John Pule’s exhibition Hauaga (Arrivals), opening at City Gallery Wellington on May 29, is causing ripples right across the world.

This major survey show, initiated by City Gallery, is John Pule’s first solo show in a major public art gallery, and has drawn international interest. In a recent interview, Cambridge University professor and Pacific art and culture expert Nicholas Thomas said “John is possibly the most important, living, contemporary Pacific artist. His work has a range and accomplishment that I think very few other practitioners match”

City Gallery Director Paula Savage agrees. “We are delighted to be able to launch this exhibition, which is of major significance not just to New Zealand, but internationally. John is a major figure in contemporary New Zealand art, and we are honoured to be able to bring his work together on this scale for the first time.”

A major highlight of the exhibition is the inclusion of some of Pule’s greatest works on paper, which include both his images and text. These works show Pule’s strengths as a poet as well as a painter, asking to be read as well as viewed.

John Pule’s art has been included in major exhibitions in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Major collections of his work are held at the Queensland Art Gallery and as far a field as the National Gallery of Scotland. In 2004 Pule was honoured with the prestigious Laureate Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.

Image credit
John Pule, Restless Spirit (page iv), 2000. Courtesy of the artist and PaperGraphica.