Executed on three monumental canvases, Blackout Movement is representative of the shift in scale, palette and iconography that occurred in Cotton’s work following his year as the Frances Hodgkins fellow in 1998. Falling into the loose group of ‘Kenehi (Genesis)’ paintings, Blackout Movement presents the viewer with a sprawling expanse of black that is tempered by a string of symbols and words. Blackout Movement elegantly addresses some of Cotton’s key concerns including his poignant exploration of the relationship between the colonial missionaries and the Ngãpuhi iwi. The title of the work explicitly alludes to this tumultuous relationship, referring to an early nineteenth century prophetic sect in the Hokianga of the same name. The first spiritual leader of the sect was Penetana Papahurihia, a direct descendent of visionary seers who was one of many Maori to incorporate aspects of Christianity into their traditional rituals following European contact.1 The phrase ‘Blackout Movement,’ which was also used by Cotton for the title of an exhibition in 2001 can similarly be seen to recognise the tradition of black paintings in New Zealand’s art history, punctuating the oeuvres of artists such as Petrus van der Velden, Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere.2 The right-hand canvas of this tripartite work hosts the Lord’s Prayer, translated into te reo Mãori and repeated sixteen times running down the length of the canvas in small, white freehand. Irregularly spaced, segmented by thin red striations and dotted by a series of mountain peaks, this mesmeric mantra is organically transcribed onto the dark, sober ground. Cotton’s written repetition of the religious prayer, conjurors thoughts of the Catholic rosary that was spoken repeatedly for both penance and prayer. Translated from English to Mãori, it references the early Christian missionaries who were responsible for bringing the so-called ‘light of God’ to the dark fledgling colony of Aotearoa New Zealand and its native people.

Thus, the work illustrates Cotton’s consistent exploration and acknowledgement of the complexities of the relationship between colonials and Mãori. In doing so, Blackout Movement highlights Cotton’s personal bicultural heritage and more generally, the historic identity, and, what Cotton terms, the ‘bi-spirituality’ of colonial New Zealand. Issues of identity reappear on the left canvas in the form of a bold and arresting circle that appears comparatively graphic against Cotton’s hand written prayer. Ornate ‘olde English’ letters are stencilled around the exterior of the circle spelling out the title of the work ‘Blackout Movement’ while encircling a twisting mass of eels. This gang-patch motif first surfaced in Cotton’s work in 2000 and seemingly underscores a search for identity, for a sense of belonging and for camaraderie. The interwoven pool of eels are a motif that appears in Ngãpuhi tribal rituals while also being an ancient symbol for infinity that appears in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Anglo-Saxon metalwork.3 The central canvas of the piece is lyrical and sparse. Hovering in the centre of the austere black field in a small richly red oval, outlined in white, a couple dance. The bubble form is repeated near the bottom of the canvas where a lone male figure is seen wielding a gun, his ghostly twin transposed over a mountain to the right. It is in the lower recesses of the central panel that Cotton’s characteristic landscape forms are given some airing. Here, small illuminated patches of misty white reveal distant fragments of mountain-scapes that undoubtedly map some of New Zealand’s iconic ranges, elegantly alluding to New Zealand’s unique cultural ties to the land.

JEMMA FIELD

1 Lara Strongman, ‘Ruarangi: The Meeting Place Between Sea and Sky – A Consideration of Shane Cotton’s Work 1993 – 2003,’ pp.15-32 in Shane Cotton Survey 1993 – 2003, exh. cat. City Gallery Wellington 2003 (Victoria University Press, 2003), p.26.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., p.27.Executed on three monumental canvases, Blackout Movement is representative of the shift in scale, palette and iconography that occurred in Shane Cotton’s work following his year as the Frances Hodgkins fellow in 1998. Falling into the loose group of ‘Kenehi (Genesis)’ paintings, Blackout Movement presents the viewer with a sprawling expanse of black that is tempered by a string of symbols and words. Blackout Movement elegantly addresses some of Cotton’s key concerns including his poignant exploration of the relationship between the colonial missionaries and the Ngapuhi iwi. The title of the work explicitly alludes to this tumultuous relationship, referring to an early nineteenth-century prophetic sect in the Hokianga of the same name. The first spiritual leader of the sect was Penetana Papahurihia, a direct descendent of visionary seers, who was one of many Maori to incorporate aspects of Christianity into their traditional rituals following European contact.1 The phrase ‘Blackout Movement’, which was also used by Cotton for the title of an exhibition in 2001, can similarly be seen to recognise the tradition of black paintings in New Zealand’s art history, punctuating the oeuvres of artists such as Petrus van der Velden, Colin McCahon and Ralph Hotere.2

Jemma Field, exert.