Disturbance in the Gallery - The Painting of Rudolf Boelee - Part 2
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Transcript of Disturbance in the Gallery - The Painting of Rudolf Boelee - Part 2
DISTURBANCE
IN THE
GALLERY
The Painting of Rudolf Boelee
Part 2
Part 2 1999-2011
DISTURBANCE IN THE GALLERY
The painting of Rudolf Boelee
Articles, Reviews & Opinion:
James Norcliffe – Anna Dunbar – Sally Blundell – Rosemary Forde – Nicholas Gorman – Martin
van Beynen - Don McAra - Keiller MacDuff – Christopher Moore – Marian Maguire –Georgina
Barr- Bill Dudley – Marilyn Rae-Menzies – Adrienne Rewi
Design & Commentaries: Rudolf Boelee
Publisher: Crown Lynn New Zealand Limited
© Rudolf Boelee 2013
Rudolf Boelee
New Zealander, b.1940
Order (Seven essential strengths for NZ) 1998
Purchased, 1998
Reproduced wih permission
Digital photomontage and two painted panels 98/105.1-3 1998 Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu
Order – Collection Christchurch Art Gallery
High Achievers – Private Collection
Commitment - Private Collection
Innovation - Private Collection
Integrity - Private Collection
Management - Private Collection
Introduction – Artist Collection
Employment - Artist Collection
Visions of Utopia
By James Norcliffe
Art New Zealand Autumn 1999
The images are from the exhibitions; "From the Cradle to the
Grave" at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts Gallery
and "The Future is Now" at the Centre of Contemporary Arts during
1998.
To begin with two anecdotes:
One. In China in the late eighties, my wife Joan Melvyn and our
children cycled across the city of Tianjin to see Superman II which
had been released with Chinese subtitles. We had been living in
China for over a year and this was a rare chance for the kids to see
a Western film. The final scene of Superman, having saved the
world from catastrophe, flying high above a gleaming cityscape
holding Old Glory aloft to the strains of surging orchestral patriotism
was so delightfully over the top it reduced Joan to helpless laughter.
She was the only one in the packed auditorium to laugh. A couple
of hundred local Tianjinese failed to detect any irony and stared
with open-mouthed acceptance of the scene.
Two. Also in China. I was teaching English literature at Nankai
University. Relatively late one evening there was a guarded knock
at the door and a youngish man introduced himself. He had cycled
several miles especially to talk to me because he had heard there
was a Westerner teaching English and perhaps I could help him. He
was from a technological university and studying science. His
passion, however, was literature. He had looked around
apprehensively and the situation became a little cloak and
daggerish. Could I help him source some articles on a writer?
Clearly the writer was somewhat subversive. Perhaps, I said. The
Foreign Languages Department did have bibliographical resources
into academic papers and journals. Who was it? Oscar Wilde, he
whispered. Even in the China of Deng Xiao Peng , Oscar Wilde was
a dangerous thinker. Art for art's sake was an insidious doctrine
which could white ant at the foundations of what was normative,
what was permitted, in Communist Chinese art and expression. It
would have been good to have been able to introduce my unknown
visitor (I never learnt his name) to Rudolf Boelee. At first glance
they would seem to have little in common, and certainly between
the aesthetics of Oscar Wilde and the aesthetics of Comrade Mao
there is a substantial gulf. There is however a middle way between
the monitory monuments of the state and the hands-behind-your
back formalism of what could be termed meta-art. A host of middle
ways, of course. Boelee's way is that of the engaged social critic
and commentator. Both Boelee and the Chinese student were and
are idealists. And their idealism lies in a deep suspicion of that
which would deny expression, equality and security to members of
society. Whereas the Chinese student was seeking an alternative to
that which dictated that all public expression be filtered through
correct state ideology (Oscar Wilde being about as far as he could
go), Boelee is motivated by a suspicion of the cynical imperatives
of…
the New Right and how those imperatives are subverting earlier
visions of what the society could and should be. The Orwellian
nightmare of a static society in which a boot is forever planted on
the human face is one he fears. Rudolf Boelee was born in
Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, as the Second World War was
engulfing Europe. His early memories include the sight of
neighbours being forcibly taken away by the agents of an all-
powerful state apparatus when the Netherlands was under Nazi
occupation. After some years at sea he arrived in New Zealand in
1963, the heyday of the welfare state, and he came to enjoy the
somewhat old-fashioned lifestyle and egalitarian qualities he found
here, the relaxed enterprise of the do-it-yourself generation. His
painting career began in the late sixties, and he began to exhibit
sporadically through the seventies and eighties. The last few years
however have seen an intensity of production and a series of
important thematically linked exhibitions almost exclusively in South
Island galleries. These shows have included Visions of Utopia,
Things to Come, From the Cradle to the Grave, and just recently at
the Centre of Contemporary Arts in Christchurch The Future is
Now. The titles are significant, drawn variously from the ideas of the
first NZ Labour Government of the 1930's, from H.G. Wells, and
from George Orwell. The names of the exhibitions also reflect the
poles of optimism and pessimism which inform Boelee's vision.
Boelee's preoccupations centre on society, of society's past ideals
and present realities, the what-might-have-been and the what-is,
and the gulf between them. His works bring together images and
occasionally texts that exemplify and comment. Boelee uses
collage, scale, and colour to recontextualize and lead his viewers to
reconsider his selected images, images which are a part, often, of
our common background. The benign face of Michael Joseph
Savage in both Visions of Utopia and From the Cradle to the Grave
smiles gently as it once did from tens of thousands of mantelpieces,
but now coloured, enlarged, repeated, at times under a
superimposed grid of geometric lines and arranged in a cruciform
on a gallery wall. The railway cups, stolid and reassuring, and gone.
The flag. Other images are drawn from that which was once
precious and relatively private: lost photograph albums, forgotten
pictorial fragments and text. Here the transformation into giant
larger-than-life representations, often spread strip-fashion over
several 'canvases' has the effect of generalising and identification,
giving as much a charge of recognition as do the iconic images of
Savage or Upham or Yvette Williams.
We know these people, these clothes, these shoes. Juxtaposed
with the 1950's home grown, exemplified by the boy from
Christchurch East school and the legs of the visitors to the Hawera
Agricultural and Pastoral Show of the Cradle to the Grave,
specifically in The Future is Now are the more monumental icons
drawn from Fascist Italy's tributes to itself. These images and others
are recontextualised with the "Seven Essential Strengths" for New
Zealand drawn from a recent Ministry of Commerce
manifesto/mission statement, and these strengths (integrity,
innovation, commitment, et al) are themselves recontextualised by
being laid over tukutuku patterns. Such inter-exhibition
juxtapositions are reminders that in Boelee's case the succession of
exhibited work we are not seeing the usual progression or
development of an artist's style, but more significantly aspects of a
total vision, a programme, perhaps. As in the axes of his trademark
crosses, the shows present commentaries on the polarities of past
and future, optimism and pessimism, idealism and cynicism. His
exhibitions abound with linking devices: forms, notably the cross
and square, and individual images, notably the Keith Murray
derived modernist vase (by the original Crown Lynn). Superficially,
it can be seen that Boelee's art draws from an eclectic mix of
influences. The important Dutch movement de Stijl which influenced
the Bauhaus is an obvious starting point, perhaps in its best-known
exponent Piet Mondrian, echoes of whom are detectable in
Boelee's fascination with pattern and geometric form. The
geometric forms derive, too, from the Russian Constructivists, the
innovative artists, sculptors and set designers of the period
following the Russian Revolution. Boelee, too, has been interested
in and involved in set design, notably for the Christchurch Free
Theatre. In his use of repeated images and colour, suggestive of
Warhol's silk screens, can also be seen the influence of the pop
movement, although Boelee would deny any connection with the
detached and indulgent impulses of the Warhol Factory. The
element in Boelee's art that is most striking, though, is his use of
assemblage or collage. He brings together diverse elements all with
their own connotations and fabricates striking visual metaphors. In
many ways this is more akin to a literary, than an aesthetic device,
and quite in keeping with Boelee's view that his art speak to
viewers. In a blurb Boelee wrote for his The Future is Now he put it
this way: "…The work comments, exhorts, and elaborates on
possible directions for improvements to our society…"
True to the collaborative instincts of de Stijl, much of Rudolf
Boelee's recent work has been done in conjunction with designers
and computer experts, Brian Shields and Craig Stapley, and he
warmly acknowledges their contribution to the final shape of the
finished work. The collective nature of this work allows Boelee to
step back somewhat, ensuring that what it says about the issues is
more important that what it says about him. "As I get older," he said
in an interview printed in CoCA 9, "the ego becomes less and less
important… That's why I like working with other people." With
Shields and Stapley, Rudolf Boelee formed the company Crown
Lynn New Zealand, a famous name resurrected as the possibility of
using it as a return to the public domain. Their first major
collaboration was the 1996 exhibition Crown Lynn New Zealand (A
Salvage Operation) at the High Street Project Gallery, Christchurch,
a series of retrieved and recontextualized images that were
simultaneously reproduced and distributed in multiple postcard-
sized sets. The 1950's has been a rich source for Boelee. In many
ways it has been the forgotten era, given the ongoing fascination
with the Second World War and the equally magnetic appeal of the
Sixties. In the fifties however, in its images and styles, Boelee has
discerned a simple optimism and decency which we would disdain
at our peril, and in offering comparisons with what we have right
now, dares to ask fascinating questions. It is generally considered
smart to sneer at this period. Indeed, the imperative to be
fashionable which assaults us from all sides demands we embrace
only that which is about to be. The immediate and near past is
turned over only for its comic and ironic possibilities. The quality in
Rudolf Boelee's work that transcends these facile and cheap ironic
possibilities, is the passion behind his vision. Boelee cares about
the things we have lost, and frets about the direction the New Right
seems to be taking us. He denies nostalgia. He demands we
reconsider what once were the assumptions that shaped our
society, and equally demands that we question what has replaced
them. Rudolf Boelee does not supply any answers to the questions
he raises, although he may hint from time to time. His work is too
subtle to be crudely propagandist and he would not arouse the
scorn, thereby, of my Chinese student. And if the problems
confronting New Zealand as the millenium arrives are so
insurmountable that only Superman, perhaps, could solve them,
perhaps the Tianjinese had it right all along.
Between
Worlds The contribution made to New Zealand art by Dutch
immigrants is getting some long-overdue recognition. A self-
confessed ‘outside’, painter Rudolf Boelee talks to Anna
Dunbar
He has lived in Christchurch for 40 years but there are lingering
moments when Rudolf Boelee feels like an outsider trapped in a
long corridor extending between the old and the new. “Like most of
my compatriots who came to New Zealand in the 1950‟s and early
1960‟s, life in New Zealand was initially alien and strange. The
pressure to become like „them‟ was always there. Cultural diversity
was certainly not celebrated,” the Dutch-born artist says.
Boelee came to New Zealand as a merchant seaman in 1963. He
was 22. “I couldn‟t wait to get out of Holland. Those post-war years
were grim and it was hard to forget the pain and suffering that our
cities and our people had endured. I came to New Zealand because
I had visited about five times before, and I liked what I had seen. I
was following my heart. For those who had made that journey a
decade before it was very different – many left loved ones and their
hearts.” Boelee who describes himself as a painter (“whatever that
means in today‟s practice”), takes pride in being part of a long line
of Dutch artists living in New Zealand, but he regrets that their
artistic contribution remains largely unacknowledged. “Few people
know that the Dutch community is the largest minority group in New
Zealand. Most are also unaware of the immense debt that is owed
to artists such as Petrus van der Velden.
Seeking to redress the balance and raise the rallying cry for young
Dutch people living in New Zealand, Boelee is involved with a trio of
exhibitions at the Centre of Contemporary Art. The shows including
a travelling exhibition, “Inheriting the Netherlands”, featuring
Boelee‟s work and that of 12 other artists of Dutch origin, including
van der Velden, Theo Schoon, Miriam van Wezel, and Saskia Leek;
and a tribute to the artist Petrus van der Velden:”Colour is Light,
Light is Love, Love is God”, presented by Boelee with collaboration
of painter Dennis de Visser, poet Koenraad Kuiper and writer and
television presenter Boudewijn Buch. In the shows Boelee seeks to
augment and elaborate on what it means for the inheritors of the
Netherlands, to show what their contribution has been, and most
importantly, encourage young Dutch people to retain and celebrate
their culture. Boelee‟s own exhibition, “Postcard from Rotterdam”,
travels back 60 years to his birth in May 1940, in the early stages of
World War 2. “I was born in Rotterdam amidst an atmosphere of
hatred and fear just after the Germans had completed their
bombardment of the city. In just 45 minutes 60.000 people were left
homeless. Fire surrounded the hospital as I was being born.” The
works in the exhibition consist of treated photographs showing
Boelee‟s family surviving the brutality and cruelty of the German
occupation. “My first conscious memories are of men being rounded
up as forced labour for the Germans and people dying of hunger in
our street.” The artist stresses that the exhibition is not anti-
German. “Everyone becomes compromised in some and the
Germans more so than any other nation. Childhood memories of a
cathartic, divisive war emerge in his paintings – including a triptych
incorporating the haunting faces of the brothers Boelee
accompanied by the bureaucratic banality of lines from post-war
immigration policy.. The words and the portraits together emerge as
a tribute to and lament for dreams lost and found. Boelee,
meanwhile, shrugs off any lingering residue of alienation and
isolation. „I realize how much of a New Zealander I am when I go
back to Holland.. Yet here I see myself as a Dutchman. I feel as I
am working in a corridor between New Zealand and the
Netherlands. After four decades any personal feelings of being an
outsider is no longer much of an issue. “The disappearance of the
Dutch culture and language is a real concern, however, especially
for the younger generations. It is now up to New Zealand to reach a
maturity that truly appreciates the richness and diversity of its
communities. For most of Dutch migrants who arrived in the 1950‟s,
war had interrupted their education. They came to a new land
unable to speak English and, in some cases, with a limited
education. There were pressures to assimilate – to become New
Zealanders, to get a job, and to establish a home.
“Immigrations, no matter where they are from, are in a state of
complete and continuous contradiction. You are always living in two
places. It must have been especially difficult for those who came in
those early days. It was 40 days sailing between, so you really
knew you had come somewhere quite different,” Boelee says. “I
lived in Sydenham when I first came and the car yards were full of
V8; - I had never seen anything like except in the movies. So
strange. Quite alien, but I really enjoyed the life here. I thought it
was lovely. After he left there was an exodus of brothers and
cousins to the United States and New Zealand, all seeking to
escape what seemed then the very restricting environment of
Europe. “Ironically, life in New Zealand was possibly even more
conformist than it was back home, but everything was rather alien
and slightly weird in a likeable way. The pre-war cars, 6 o‟clock
closing, building your own home, the concrete, the races – it all
seemed so innocent and nice.”
Boelee hopes the exhibitions act as a rallying call for Dutch people
in New Zealand. “Those who came out in the 1950‟s are really like a
lost generation. Many of them even changed their names. It is not
about nostalgia. I don‟t want to go back to Holland, but it is really
To do with saying that we are here, some of us more than 40
years, and have contributed much to the country with little
acknowledgment.”
He feels it is unfortunate that only one gallery in a major city was
interested in holding the exhibition and that it had to be organized
by an individual. “Dutch people have never been known to be
difficult, even though they are the largest minority group. I certainly
hope that these three shows will act as focus for the wider Dutch
community and the community at large as well. I have the distinct
feeling that being known as just good workers is a bit demeaning.
“For me and many of the artists involved in this exhibition, there is
this permanent position as „outsider‟. This in turn, tends towards a
reliance upon memory, intent on avoiding alienation. I constantly
seek and express a sense of self and identity in my work, hence the
need to construct a certain „Dutchness‟. However, if I were to work
in Holland it would be on New Zealand things.
The Press, Wednesday, July 26, 2000
Catalogue for “Inheriting the Netherlands, a Century of Dutch Art in
New Zealand”
2000-01 Inheriting The Netherlands, a Century of Dutch Art in New Zealand
Lopdell House Gallery, Titirangi, Auckland
Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui
Hawkes Bay Exhibition Centre, Hastings
Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore
Millenium Gallery, Blenheim
Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei
Waikato Art & History Museum, Hamilton
Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
Petrus van der Velden, Ans Westra, Theo Schoon, Rudolf Boelee, Miriam van Wezel, Gerda Leenards, Leon
van den Eijkel, Ronnie van Hout, Karin van Roosmalen, Saskia Leek, Monique Jansen / [organiser, Johan van
Westen ; curator, Natasha Conland]
Rudolf Boelee
'A Postcard from Rotterdam'
Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
19 July - 6 August 2000
Text: Rudolf Boelee
Photographs: Dennis de Visser
A Postcard from Rotterdam' goes back in time almost exactly 60
years to May 1940, and the outbreak of World War 2 for the
Netherlands. It was shortly after one of those unnecessary,
catastrophic acts of violence, the bombardment of Rotterdam by the
Germans, that I was born. Sixty thousand people were made
homeless in just forty-five minutes.
The works in this exhibition consist of treated photographs and
show my family surviving, the brutality and cruelty of the German
Occupation. The marvellous normality of continuing to record
family events, in the context of the deportation of the Jews and the
infamous "Hunger Winter" 1944-1945, now appears quite
incredible. My first conscious memories go back to the forcible
removal of all males over eighteen and people dying of hunger in
our street. ‘Postcard from Rotterdam' aims to give a personal as
well as a universal view of those perilous times
.
Rudolf Boelee, Boudewijn Buch,
Koenraad Kuiper, Dennis de Visser'
Colour is Light, Light is Love, Love is God'
(a tribute to Petrus van der Velden)
Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
19 July - 6 August 2000
Text: Esther Venning
Photographs: Rudolf Boelee
Rudolf Boelee and Dennis de Visseraman pay homage to Petrus
van der Velden in an exhibition strongly referencing his art. The
work and teachings of Petrus van der Velden have had a significant
and enduring effect on many artists in New Zealand. Born in the
Netherlands in 1837, van der Velden worked with the famed Hague
School of painters. He came to Christchurch in 1890 bringing his
considerable talent and European artistic traditions. In New Zealand
he became particularly well known for his raw and moody 'Otira
Gorge' series.
The exhibition title 'Colour is Light, Light is Love, Love is God',
references a quote by van der Velden demonstrating his strong
association of painting with spirituality. The exhibition's multi-
disciplinary perspective on van der Velden includes a Dutch
documentary programme by the writer and presenter Boudewijn
Buch and bi-lingual poems by Koenraad Kuiper.
History Repeating New Zealand House & Garden November 2002
Sally Blundell discovers a sense of the past in a Christchurch
house that has changed for the future. Photographs: Doc Ross
One visit to the inner city gentleman’s residence was all it took for
artists Robyne Voyce and Rudolf Boelee to know they found their
new home. just outside Christchurch’s four avenues, it would have
once been one of many houses from the arts and crafts era sitting
sedately on its quarter acre section. Rescued from the demands of
in-dill housing and city commercialization, the house is a rare piece
of Christchurch still in a remarkably original state. “What appealed
to us was that the house hadn’t been altered at all.. The kitchen and
bathroom were original. All the paneling was still there. Nothing had
been updated,” says Robyne. Previous owners had painstakingly
stripped back all the timber, however, leaving the rooms looking
dark and dull.. At a time when renovators were waging war against
any painted surfaces Robyne and Rudolf spent their first Christmas
in the house painting. Using white, two shades of grey and coloured
rectangles in the living room they developed a look that was clean,
modern and in keeping with the timber floors stripped of their dark
varnish and the extensive plant borders shielding the house from
the street. “ As soon as we painted the walls the outside seemed to
come in. You became aware of the garden. The effect was one
large area instead of a series of smaller darker spaces,” says
Robyne Rudolf’s digital works displayed on the walls of the living
room and entrance pay tribute to his home city of Rotterdam, the
war that ripped that ripped through his childhood - one work shows
a forged Nazi pass used by his father to get meat and vegetables
to feed his and the five other families living in their building - and the
wartime influx of Dutch immigrants in this country. Other works,
including the iconic New Zealand Railway Cups, draw on a post-war
New Zealand, a young country turning with hope to a more settled
and affluent future.. This, says Rudolf, was a new age of idealism,
the legacy of the first Labour government of Michael Joseph -
Savage and the era of Crown Lynn Potteries, the then “crowning
glory” of the ceramics industry in this country. “My brother Onno
took me through the Crown Lynn factory in New Lynn just after it
closed and Robyne had a large collection of their decorative and
table wares. The company was another casualty of the deregulated
nature of industry in this country but it had that touch of elegance
and perfection. In 1994 Robyne and Rudolf acquired Crown Lynn’s
former trademark. Crown Lynn New Zealand.. The name was later
to be used in an exhibition with designers Brian Shields and Craig
Stapley, celebrating the role art and design in Kiwi society.
The grace and style of the Crown Lynn era is echoed in
the art, design and collectables in the house. They are a
reflection of a shared New Zealand history and a tribute
to the eclectic passions of two consummate collectors.
Their furniture, ceramics and objects cover the span of 20th century
design. Kiwiana is evident - from the jigsaw of the map of New
Zealand to the paua ornaments. In the dining room a recently
purchased set of Denby ceramics has pride of place on a 1950’s
sideboard. A 1970’s Poole china bowl sits on the 1960’s kitchen
table.
Such items blend well with the modern sophistication of Robyne’s fabric
designs - from the curtains on the lead light windows to the clothes on
the steel display stand, these works build on a personal history of 1960’s
church fairs and craft stalls, a family penchant for home-made decorative
arts passed on to Robyne as a young girl.
As the need for a venue to market their art and design became
more apparent the couple considered finding a place in the very
heart of the city. But the comfort and practicality of home were hard
to beat. “ We still wanted to be here,” says Robyne. “A lot of people
were beginning to use older buildings for living and working in and
we knew if we left here the developers would pull the house down
or it would become flats. We worked too hard for that.” The
conversion from home to home gallery and working place was
relatively simple. A new wardrobe in the second bedroom - big
enough for Robyne’s considerable collection of vintage fabric for
clothing and accessories - and gallery lighting in the entrance and
former main bedroom allowed for two exhibition areas. Customers
now have the inestimable luxury of trying on Robyne’s design in a
full -sized bedroom - with a coffee on the table.
“Then we had to think of a name,” says Robyne. “Once the
business was set up we didn’t want it to be Rudolf and Robyne’s
house”. “Rudolf was working on his art and I was making clothes
and printing fabric - we wanted to tie it all up. So we came up with
Opshop.” It was a name that came with a fair amount of
misinterpretation. Was it second-hand shop? No. An art auction?
No.
“We did not want a particular brand name and all along we have
been involved in the whole philosophy of recycling - working with
the environment, recycling ideas, recycling pieces of New Zealand
history. It’s all about having a conscience and using what is around
you. Opshop fitted in with that.” A series of exhibition openings and
a new website helped launch the Opshop name and it continues to
draw interest locally and internationally. And as the art of collecting
becomes a domain populated by an increasing number of dealers.
Robyne and Rudolf’s concerns for holding on to what is precious in
the environment has extended to lobbying against genetic
engineering, maintaining a large garden and producing work that is
in keeping with the timelessness of the modernist style.
Auckland apartment and Christchurch house in 2002 with NZR
Cups
Crown Lynn New Zealand The Ambiguous Image- her dissatisfaction with
her holiday, her surroundings and her life
Billboard, Physics Room, Christchurch, 2000.
Text: Rosemary Forde
A major public art project for the Physics Room in 2000, this
temporary billboard was erected on the High Street side of the
Physics Room building. The billboard was produced by Crown Lynn
New Zealand – a collaborative team of artists and designers – in
this instance including Rudolf Boelee, Maria Langley and Brian
Shields The former trademark of Crown Lynn Potteries Limited was
acquired by the artists in 1994, and has been used to present
several projects since then, including the Ambiguous Image series.
Once known as the crowning glory of the ceramic industry in New
Zealand, in the postwar period Crown Lynn offered a stylish range
with a touch of elegance and modern perfection. The Ambiguous
Image billboard uses a still from a 1960s new wave film – a visual
style which has been an influence throughout much of Rudolf
Boelee’s artistic career. The filmic element is blown up to cinematic
proportions in the billboard, the dimensions and scale similar to that
of a movie screen. But the image presented is a grainy close-up,
distorting the image and rendering the billboard familiar yet
indistinct. Although the image has been sourced from film, the style
and the format of the billboard are equally suggestive of the visual
language of advertising. Aping the methods of advertising, Boelee
and Crown Lynn presented a visual statement for Christchurch
without any commercial message. The text provides the only
suggestion of narrative, evocative of a general malaise observed by
the artist as an immigrant to New Zealand, that living here is
regarded by many as an unsatisfying step towards some greater
goal or a better place. Following on from this project, Crown Lynn
produced The Ambiguous Image – figures in a mental landscape, a
publication featuring 12 virtual billboards for Christchurch. And with
a Physics Room exhibition in 2003, Boelee presents the third part of
The Ambiguous Image – her dissatisfaction_, reworking the
billboard and expanding the debate around living in Christchurch as
an artist.
Rudolf Boelee
New Zealander, b.1940
Treasure of the Nation 2000
In Treasure of the nation Boelee
expresses his admiration for the older
artist: a screenprint of van der Velden’s
portrait is flanked either side by two prints
of his Otira Gorge paintings. Boelee
overlays van der Velden’s Otira
landscapes with a series of colourful
modernist rectangles – geometric divisions
that provide a striking contrast.
(Van der Velden: Otira, February 2011)
Gifted by the artist, 2002
Reproduced wih permission
Acrylic, silkscreen and lacquer on wood
2002/259
2000
Robyne Voyce
and Rudolf Boelee present the exhibition:
'Snapping GE-free zones'
The Physics Room, Christchurch
The Press, 20 September 2001
By Anna Dunbar
Christchurch artists Robyne Voyce and Rudolf Boelee have special
places that they want to remain GE-free, and have captured them
on film. Picking up on the actions of anti-GE campaigner (and
former Thompson Twin) Alannah Currie, the pair initially intended to
take a few photographs of friends and neighbours and send them to
Currie for a proposed Beehive exhibition Voyce says."However, the
more we spoke to people, the more things snowballed and we
realised a Christchurch exhibition to coincide with the Wellington
was necessary. We are dismayed that although most New
Zealanders are against GE, many feel that nothing can be done to
stop it. We think that an art exhibition, unlike protest rallies, can
attract from a different type of audience - one that falls outside the
unfair stereotype of crusty hemp-wearing hippies". Voyce and
Boelee say they regard the exhibition more as a performance, an
invite anyone to contribute before September 15. The photographic
project and exhibition, 'TOMORROW', will be held for only one night
in contemporary art project space the Physics Room. Green Party
co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimmons will open the exhibition and speak
about genetic engineering and the implications. Voyce and Boelee
hope that after the exhibition the photographs will be presented to
the Prime Minister Helen Clark.
GE FREE NEW ZEALAND
Following pages; Green Party co-leader Janet Fitzsimmons with
Robyne Voyce and Rudolf Boelee.
Installation of “Staking our Claim” at Shed 11, Wellington
GE FREE NZ
Run along to Runaway Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
15 May - 1 June 2002
Review: Nicholas Gorman - The Citizen
29 May 2002
Photos: Inez Grim
The idea of a shared national identity is both problematic and
pertinent. The idea of a “Kiwi identity” is tied up with all sorts of
contradictions. Even though New Zealand is a relatively small
country, it still has four million people who are both dysfunctional
and diverse. It seems hard for us to reconcile our strands of
diversity and weave them into a common identity. Rudolf Boelee‟s
exhibition, Runaway, now showing at the Centre of Contemporary
Art in Gloucester Street, attempts to explore different threads of our
identity and bring them together in a common space - the concept
of a marae. The Mair gallery on the top floor of CoCA has been
converted to what resembles the shape of a marae. The 10 large
scale “ancestor paintings” are in fact digitally manipulated film stills,
on the left side is a row of Maori faces that gaze across the gallery
at a row of Pakeha faces. At the head of the marae is a triptych of
light boxes with dates and images from contentious periods in our
shared history: the Waterfront Strike of 1951 and the Springbok tour
of 1981 and the “New Right‟ revolution in 1984. on either side of the
entrance/exit is a diptych with and the acronyms “WTO” and “GE”,
perhaps things that will become contentious and problematic in
New Zealand‟s future. What we see is a combination of both
European and Maori imagery and traditions, with the use of film
stills and the space of the marae, the blend of popular culture and
high art. In his outline and intent for Runaway, Boelee says, “I
intend to look at the concepts such as the stereotype of „man
alone‟, the portrayal of Maori as „other‟, the effects of the Springbok
Tour on New Zealand society, and of the justified paranoia
experienced about a number of environmental and political issues
in present-day New Zealand.” I visited the gallery twice: once on the
preview evening, with lots of speeches, bodies and free wine; the
second on some wet afternoon with no one else in the gallery.
Traipsing about on that cold day made me feel far more reflective,
our country‟s shared ancestors keeping watch over me. It made me
think about how we have defined ourselves through popular
country. However, it is perhaps the space itself, the marae concept,
which gives Boelee‟s show emotional resonance. Try to get along
and see it before it closes. Runaway is at the Centre of
Contemporary Art until June1.
* 'Runaway' received project funding from Creative New Zealand TOI
AOTEAROA
Dispute over artwork By Martin van Beynen
The Press, Saturday, May 25, 2002
A Christchurch exhibition designed to help Maori and pakeha to get
on better has sparked an art worls controversy. The exhibition
entitled Runaway, by Christchurch artist Rudolf Boelee, sets out a
series of large photographic images of Maori and pakeha in a
marae framework. It opened at the Centre of Contemporary Art
(CoCA) about 10 days ago and is scheduled to be shown in
Whangarei, Gisborne and Rotorua. The images were taken from
two books published by Victoria University Press about films made
by New Zealand film-maker John O’Shea. Boelee took faces of the
actors from the books and manipulated them to create a new work
of art which has been lauded as beautiful and respectful.
But the New Zealand Film Archive does not see it quite like that.
The archive looks after the original John O’Shea footage and stills
on behalf of the copyright owner, Pacific Films, and believes Boelee
breached protocol and copyright. Client access co-ordinator
Bronwyn Taylor said Boelee had approached the archive in January
but after being told of the requirements regarding copyright and
consultation with Maori had ceased “dialogue” “our concern was
that no permission had been sought or given,” she said. In its
guardianship role the archive had tried to ensure CoCA attributed
the images correctly to include the publications they were lifted
from, she said. “It seems quite clearly a copyright issue. We supply
galleries and exhibitions all the time and they work with us in
obtaining the appropriate clearances,” she said.
CoCA director Warren Feeney said he stood by Boelee, whose
integrity remained intact. “It happens all the time at every gallery
around the world every day of the week. Because it’s going into a
gallery and none of the works are for sale I would argue the integrity
of Rudolf is pretty well intact. He is not making any financial gain.
Behind this there is nothing but good intentions.” The work fitted
“very much in the context” of what Boelee had done previously. “If
they had put them (the images) on shopping bags I think I would be
worried about them,” he said. Advice on the Maori issues suggested
relatives of the people in the images should have been consulted
and a “ritual cleansing” should have taken place, he said. Maori
would see the images as images of real people and find it difficult to
view the exhibition, the advice had said. Images of dead ancestors
were problematic. The archive had phoned him every day to
emphasise he was not taking the issue seriously enough, Mr.
Feeney said. “Rudolf’s feeling was that the Film Archives was doing
what a typical bureaucracy does. Instead of being there to serve the
public and making visible the films of John O’Shea they were
stopping people. It comes down to that.”
Pacific Films director Craig Walters said while he felt Boelee should
have got permission first from the company; he would not be taken
legal action. Boelee declined to discuss the matter yesterday.
The Press, Thursday May 30, 2003 – OPINION
Film copyright
Sir – What a crazy world we live in. Rudolf Boelee (May 25) is
attacked by the New Zealand Film Archive for breaching copyright
and not consulting Maori about using ancestral images of both
Maori and pakeha actors from John O’Shea films.
Why is it that only Maori descendants need to be consulted? Do
they have to be consulted before any showing of John O’Shea
films?
How thoroughly did O’Shea himself consult before making the
films? Are descendants of Mona Lisa consulted before her image is
displayed? Are the Queen and the Prime minister consulted before
their images are used in newspaper cartoons aiming not to honour,
but to satirise?
Surely Boelee’s superb, non-commercial images honour both Maori
and pakeha and draw them together on the marae of his creation.
The laws of copyright are clear; the rest is political correctness gone
mad. These healing images are magnificent.
D.J. McAra Cashmere, May 25
The whole Runaway exhibition saga certainly affected me really badly. The problems of getting large scale exhibitions like this one to become a
reality are difficult enough. What I had not encountered before was such a response from these ‘gate keeping’ bureaucrats in Wellington, naïve
of me not to realize this from the outset. I was busy teaching at the Design & Arts College in Christchurch and at the same time working on
projects like the GE Free and Runaway shows. Under the Red Verandah was a café (the original building was destroyed during the February
22nd earthquake) that had interesting exhibitions staged by co-owner Roger Hickin. So making 20 or so small to medium size collage works was
a really nice diversion from being portrayed as ‘ignorant and culturally insensitive’…
'her dissatisfaction' An exhibition by Rudolf Boelee
in collaboration with: Matthew Ayton, Stu Buchanan, Dougall
Canard, Maria Langley, Roy Montgomery, Christine Rockley, Brian
Shields, Robyne Voyce.
The Physics Room, Christchurch
26 March - 17 April 2003
Review: Keiller MacDuff
Photographs: Inez Grim
The gallery was stiflingly hot, and the crush was on for gin and
tonic. Greeted by the authentic tones of legendary Christchurch jazz
musicians, Stu Buchanan and Dougall Canard, who were providing
the soundtrack, I proceeded to search everywhere for Rudolf's
exhibition. It's not that I hadn't seen the huge billboard. Recognised
it, in fact, as the same dissatisfied heroine who had graced the
exterior of the Physics Room in 2000. But I was looking for his
distinctive brand of New Zealand modernism - the instantly
recognizable pop art pieces, the brightly coloured screen prints, the
Kiwiana and the insistent repetition. This time the billboard shows
more of the waif, slightly less supersized than the outdoor version
but still cinematic and grainy, the eye drawn to the almost obscene
exposure of the intimacy of the nape of her neck. Somehow you
can almost taste the melancholy, the resignation and the
eponymous dissatisfaction, but this time, we were witness to her
weapon - this is extreme dissatisfaction. In one room there was a
video, a matey front porch discussion between the artist and
musician and writer Roy Montgomery. They share a beer and spin
yarns, talk about the old days. The video is looped, echoing the
circularity those nostalgic conversations can take. The third part of
The Ambiguous Image, 'her dissatisfaction_' is collaboration by
Rudolf Boelee and Crown Lynn New Zealand Collective, which
relocated aspects of earlier exhibitions into the Physics Room, and
into more of a personal trajectory into Rudolf's life, environment and
influences. Far from his native Holland, Rudolf Boelee ended up in
Christchurch in the late 1970's. The synchronicity of things soon
had him moving in the same circles as a variety of other like-minded
souls. It was during this time that he met partner Robyne Voyce.
Rudolf met people living their lives through their bedroom fantasies,
living in their heads, through their headphones, their music
collections, their dissatisfaction with suburban Christchurch.
Trapped in suburbia, lost in their own worlds, these people found
solace in music, art, theatre, in a unity of purpose and aesthetic. In
the exhibition there are allusions to pop culture, cinema and music,
from the jazz band playing at the opening, to the confluence of
Boelee's arrival in Christchurch with a flourishing punk music scene.
The cinematic theme of the billboard combines with the
documentary-style filmed conversation, the jazz soundtrack, and
the virtual billboards displayed. This aspect of the exhibition, ten
photographs of local buildings onto which virtual billboards were
placed are real Christchurch buildings, not tourist monuments to our
gothic heritage, but office buildings, utilitarian high rises, reimagined
with giant billboards, bearing seminal scenes from new wave
cinema instead of advertising slogans and consumerables. The
shows are an attempt to explain something. All exhibitions are the
staging of something, a cumulative gig. And the gig is something
else, something always unknowable. Rudolf told me that the art
exhibition is ultimately a selfish act - the show as therapy - but to
me the themes of the exhibition were more universal - a love story,
an ode to friendship, longing and belonging.
'The Middle Way: Christchurch Meets Bangkok, Bangkok Meets Christchurch'
Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch, 11 November - 19
December 2003
By Christopher Moore, The Press, November,12, 2003
Photograhs: Robyne Voyce and David McKenzie
One day in Bangkok, Rudolf Boelee encountered a gallery of
extraordinary artworks: creations which fused images and ethics
from one of the world's oldest spiritual beliefs with the potency of
contemporary art. The impact of that exhibition by these Thai artists
never left the Christchurch painter's mind. Boelee soon began
discussing the possibilities of an exchange exhibition between
Thailand and New Zealand, initially with the director of the Arts
Centre of Bangkok's Silpakorn University, Vichoke Mukhdamanee
and later with co-curator Dr. Lertsiri Bovornkitti.The long months of
planning, mostly by email, has resulted in a new exhibition, The
Middle Way, at Christchurch's Centre of Contemporary Art.
Members of the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts at
Silpakorn University and the faculty of Fine Arts at Christchurch's
Design and Arts College of New Zealand will combine forces to
cross cultural and geographical boundaries. Thailand's Buddhist art
has been one of the pinnacles of Asian art for centuries: a richly
creative expression of faith and devotion; one which combines
harmony with subtle textures and forms. In the 21st century, it
continues to be a living, evolving force in a country where 95 per
cent of Thais are devoutly Buddhist and Buddhism pervades every
part of daily life. In the 1980's, Thai art, especially painting entered
a new phase, one that went back to religious art of previous
centuries, Boelee says. Artists were reinterpreting Buddhism and its
iconography to seek a more mature understanding of man's role in
the cosmos. In the process they were developing a style of modern
art which was unique to Thailand. My most vivid impression of
Thailand was experiencing the role that Buddhism plays in all facets
of Thai life. I hope to actively seek involvement from the Thai
community to make an exhibition like this a real focus for cultural
diversity in Christchurch.The emphasis on a foreign religion like
Buddhism might appear strange from a New Zealand perspective.
Works by 10 Thai and New Zealand artists: Vichai Sithiratn,
Vichoke Mukdamanee, Saravudth Duangjumpa, Amrit Chusuwan,
Panya Vijinthanasarn, Rudolf Boelee, Victoria Edwards , Michael
Collins, Ina Johann, Tony Bond, will feature in the exhibition, which
Boelee sees as a reinforcement of the city's growing diversity.The
opening ceremony will involve monks from the Wat Buddha
Samakhee, the Thai Buddhist centre in Marshlands Road and a
long drum dance choreographed by dancer and teacher Sittichai
Pornpichayanarak and will be opened by HE Mr. Norachit
Sinhanseni, Ambassador of Thailand. The exhibition will then travel
to Bangkok in January 2004 where it will open at Silpakorn
University's art gallery.
Rudolf Boelee Thai/New Zealand exchange exhibition initiator, co-
ordinator and co-curator
2003-06 The Middle Way / Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
Art Centre, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Eastern Art Centre, Burapha University, Thailand
Chiang Mai University Art Gallery, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Thaksiri University Art Gallery, Songkhla, Thailand
Randolph Street Gallery, Auckland
Nieuw Zeeland
An exhibition by Rudolf Boelee
PaperGraphica, Christchurch, 13 June - 2 July 2005
Text: Marian Maguire
Photographs: Robyne Voyce
The Dutch were the first Europeans known to have reached New
Zealand, led by Abel Janszoon Tasman, who sailed up the west
coast of the South and North Islands in 1642. Like his countryman
so many years before him, Dutch/New Zealand artist Rudolf Boelee
has also been exploring aspects of his adopted land. In these new
works Boelee covers a number of themes from portraiture and
human endeavour to conservation and in each his trademark
stylishness elegantly supports the idea. Bold striped colours in
close tonal range glow through the imagery, some sections of which
break down into fields of texture. In this way the work can operate
on more than one level. All the works in the show are diptychs,
often with repeat imagery. Does this mean 'Take another look' or
'There is more than one way to view this image'? Perhaps it refers
to repeated patterns in history. In any case the effect of this
juxtaposition is to create a dynamic composition which satisfies the
eye, encouraging it to roam.
'Sink the Rainbow Warrior!'
Rudolf Boelee
10 July, 1985 / 2006
PaperGraphica, Christchurch
11 July - 5 August 2006
Text: Marian Maguire
Review: Georgina Barr
Photographs: David McKenzie
The Rainbow Warrior was the flagship of the international
environmental organisation, Greenpeace. It had been in port at
Auckland for three days and was scheduled to lead a fleet of
vessels to Muroroa Atoll in protest against the French nuclear
testing in the South Pacific. It never made that voyage. Just before
midnight on 10 July, 1985, two explosions rocked the harbour,
sinking the forty metre Rainbow Warrior. Underwater charges had
been placed by French frogmen blowing two holes in the vessel’s
hull. The ship sank almost immediately. All the crew managed to
escape, apart from the photographer, Fernando Pereira, who
drowned.
Twenty one years later, Monday the 10th of July, 2006, Rudolf
Boelee's exhibition “Sink the Rainbow Warrior!” (21) opens at
PaperGraphica. The work in the installation presents a series of
portraits of the French agents involved, the victim and background
information about the incident. The Rainbow Warrior bombing was
the first time an act of international state-sponsored terrorism had
been committed in New Zealand. It marked the end of our sense of
security through isolation and the beginning of an era in which we
have been forced to acknowledge that world politics, whether they
are expressed through terrorism or environmental threat, can
impact directly upon us. Boelee believes that the content of this
exhibition is highly relevant today; that twenty one years on we
have come of age and must look forward with maturity. The major
powers obsession with nuclear arms and the more recent
sanctimonious “War on Terror” are continuing to threaten the
peace, stability and ultimately the future of our planet.
Sink the Rainbow Warrior!' (21)
Reviewer: Georgina Barr
'Sink the Rainbow Warrior!' by Rudolf Boelee is a thoughtful
exhibition by an intelligent and insightful artist.
Boldly coloured and subtly shaded faces hang on the walls of
PaperGraphica. Some stare out into the middle distance and
attempt at making a connection while others avoid eye contact and
turn away. These seven acrylic portrait paintings - displaying those
involved in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior 21 years ago - are
evenly placed around the warm main gallery and make a quiet,
almost secretive atmosphere within the large room. All of the two
large and five medium sized paintings have black backgrounds and
each face is painted with white and only one other colour. In each
work, the thick, block colour of the hair contrasts with the subtlety of
soft tonal shading of the skin to create wonderful depth. The mix of
textures, along with the black backgrounds and the use of hessian
on board, produces a rough and sinister side to the subjects
depicted
The thick textures are also a change from the smoothness of the
artist's well-known screenprints. This fresh angle to art-making
shows the artist is comfortable working in different styles, and he
does so with clever ease. 'Sink the Rainbow Warrior!' is a great
example of good art. Both the technique used to create the
paintings and the artist's intension behind the work show thoughtful
talent. According to a recent newspaper survey, the majority of New
Zealanders are not concerned about terrorist actions (such as the
recent train bombings in India) occurring here. The intension behind
Boelee's exhibition is to advise caution in this lackadaisical outlook
and to advise New Zealanders not to forget.
The intelligence and depth of this exhibition fits well within
PaperGraphica's walls. This art gallery and printmaking studio has
created a relaxed environment that inspires and educates with
every visit
10 July, 1985
"I Want What She's Got !"
Robyne Voyce & Rudolf Boelee
NG Gallery, 6 June -7 July, 2007
Text: Bill Dudley
Images: Robyne Voyce and Rudolf Boelee
Christchurch artists Robyne Voyce and Rudolf Boelee present their
new exhibition "I Want What She's Got !" at NG gallery. The title of
the show refers to the eternal quest for the desirable and the
glamorous. The exhibition is the latest in a series of shows by the
pair, dating back to 1997.
Robyne Voyce "Fabric Constructions"
For fabric artist Robyne Voyce, this new body of work continues on
themes and directions she employed in her 2004 exhibition
"Bryndwr 17". That show marked a journey back in time to early
childhood in order to make sense out of the present. Voyce's
previous vocation as a furniture and fashion designer and her
careful treatment of fabrics continue to inform her artistic practice.
The works for "I Want What She's Got !" are a series of multi panel
Op Art inspired vintage fabric compositions, highly polished, with
fine attention to detail. Op Art also referred to as geometric
abstraction or hard-edge abstraction. This style was derived from
the constructivist practices of the Bauhaus. The nineteen twenties
German school, founded by Walter Gropius, stressed the
relationship of form and function within a framework of analysis and
rationality. For Robyne Voyce, her works are dominated by the
same concerns of figure-ground movement. Her approach is more
sculptural then painterly, in the way the original vintage fabric
designs have been re-assembled in unexpected and powerful
compositions.
This is a very strong exhibition that shows the artist in control of her
media, well conceived in its installation, with a great feel for
integrating her works into the multi-purpose use (cafe and high
fashion) of the space.
Rudolf Boelee "Film Stills"
From a young age, artist Rudolf Boelee has been hugely affected
by film and this interest has influenced a large part of his work. His
images seem like stills from 1940's "Film Noir" or "Nouvelle Vague"
- "New Wave" from the 1960's, the grainy appearance of his works
enhances this effect. Inspired by the vitality of the Hollywood B
movies, originating in the United States, employing heavy shadows
and patterns of darkness, in which the protagonist dies, meets
defeat, or achieves meaningless victory in the end. The painted
grid works for "I Want What She's Got!" are a continuation on
similar themes explored in the multimedia "The Ambiguous Image"
series of projects. As an adolescent Rudolf Boelee was more
interested going the cinema then attending his high school. Seeing
and identifying with films by François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard,
Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson, Alain Robbe-Grillet and Jean-
Pierre Melville. These film makers, from a slightly older generation,
became his artistic role models in a post war the Netherlands. Like
France, the Netherlands was an occupied country during the
second world war unlike say England or the USA, and the
experience of austerity and internal tensions, created by a
population that on the whole resisted and in part collaborated with
the Nazis, left a mark on the country's psyche. A distinctive
philosophy - existentialism - evolved in France and later in other
European countries in the post-war years. This philosophy,
associated with Jean-Paul Sartre and other French intellectuals,
was a major influence on the New Wave. Existentialism stressed
the individual, the experience of free choice, the absence of any
rational understanding of the universe and a sense of the absurdity
in human life. Faced with an indifferent world an existentialist seeks
to act authentically, using free will and taking responsibility for all
their actions, instead of playing preordained roles dictated by
society. The characters in French New Wave films are often
marginalized, young anti-heroes and loners, with no family ties, who
behave spontaneously, often act immorally and are frequently seen
as anti-authoritarian. The paintings in "Film Stills" are echoes of
these formative experiences, recasting characters from films as
diverse as: "Alphaville", "Pickpocket", "Last Year in Marienbad",
"Persona", "Trans-Europe Express", "Vivre sa Vie", "Deux ou trois
choses que je sais d'elle" into a cinematic frieze and Boelee
intentions are to blend his works in with the theatrical high fashion
presentation of NG design. This exhibition also neatly completes a
circle, back to his earlier (1981) exhibition "The Girl Can't Help it"
Rewi Alley
Geoffrey Cox
James Bertram
John Mulgan
Charles Brasch
Robin Hyde
EXILES - Rudolf Boelee Text: Marian Maguire
Charles Brasch, Robin Hyde, Dan Davin, Rewi Alley,
James Bertram, Geoffrey Cox, John Mulgan
Not all of these seven New Zealanders are widely known; their
individualism and idealism sometimes put them at the fringes of
colonial culture. They have been selected by the artist for their
ability to see beyond the confines of that culture. All of them
travelled, engaged with the world beyond these shores, exiled
themselves. With the advantage of education, they then spoke
thoughtfully and eloquently about the human condition.
Most, apart from Rewi Alley, were born at about the time of the First
World War so their experiences through the Depression and the
Second World War had a profound effect on them. But the link is
more than generational. Highly intelligent, sensitive and observant
they used their creativity to promote the greater good; in most
cases, through literature.
Rudolf Boelee was born in Holland in 1940 so has a personal
understanding of how world events can impact upon the lives of
people. Seeing his homeland ravaged by war he chose to live in
this country, the New Land, in a youthful search for utopia. In
selecting these seven Exiles he identifies the need to look beyond
regionalism at the wider issues for humanity. Rudolf Boelee has
painted these portraits as bold chiaroscuro heads that completely
dominate the coarse weave of the hessian surface. Each portrait is
painted from a photograph. The backgrounds are dark; solid black.
Light radiates off the facial planes in sharp contrast. Facial shadows
are painted in a single flat colour, a different colour for each person,
so although the images are bold, almost confrontational, the
features are flattened, increasing the drama. The impression of
each person, the idea of them, resounds more strongly than their
physical reality.
Like many other works by Boelee the paintings flash like stills from
film noir and create curiosity about the moments before and
afterwards. Each of the Exiles had a full and active life and, aside
from Geoffrey Cox, have all died. Despite the solidity of their
achievements it is hard not to think that their lives, albeit intense,
were fleeting. In the words of James Bertram, "Hard to explain now
just how strongly we all felt in those days. But it wasn't just politics,
rather, a sort of evangelical sense of mission, of not allowing
oneself to become contaminated and absorbed into the
establishment".
EXILES
PaperGraphica, Christchurch, 2007
Forrester Gallery, Oamaru, 2008
Southland Museum & Art Gallery, Invercargill, 2008
Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore, 2008
Millenium Public Art Gallery, Blenheim, 2008
Flagstaff Gallery, Devonport, Auckland, 2009
Rotorua Art & History Museum, Rotorua, 2009
Whangarei Art Museum, Whangarei, 2010
Installation Images from previous pages; Rotorua Art & History Museum, Rotorua, 2009
Millenium Public Art Gallery, Blenheim, 2008, Forrester Gallery, Oamaru, 2008
Robyne opened Pug Design Store during August 2008 in this
wonderful looking building. Eclectic would be a good word for what
we stocked. We made a lot of things we sold ourselves and it was a
good little business for two years until the Christchurch City Council
decided to take our parking and killed Pug and the other thriving
businesses around us. We closed in the beginning of September
days before first major 2010 earthquake. The building was
moderately damaged but did not survive the 22nd of Febuary 2011
one, and is now one of the many ‘vacancies’ in inner city
Christchurch.
PUG DESIGN STORE
RE-INVENTING CROWN LYNN By Adrienne Rewi. Christchurch artists, Rudolf Boelee and his wife, Robyne Voyce are
breathing new life into the iconic New Zealand pottery brand, Crown
Lynn. The pair has developed a new range of Crown Lynn tea-
towels, cushions and cards depicting three of the company‟s most
famous images – the swan, the New Zealand Railways cup and the
Ernie Shufflebottom-designed hand-potted vase. For Boelee, it is
the perfect extension of his use of the images in his own paintings
and a continuation of his passion for “the first New Zealand factory
company to step beyond the humdrum” and make what has
become a highly collectible product. Boelee owns the former Crown
Lynn New Zealand trademark as a limited liability and likens its
discovery to “finding the very best vase in a junk shop for next-to-
nothing.”
“Back in the early 1990s I was working in the New Zealand
Companies Office as a compliance clerk. My job was to strike
companies off the register when they had ceased trading. Company
closures were notified in the New Zealand Gazette and that‟s where
I saw the Crown Lynn Potteries Ltd name listed. Robyne and I had
been collection Post-War ceramics since the early eighties so it was
all part of a continuum. I applied for their trademark - Crown Lynn
New Zealand – incorporated the name as a limited liability
company in 1993. A few years later I also incorporated a „new‟
Crown Lynn Potteries Limited that I have since sold, but we still
own Crown Lynn New Zealand Limited he says. He has since
exhibited a number of painting series featuring Crown Lynn imagery
and the latest – a suite of lithographs - will show at Papergraphica
in Christchurch in November. “Crown Lynn had a very egalitarian
approach and that‟s what I liked most when I arrived in New
Zealand from Holland in 1963. Many of the products veered
towards the kitsch but they also have a simple formality that has
endured and many New Zealanders now recognise that. It was
made in New Zealand and not much of that quality was back then.
The tea-towels and cushions continue that philosophy – they‟re a
way for people to own an affordable piece of the Crown Lynn
brand.” Screen printed on cotton in cobalt blue and white, the tea-
towels feature the Crown Lynn logo and are available in galleries
and design stores from Auckland to Invercargill.
PUG DESIGN STORE
Affordable paintings of comic book heroines
Lady Snowblood and Modesty Blaise
were some of my contributions
Here are the Railway Cup Tapestries that I wove in collaboration
with Rudolf Boelee back in 2004 or thereabouts. Rudolph and I
chose the colours together. He gave me a black and white drawing
of the Railway Cup and I used that as the cartoon for the work.
They are hanging in the stairwell of my studio in the Arts Centre of
Christchurch. Seeing Rudolf’s posting this morning of his Railway
Cup screen prints inspired me to post these images of the
tapestries
Marilyn Rae-Menzies
Sold to a private collector in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, early 2013
DISTURBANCE
IN THE
GALLERY
End of Part 2