Te Papa touring exhibition Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist | He Ringatoi Hou o Aotearoa will be on display at MTG Hawke’s Bay and opens on Friday 28 June. It brings together 20 works by one of New Zealand’s most iconic 20th-century artists, Rita Angus (1908–1970).
The exhibition runs until Sunday 25 August 2024 and entry is free. The works on display span Angus’ life and career as an artist, drawing out the themes of pacifism, feminism, and nature, which shaped much of her work.
The exhibition includes many of Angus’ most important works, including Rutu, 1951, Cleopatra, 1938, and Central Otago, 1953 56/1969.
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.