Exhibitions » Exhibition Archive » 2010 » Trans-Form: The Abstract Art of Milan Mrkusich
-
Milan Mrkusich, Theme and Counter Theme, 1966. Collection of Suter Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatu, Nelson.
-
Trans-Form: The Abstract Art of Milan Mrkusich installation view, City Gallery Wellington, 2010. Photo: Andrew Beck
-
Trans-Form: The Abstract Art of Milan Mrkusich installation view, City Gallery Wellington, 2010. Photo: Andrew Beck
Trans-Form: The Abstract Art of Milan Mrkusich
20 February - 16 May 2010 in the East Gallery
Now in his early eighties, Milan Mrkusich is one of New Zealand’s leading artists investigating languages of abstraction. With the exception of the 1996 Auckland Art Gallery show of the SixJourney, Mrkusich’s work has not been the sole subject of a show in a public gallery since the retrospective of 51 works at the ACAG in 1985.
Eschewing the format of a retrospective, the exhibition shows Mrkusich’s different responses to the problem of abstraction as it has appeared throughout his career. Perhaps foremost among these are his successful attempts to resolve the perennial dichotomy of form and content, which is a problem that has plagued a number of critics, historians and artists throughout the twentieth century. The show will examine a selection of works from the early 1960s through to his more recent work, using examples drawn from each of his major series of paintings. Works chosen will in the main be drawn from private collections and will not have been seen publicly before.
Born in Dargaville, New Zealand in 1925, during the 1950s Milan Mrkusich was a partner in the Auckland architectural and design firm Brenner Associates, working on a number of architectural commissions. In 1946, he painted the first abstract painting in New Zealand, and his paintings have remained consistently abstract ever since. Major surveys of his work include a retrospective exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery in 1972, followed by Milan Mrkusich: A Decade Further On(1985). In 1982 he was included in the 48th Carnegie International exhibition in Pittsburgh. He was the major figure of the Auckland Art Gallery's The 1950s Show (1992) where he was awarded a section of his own, as well as appearing in the design, architecture and painting sections. Milan Mrkusich: Six Journeys was shown at Auckland Art Gallery in 1996. Mrkusich was made a Member of the Order of New Zealand in 1997 for his services to painting and awarded the status of Icon Artist by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand in 2003. He lives and works in Auckland.
A partnership with the Gus Fisher Gallery, National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, The University of Auckland, curated by Allan Wright and Ed Hanfling. A monograph on Milan Mrkusich will be published by AUP to accompany the exhibition.
Public Programmes
Curator’s Introduction for Trans-Form: The Abstract Art of Milan Mrkusich—Alan Wright and Edward Hanfling
Saturday 20 February, 2pm
Signed Tour for the Deaf Community
Wednesday 7 April, 10.30am
Lecture and Film Presentation—Andrew Clifford
Saturday April 17, 2pm Adam Auditorium
Media release
Festival Season Principal Sponsor
