Red Square

Red square, with its simple shapes and blocks of colour, illustrates a dramatic shift in Ralph Hotere’s practice, from an expressive style to geometric abstraction.

Hotere was the first Māori artist to be fully recognised by New Zealand’s art mainstream. In 1961, he earned a fellowship to study in London, and then another to travel to France, where he immersed himself in modern European art. The experience was a pivotal one.

The shapes and words that Hotere has used in this and other works of the period (also displayed here) could be a nod to the work of Russian artist Kasimir Malevich (1878–1935). Malevich created geometric, abstract works to ‘free art from the ballast of objectivity’.