The Big Picture

"Pulse" Darryn George, 2008. Ajr
The classic white cube of the Sutton Gallery at Christchurch Art Gallery was transformed last year when Christchurch-based contemporary Maori artist, Darryn George installed his mammoth, attention-grabbing work PULSE. I leaned against the entrance when I first visited - transfixed - and I listened to passers-by. Their first reaction was invariably astonishment. A team of painters had spent two and a half weeks transferring George’s elaborate design - inspired by the colours and patterns of Maori art and the architectural detail of traditional Maori meeting houses - onto the four walls of the gallery - approximately 300sqm floor-to-ceiling. The large rear wall was in fact a giant ‘wordscape’ created from the Maori word waru, which means eight – George’s reference to “a spiritual time and space beyond the seven days of the week.” The once-simple Sutton Gallery was tansformed into a powerful, almost reverential space. I always felt it a shame the gallery couldn't have stayed that way. www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz