Kathryn Mitchell Ghosts in the Landscape, by Grant Sheehan (Phantom House, Wellington, 2011), 184 pp.,  $ 150.00.   A book collection of  big photographs produced in a limited edition of 1050 copies, Ghosts in the Landscape by Grant Sheehan embodies the contradictions that define contemporary photographic practices. Capturing sweeping vistas on a 22 megapixel camera and processing […]

Tom Elliott Grahame Sydney’s Central Otago, by Grahame Sydney (Penguin, Auckland, 2011) 160 pp., $95.00.   ‘The landscape surrounding me only pretends to be empty. It is in truth humming with life, with change, with subtle, seductive detail and countless delights.’   The preceding affirmative sentence was written by one of New Zealand’s leading painters, Grahame […]

Roger Blackley Fiona Pardington: The Pressure of Sunlight Falling, edited by Kriselle Baker and Elizabeth Rankin, (Otago University Press, 2011) 160 pp., $120. A ‘museological’ orientation distinguishes a range of photography that engages in fresh ways with historical spaces and artefacts. Thomas Struth’s long-term project ‘Museum Photographs’ observed the observers — the audiences that are […]

David Eggleton Bold Centuries: A Photographic History Album, by Haruhiko Sameshima (Rim Books, Auckland, 2009, $60.00); Alan Miller — New Zealand Photographs, by Alan Miller (Anglesea house, 2009, $70.00); A Man Walks Out of a Bar: New Zealand Photographs 1979—1982, by Lucien Rizos (Rim Books, Auckland, 2011). ‘The camera sits alongside the axe, the gun, […]

David Herkt This is not writing, by Julian Dashper, (Clouds & Michael Lett, 2011), $39.95. ‘Why should one understand anything? Should we not just experience it?’ – Julian Dashper (p. 75)1. Memento MoriIn September 2010, the first anniversary of the death of New Zealand artist Julian Daspher was marked in New York by exhibition of […]

Peter Entwisle                                                  Mary Kisler, Angels & Aristocrats Early European Art in New Zealand Public Collections, (Random House, 2010), 399 pp., $74.99. Angels & Aristocrats is a landmark, a useful reference, and one can simply enjoy its fine illustrations – though it has limitations and flaws. There has been very little published about the old European […]

Jodie DalgleishRichard Parker: Objectspace Masters of Craft, by Richard Fahey (Objectspace, Auckland, 2010), 119 pp., $35.00. Together with curator and author Richard Fahey and photographer Haru Sameshima, Auckland’s Objectspace gallery has produced a thoughtful and generously illustrated exhibition publication and monograph on the distinctive work of Richard Parker. As Objectspace Director Philip Clarke states in […]

David EggletonBill Culbert: Making Light Work, by Ian Wedde (Auckland University Press, hardback, illustrated, 272 pp., $99.99. Have lightbulb, will travel. Sculptor Bill Culbert embodies the expatriate artist condition. He left New Zealand in 1957 at the age of 21 to attend the Royal College of Art in London and has lived overseas ever since. […]

David Eggleton Artists @ Work: New Zealand Painters and Sculptors in the Studio, Richard Wolfe and Stephen Robinson (Penguin, 2010), 224 pp., $72.00 Developed from a concept initiated by photographer Stephen Robinson, this book documents the creative processes of twenty-four artists within their native habitats. The selected assortment ranges far and wide nationally, though only […]