is
acknowledged
in
her
painting
Race
Relations
Triptych,
1988,
where
his
name
is
scrawled
in
red
under
a
skeleton
figure
made
of
ox
bones.
The
sense
of
oppression
and
of
being
a
victim
comes
through
in
this
panel.
The
variant
of
McCahon’s
‘I
Am’
lettering
at
the
right
appears
as
a
tribute
to
McCahon
and
as
a
criticism
of
Christianity,
also
acknowledged
in
the
cross-shape
of
the
central
section.
Karaka
takes
signs
of
anger
–
gesture,
symbols
and
words
–
from
European
art
to
protest
against
values
oppressive
to
Māori
people,
in
her
case
there
is
more
of
an
emotional
response
to
the
forms
and
meanings
of
traditional
Māori
art.'
Michael Dunn, New Zealand Painting: A Concise History, p.193
Michael Dunn, New Zealand Painting: A Concise History, p.193
Measurements
2130 x 3600mm
Media
oil paint and mixed media
Description
triptych
Credit Line
Collection of the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui. Purchased, 1992.
Collection Type
Permanent collection
Acquisition Date
11 Mar 1992