Metamorphosis - Historical Works On Canvas By Philippa Blair
30 Sandringham St, Dunedin, Otago
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Long interested in breaking down the traditional barriers of art making, Blair spent many years exploring the possibilities of unstretched, folded and hanging canvas, unrestrained by the limitations of the frame. Her trademark works of the 1970s-90s were canvas cloaks, teepees, and books, theatrical works that blurred the line between 2D and 3D.
Metamorphosis includes a number of Blair’s cloak paintings created during the early 1980s and exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Shippee Gallery, New York in 1984, as part of NEW ZEALAND ART IN AMERICA. The event, curated by Mary Evangelista, involved some 17 NZ artists (including Len Lye, Billy Apple, Ralph Hotere, to name a few) showing in 14 art galleries throughout New York City. It was timed to coincide with the opening of Te Maori, a watershed exhibition of Māori art, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
Hanging alongside her cloaks are a number of Blair’s ‘books’ from the 1990s. Many have an implied symmetry with a central vertical spine, while others comprise unbound ‘pages’, inviting personal interpretation when hanging. Pages can be viewed alone as individual works or chapters, or together as events that fold over and into one another, revealing traces of the past alongside glimpses into the future.
All works are reversible, hand-stitched in linen thread and eyeletted - “exhausting work now I think of it” Blair reflects on the creation of the works she holds dear. Confronting the viewer with their physical scale and boldness of execution, the works with seemingly endless options for hanging offer a sense that there is always more to reveal - a metaphor perhaps for Blair’s artistic and personal journey.
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