Brawling kiwis and British lions make an exhibition of themselves

Published by the Communications and Development Department

 

19 July 2004

 

In the mid-1980s the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts produced a distinct group of artists who, because of their sketchy style - similar to adolescent doodlings – became known as the Pencil Case Painters.

 

One of those artists was Tony de Lautour, who will be exhibiting a selection of his works at the School of Fine Arts (SOFA) gallery, in the Arts Centre, from tomorrow (Tuesday 20 July).

 

De Lautour was born in Melbourne in 1965. He graduated from UC in 1988 and has remained in Christchurch ever since. He has exhibited regularly throughout New Zealand and in 1995 won the Premier Visa Gold Art Award.

 

He began his career investigating cultural identity as represented in the popular art of tattoos and cartoon imagery.

 

This early work looked at the so-called underside of society, drawing on amateur tattoos and graffiti for inspiration.

 

“I like the directness and rawness of popular street art that you see in tattoos particularly,” he once told a reporter.

 

“There’s an authenticity to it. It’s imagery that’s available to everyone. It’s not exclusive and I’m interested in the way these images have been used by various people to identify a country in a particular way.”

His work has, at times, been controversial. Particularly his explorations of New Zealand’s early history in which Union Jack flags, muskets, and brawling British Lions and kiwis were portrayed as symbols of corrupted empires.

 

“When I started to use these images people got very upset,” he once said.

“They thought I was debasing a national icon and that seemed as good a reason as any to keep doing them.”

The exhibition at the SOFA Gallery focuses on a small collection of pieces from de Lautour’s early career days to the present, and reveals how he has developed a body of work that revels in the underbelly of the New Zealand cultural landscape.

It will run until 22 August.

 

For further information please contact:

John MacDonald
Communications Manager
University of Canterbury

Tel: +64-3-364 2910
Fax: +64-3-364 2679
Mob: +64-27-441 7280
john.macdonald@canterbury.ac.nz