Roger Mortimer - East of Kaipara

Roger Mortimer's new exhibition East of Kaipara features eight new jewel-like paintings. which will be exhibited alongside Roger’s largest work to date - a 9.8 meter jacquard weaving.

The smaller paintings, despite their relative size to the giant weaving hold their own in its presence – and span the duel coastlines Auckland’s twin harbours: from the Kaipara headland in the east, to Pakari on the west coast, and out to Great Barrier Island. These exquisitely painted works are radiant objects that exude the brilliance of a misty light, giving these paintings real depth – both illusionistically and conceptually. Inky washes of watercolour and rubbed gold dust have been carefully built up in translucent layers, so not to lose the delicate hand of Roger’s initial line work, which is reminiscent of the intricacy & perspective of Persian miniatures and Japanese prints.

East of Kaipara explores by four key aspects of Foucault's ideas on structuralism and cultural maps, as they relate to Aotearoa.

1. Historical and Cultural Narratives: incorporating medieval imagery and historical references, which serves as a visual exploration of these narratives.

2. Power and Knowledge: critiquing past behaviours and cultural history, particularly the processes of English colonization in New Zealand. By doing so, he highlights the power dynamics and historical influences that continue to shape New Zealand's cultural identity today.

3. Identity and Belonging: Mortimer's exploration of Päkehä and Te Ao Mäori relationships aligns with Foucault's interest in how identities are constructed and represented.

4. Myth and Reality: The interplay between myth and reality in Mortimer's work echoes Foucault's examination of how cultural myths shape our understanding of the world.

Roger Mortimer is one of New Zealand's most significant living artists working in the ‘landscape’ genre. Mortimer has been aptly described as ‘a contemporary visual mythologist’ and is widely recognised for his distinctive use of medieval imagery, juxtaposed with early marine maps of Aotearoa. His work gives a post-modern and post-colonial take on the charting of the local coast lines. Mortimer graduated from the Elam School of Fine Arts in 1999.

In 2014 he was the Paramount Award Winner in the Wallace Art awards - one of New Zealand’s top art awards. In 2017, a survey exhibition of his work, ‘Dilemma Hill’, was shown in public galleries in Wellington and Auckland. In 2021 Mortimer had three works included in the landmark exhibition “Oceania Now: Contemporary Art from the Pacific” at Christie’s in Paris – a showcase which represented a unique opportunity for the French and international market to engage with some of the most important and established artists working in New Zealand today. The same year also saw the publishing of: Apocrypha : The Maps of Roger Mortimer - a 160 page monograph with essays examining the last 12 years of Mortimer’s map paintings and weavings. 
Mortimer’s works feature in a range of significant public, corporate and private collections including:

Waikato Museum of Art and History, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato,
The University of Auckland Art Collection, Waipapa Taumata Rau,
The Angela Morton Collection, Takapuna Public Library,
Auckland City Council ,
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
The Wallace Art Trust,
The Ballin Collection