Group Exhibition: Fiona Pardington, Gordon Walters, Arnold Manaaki Wilson
Art Basel Hong Kong, 21-26 March 2016

This exhibition was presented by Starkwhite in association with the Walters Estate and with the support of Creative New Zealand.

The exhibition looked back to a moment in New Zealand’s art history - the intersection of modernism and contemporary Maori art – seen in the work of Arnold Manaaki Wilson (1928-2012) and Gordon Walters (1919-1995), and forward with the work of photographer Fiona Pardington (born 1961).

Described by art historian and curator Jonathan Mane-Wheoki as the “Godfather of contemporary Maori art”, Arnold Manaaki Wilson is of Tuhoe, Ngati Tarawhai and Scottish descent. Pioneering abstract artist Gordon Walters is a revered figure whose place in New Zealand’s art history is memorialised in the bi-annual Walters Prize at the Auckland Art Gallery – an award and exhibition modelled on the Turner Prize. Leading contemporary photographer Fiona Pardington is of Ngai Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Ngati Kuhungunu and Scottish descent. Her work was surveyed in a major retrospective titled A Beautiful Hesitation, organised by the City Gallery Wellington and the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki (2015-2016), which also toured to the Christchurch Art Gallery Waipuna O Waiwhetu.

The exhibition responded to Art Basel Hong Kong director Adeline Ooi’s interest in exhibitions that provide historical and cultural contexts for contemporary art from the Asia Pacific region, seen at the fair by visiting curators and collectors.