WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.759 Apple podcast title, The Deep Dive. John Coley, 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.019 the painter who curated New Zealand's art history. 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.880 In this deep dive, we explore the extraordinary 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:11.640 life of John Coley, a pivotal figure in New Zealand 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:14.519 art history. From his beginnings as a cadet reporter 00:00:14.519 --> 00:00:17.379 to becoming a celebrated Canterbury painter and 00:00:17.379 --> 00:00:20.039 the transformative director of the Robert McDougall 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:22.980 Art Gallery, Coley's influence is undeniable. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:25.839 We unpack his controversial championing of Colin 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:28.460 McCann, his founding of the contemporary art 00:00:28.460 --> 00:00:31.160 annex, and his time exhibiting with the legendary 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:34.479 collective The Group. Whether you're an art enthusiast 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:36.500 or just love a story, about visionary leadership, 00:00:36.899 --> 00:00:39.740 this exploration of John Coley's artwork, criticism, 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:42.359 and curation offers a masterclass in shaping 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:44.939 contemporary art culture. Join us to discover 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:47.719 how one artist's colorful life redefined a city's 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:50.659 creative landscape. SEO keywords, John Culley 00:00:50.659 --> 00:00:53.240 artist, New Zealand art history, Robert McDougall 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:55.579 art gallery, Canterbury painters, Colin McCann 00:00:55.579 --> 00:00:57.899 controversy, the group New Zealand, contemporary 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:00.299 art curation, Christchurch art scene. Imagine 00:01:00.299 --> 00:01:03.380 if you were starting your professional life chasing 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:05.019 down local news headlines. You've got a notebook 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:07.439 in your hand. Pounding the pavement. Right. Yeah. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:09.239 Pounding the pavement. And you're just trying 00:01:09.239 --> 00:01:12.280 to capture the everyday, somewhat mundane happenings 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.000 of a regional town. Now imagine taking that very 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.329 specific, highly trained observational eye and 00:01:18.329 --> 00:01:20.450 eventually becoming the ultimate tastemaker for 00:01:20.450 --> 00:01:22.930 an entire nation's art scene. It is quite the 00:01:22.930 --> 00:01:25.269 leap. I mean, it's an incredible trajectory. 00:01:25.430 --> 00:01:27.489 It really is. We are talking about someone who 00:01:27.489 --> 00:01:30.569 is a painter, an art critic and a gallery director 00:01:30.569 --> 00:01:33.790 all rolled into one single career. So welcome 00:01:33.790 --> 00:01:37.750 to the deep dive. Today we have a really fascinating 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:41.150 mission. We are exploring the multifaceted life 00:01:41.150 --> 00:01:43.629 of John William Coley, a man who didn't just 00:01:43.629 --> 00:01:45.590 participate in the New Zealand art world, but 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:47.870 fundamentally engineered it. And engineered is 00:01:47.870 --> 00:01:50.700 the right word. Our analysis today is drawn from 00:01:50.700 --> 00:01:53.739 a comprehensive Wikipedia article detailing Coley's 00:01:53.739 --> 00:01:56.040 journey. And it tracks him starting from his 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.099 birth in Palmerston North in 1935, all the way 00:01:59.099 --> 00:02:01.340 to the highest echelons of New Zealand's gallery 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:04.480 administration. He even earns an MBE later on, 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:06.299 a member of the Order of the British Empire. 00:02:06.420 --> 00:02:08.919 Which is huge. Exactly. But what is truly compelling 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:11.840 about his story is the rarity of that professional 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.210 trifecta. When a single individual wears the 00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:17.530 hats of creator, critic, and curator over the 00:02:17.530 --> 00:02:19.930 span of several decades, they're doing so much 00:02:19.930 --> 00:02:22.569 more than just putting on exhibitions. They're 00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:25.030 shaping the public's visual literacy. They are 00:02:25.030 --> 00:02:27.909 deciding what gets preserved for future generations. 00:02:28.050 --> 00:02:30.710 Okay, let's unpack this because the sheer scope 00:02:30.710 --> 00:02:33.210 of that influence is what makes this so compelling. 00:02:33.770 --> 00:02:35.789 For you listening, think about how often the 00:02:35.789 --> 00:02:38.129 person creating the art is completely separated 00:02:38.129 --> 00:02:40.599 from the person critiquing it. And then they're 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:42.280 both separated from the person deciding to buy 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:45.379 it for a museum. Coley just blurs all those lines. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:48.000 He erases the lines completely. Yeah, he does. 00:02:48.430 --> 00:02:51.090 But to understand how he built that kind of influence, 00:02:51.370 --> 00:02:53.509 we have to look at where he started. And it begins, 00:02:53.569 --> 00:02:56.490 as you said, in 1935 in Palmerston North. Right. 00:02:56.509 --> 00:02:58.830 So he grows up in Palmerston North, and he attends 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:01.330 Palmerston North Boys High School. Now, on the 00:03:01.330 --> 00:03:03.469 surface, that's a fairly standard educational 00:03:03.469 --> 00:03:06.129 beginning for the time. But the crucial detail 00:03:06.129 --> 00:03:08.590 in our source is that he complemented his traditional 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:11.129 schooling by taking evening art classes at the 00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:13.469 city's technical school. Which says a lot about 00:03:13.469 --> 00:03:15.349 his drive right from the start. It really does. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:18.460 Taking evening classes implies a significant 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:21.699 level of self -directed ambition. This wasn't 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:24.139 a mandatory subject squeezed in between math 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:27.259 and geography. This was an active, chosen pursuit 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:30.379 outside of regular school hours. It shows a very 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:32.780 deliberate commitment to the visual arts in an 00:03:32.780 --> 00:03:35.419 era and a location that honestly wasn't inherently 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:38.719 built to foster avant -garde artistic ambitions. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:40.400 I'm really glad you pointed that out because 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:43.280 it sets up a fascinating contrast with his first 00:03:43.900 --> 00:03:46.659 actual step into the workforce. The pull of the 00:03:46.659 --> 00:03:49.300 arts is clearly there, but his first job doesn't 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:51.460 involve a paintbrush. It involves a typewriter. 00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:54.680 He starts his career as a cadet reporter on the 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:57.419 Manawatu Evening Standard. Which is such a brilliant 00:03:57.419 --> 00:04:00.000 detail. Right. Because for anyone who hasn't 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.060 spent time in a newsroom, a cadet reporter is 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:04.900 the absolute ground floor of journalism. You 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:07.419 are doing the heavy lifting of local news, covering 00:04:07.419 --> 00:04:09.900 the town council meetings, the local school fairs, 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:12.509 minor property disputes. And that environment 00:04:12.509 --> 00:04:15.389 is a spectacular cognitive foundation for everything 00:04:15.389 --> 00:04:18.410 he does later. Think about the rigorous training 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:21.870 a cadet reporter undergoes. The fundamental requirement 00:04:21.870 --> 00:04:25.029 is to observe a situation, often a complex or 00:04:25.029 --> 00:04:27.829 chaotic one, without prejudice. You have to record 00:04:27.829 --> 00:04:30.389 the details accurately and then distill those 00:04:30.389 --> 00:04:32.689 events into a clear narrative that the general 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:35.029 public can instantly grasp. You have to answer 00:04:35.029 --> 00:04:37.750 the who, what, when, where, and why. Exactly. 00:04:37.990 --> 00:04:40.129 You learn to strip away the fluff and focus on 00:04:40.129 --> 00:04:43.129 the essence of the story. So how do you see that 00:04:43.129 --> 00:04:46.129 specific journalistic skill set translating into 00:04:46.129 --> 00:04:48.110 the world of fine art? Because on the surface, 00:04:48.449 --> 00:04:50.230 covering a local council meeting and painting 00:04:50.230 --> 00:04:53.350 a canvas, they just seem worlds apart. They seem 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:55.629 different, but the underlying mechanics of observation 00:04:55.629 --> 00:04:57.930 are identical. As a reporter, you're trained 00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:00.350 to look closely at your environment, to notice 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:02.810 the subtle details, the power dynamics in a room, 00:05:03.089 --> 00:05:04.930 the things that ordinary people just walk right 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:07.670 past. When you transition that practiced eye 00:05:07.670 --> 00:05:10.290 to a canvas, you aren't just looking at a landscape, 00:05:10.550 --> 00:05:12.550 you are interrogating it. That makes a lot of 00:05:12.550 --> 00:05:14.970 sense. And furthermore, consider how this background 00:05:14.970 --> 00:05:17.910 serves an art critic. The art world is notoriously 00:05:17.910 --> 00:05:21.050 filled with impenetrable academic jargon. A critic 00:05:21.050 --> 00:05:23.050 with a background in local journalism already 00:05:23.050 --> 00:05:25.689 knows how to construct a logical argument. They 00:05:25.689 --> 00:05:28.129 know how to meet a strict deadline and, crucially, 00:05:28.370 --> 00:05:30.949 how to communicate complex aesthetic ideas to 00:05:30.949 --> 00:05:33.430 a broad everyday readership. They understand 00:05:33.430 --> 00:05:36.050 that if the audience doesn't understand the writing... 00:05:36.139 --> 00:05:38.600 The writing has failed. Which translates directly 00:05:38.600 --> 00:05:40.860 to running a gallery later on, too. You have 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:43.079 to convince local politicians and the general 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:45.339 public that spending money on art is actually 00:05:45.339 --> 00:05:47.639 worth it. If you can speak their language, the 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:50.180 language of the local newspaper, you have a massive 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:52.959 advantage. Precisely. It demystifies the entire 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:55.459 process. It bridges the gap between the somewhat 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:58.079 insular world of fine art and the wider community. 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:01.000 But returning to the timeline while that journalistic 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:03.759 foundation was laid, the pull of the visual arts 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:07.680 eventually wins out. In 1955, Coley makes a significant 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:10.839 geographic and cultural shift. He leaves Palmerston 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:13.019 North and moves to Christchurch to study at the 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.480 Canterbury College School of Art. And the environment 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:18.879 he walks into is astonishing. It's one of those 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:20.560 moments in history where the stars just seem 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.819 to align in one specific room. The source notes 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:26.379 he studied alongside fellow students like Ted 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:29.620 Bracey, Pat Hanley, Gil Tabner, Ted Bulmore, 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.579 Hamish Keith, and Bill Colbert. A phenomenal 00:06:32.579 --> 00:06:35.339 light up. It really is. And he was being taught 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:38.160 by incredibly influential figures like Russell 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:41.000 Clark and Bill Sutton. For you listening, even 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.839 if you aren't deeply embedded in New Zealand 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:46.000 art history, just know that this list reads like 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.879 the foundational DNA of the country's modern 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.339 art movement. It's a remarkable convergence. 00:06:51.699 --> 00:06:54.819 In art history, we frequently see these intense 00:06:54.819 --> 00:06:56.899 pockets of talent that happen to coalesce in 00:06:56.899 --> 00:06:59.800 one place at one time. When you have a cohort 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:02.160 of that caliber, The learning doesn't just come 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.000 from the instructors. Though Clark and Sutton 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.379 were pivotal figures, they brought a new level 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:08.720 of professionalism and regional identity to New 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:11.100 Zealand painting. But the real education often 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:13.139 comes from the friction and the collaboration 00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:15.100 with your peers. Right. You're constantly pushing 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:17.600 each other. Exactly. You're in an environment 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:20.779 of constant, intense dialogue. You're competing, 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:24.000 challenging each other's ideas and collectively 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:26.040 pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:29.259 It is a highly pressurized incubator for talent. 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:31.920 I'm looking at this period and there's a physical 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:34.480 detail in the source that feels almost symbolic 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:37.180 of what you're describing. During Coley's time 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:39.879 at the school, the institution physically moved. 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:42.620 It relocated from its original historic site 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:44.519 right in the center of the city out to a new 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:47.480 location in a suburb called Elam. That physical 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:50.339 transition is incredibly telling. Moving a major 00:07:50.339 --> 00:07:53.019 institution is a massive disruption, but it also 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:56.180 provides a blank slate. The move to Elam mirrors 00:07:56.180 --> 00:07:58.600 the broader ideological transition of the art 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:00.740 scene itself during that era. They're leaving 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:03.220 behind the dense, traditional, perhaps slightly 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:05.620 rigid confines of the established city center. 00:08:05.860 --> 00:08:08.079 And they're moving into a newer, more expansive 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:10.519 space. It's a physical manifestation of the shift 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:13.199 toward modernism. Right. When an institution 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:16.139 changes its geography, it often sheds some of 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:19.540 its old, inherited traditions. For a young observant 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:22.079 artist like Coley, experiencing that disruption 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:24.860 and spatial renewal firsthand would have been 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:27.519 a profound lesson, a lesson in how environments 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:30.019 dictate creative possibilities. He's learning 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:33.179 that the space where art happens is just as important 00:08:33.179 --> 00:08:36.200 as the art itself. So he absorbs all of this, 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.299 the rigorous peer group, the institutional shift, 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.000 the instruction from Clark and Sutton. He graduates 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.529 in 1957. But his next move is interesting. He 00:08:45.529 --> 00:08:47.789 doesn't immediately retreat to a solitary studio 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:50.190 to focus solely on his own exhibitions. He goes 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:52.490 into teaching. Yes, he teaches at Papua Nui High 00:08:52.490 --> 00:08:54.350 School and later in the art department of the 00:08:54.350 --> 00:08:56.490 Christchurch Teachers College. Which perfectly 00:08:56.490 --> 00:08:58.509 aligns with those communication skills he honed 00:08:58.509 --> 00:09:01.259 as a reporter. Teaching requires taking complex 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:04.039 abstract concepts and finding practical accessible 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:06.519 ways to explain them to a novice audience. He 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:09.320 is figuring out how to articulate his own artistic 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.960 philosophy by teaching it to the next generation. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:14.759 But crucially, he doesn't let his teaching career 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:18.259 suppress his own creative output. Just two years 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:21.679 after graduating in 1959, he secures his first 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.389 solo show at Gallery 91. Securing a solo show 00:09:25.389 --> 00:09:27.470 that quickly, especially while holding down a 00:09:27.470 --> 00:09:30.789 demanding teaching job, is no small feat. And 00:09:30.789 --> 00:09:32.690 the critical reception of that show is really 00:09:32.690 --> 00:09:35.370 worth examining. The art critic for the press 00:09:35.370 --> 00:09:37.289 newspaper at the time, Nelson Kenney, reviewed 00:09:37.289 --> 00:09:39.809 Coley's work. Kenney noted that Coley had the 00:09:39.809 --> 00:09:42.279 gift of a colorist. He described his work as 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:45.019 having a good, unforced feeling for paint and 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:46.820 mentioned that he was best in his larger paintings. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:48.879 Those are very revealing comments. Let's break 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.559 that down because calling someone a colorist 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.679 feels like a very specific, weighted term in 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:55.600 art criticism. It is a highly specific compliment. 00:09:55.909 --> 00:09:58.909 To be identified as a colorist means that your 00:09:58.909 --> 00:10:01.549 primary mechanism for expression, the way you 00:10:01.549 --> 00:10:03.809 build structure, convey emotion and create depth 00:10:03.809 --> 00:10:06.370 in a painting, is achieved through the interaction 00:10:06.370 --> 00:10:08.950 of colors rather than relying strictly on precise 00:10:08.950 --> 00:10:12.190 line drawing or rigid shading. A true colorist 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:14.169 has an intuitive understanding of how colors 00:10:14.169 --> 00:10:16.470 push and pull against each other. They know how 00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:19.470 a specific blue placed next to a specific orange 00:10:19.470 --> 00:10:22.429 will create a vibration on the canvas. Exactly. 00:10:22.730 --> 00:10:25.250 And what about that phrase, an unforced feeling 00:10:25.250 --> 00:10:27.850 for paint? That speaks to his technical fluency. 00:10:28.470 --> 00:10:30.649 When a painting looks labored over, when you 00:10:30.649 --> 00:10:32.409 can see the struggle in the brush strokes, it 00:10:32.409 --> 00:10:34.909 can distance the viewer. An unforced feeling 00:10:34.909 --> 00:10:37.450 implies a natural confidence, a spontaneity. 00:10:37.830 --> 00:10:39.629 It suggests that the paint is flowing naturally 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:41.929 from his intention to the canvas without getting 00:10:41.929 --> 00:10:44.629 bogged down and overthinking. And Kenny's observation 00:10:44.629 --> 00:10:46.809 that Coley excelled in his larger paintings tells 00:10:46.809 --> 00:10:49.769 us that he had a bold, expansive vision. He needed 00:10:49.769 --> 00:10:52.009 physical scale to allow those color interactions 00:10:52.009 --> 00:10:54.590 to fully resonate. He wasn't a miniaturist. He 00:10:54.590 --> 00:10:57.830 was creating immersive visual experiences. So 00:10:57.830 --> 00:10:59.929 if we synthesize all of this, we have a really 00:10:59.929 --> 00:11:02.350 fascinating profile. We have a young man in his 00:11:02.350 --> 00:11:05.230 20s who possesses the objective analytical eye 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:08.570 of a trained journalist. He has the clear communication 00:11:08.570 --> 00:11:11.389 skills of an educator. He has the rigorous artistic 00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:13.330 foundation from the country's best instructors 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:16.409 and the intuitive emotional power of a natural 00:11:16.409 --> 00:11:19.110 colorist who likes to work large. The question 00:11:19.110 --> 00:11:21.789 for you listening is what happens next? How does 00:11:21.789 --> 00:11:23.929 a talented local figure with all these diverse 00:11:23.929 --> 00:11:27.299 skills step off the local stage? and begin to 00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:30.100 influence the national conversation. That transition 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:32.840 begins with a crucial invitation. Starting in 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:35.860 1960, just a yump after that successful solo 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.919 debut, Coley is invited to exhibit with a highly 00:11:38.919 --> 00:11:41.379 influential collective known simply as The Group. 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:43.679 And this wasn't a one -time guest appearance. 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:45.700 He exhibited with them almost annually, with 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:48.820 the exceptions of 1966 and 1968, all the way 00:11:48.820 --> 00:11:53.039 up until their final show in 1977. 17 years is 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.279 an incredible commitment to a single collective. 00:11:55.580 --> 00:11:57.940 For those who might be unfamiliar with the mechanics 00:11:57.940 --> 00:12:00.620 of the mid -century New Zealand art world, why 00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:02.580 was an invitation to the group such a critical 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:05.500 milestone? To understand the significance of 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:07.899 the group, you have to understand the environment 00:12:07.899 --> 00:12:10.580 they were reacting against. They had formed decades 00:12:10.580 --> 00:12:13.440 earlier as a direct rebellion against the conservative 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:15.779 traditionalist art societies that dominated the 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:18.970 country. Those older societies had very rigid, 00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:22.730 often outdated European ideas about what constituted 00:12:22.730 --> 00:12:25.389 proper art. Usually highly representational, 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:28.529 polite landscapes and portraits. Yes. The group 00:12:28.529 --> 00:12:31.080 was the vanguard. They were the champions of 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:33.059 modernism progression and pushing boundaries. 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:36.799 So for Coley to be invited to join them in 1960, 00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:39.580 it was essentially the ultimate stamp of credibility. 00:12:40.059 --> 00:12:42.279 It meant he was recognized by the most forward 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:44.240 thinking minds in the country. It's like being 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:46.740 drafted onto the all star team of the avant -garde. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:49.840 Precisely. But the real value wasn't just the 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.740 prestige. It was the continuous, rigorous dialogue. 00:12:52.990 --> 00:12:55.350 By exhibiting with them annually, he was never 00:12:55.350 --> 00:12:58.230 allowed to rest on his laurels. Every year, he 00:12:58.230 --> 00:13:00.389 had to produce new work that could stand shoulder 00:13:00.389 --> 00:13:02.610 to shoulder with the best artists in New Zealand. 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:05.870 It forces a level of ongoing evolution. It does. 00:13:06.090 --> 00:13:08.450 A self -critique that is essential for a long 00:13:08.450 --> 00:13:10.710 -term career. He was embedded in a community 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:13.309 that demanded excellence and innovation. And 00:13:13.309 --> 00:13:16.049 right in the middle of this period of intense 00:13:16.049 --> 00:13:18.450 local engagement, his perspective gets blown 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:22.440 wide open on a global scale. In 1964, Coley receives 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:25.200 a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:27.700 and he uses it to travel to the United States. 00:13:27.950 --> 00:13:30.409 The importance of that trip cannot be overstated. 00:13:30.870 --> 00:13:33.230 Today, we take global connectivity for granted. 00:13:33.570 --> 00:13:36.169 If an artist in New York or London mounts a groundbreaking 00:13:36.169 --> 00:13:38.629 exhibition, we can see high -definition images 00:13:38.629 --> 00:13:41.690 of it on our phones within seconds. We exist 00:13:41.690 --> 00:13:44.690 in a constant, instantaneous visual stream. But 00:13:44.690 --> 00:13:47.950 in 1964, New Zealand was geographically and culturally 00:13:47.950 --> 00:13:50.649 isolated to a degree that is hard to fathom now. 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:52.950 Very much so. Artists relied on imported art 00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:55.110 magazines that often arrived months late. And 00:13:55.110 --> 00:13:57.450 the reproductions were usually small, poor quality. 00:13:57.289 --> 00:13:59.309 black and white images. You were essentially 00:13:59.309 --> 00:14:01.049 looking at shadows of what was happening in the 00:14:01.049 --> 00:14:03.389 rest of the world. I try to imagine what that 00:14:03.389 --> 00:14:06.190 contrast must have felt like. To go from a relatively 00:14:06.190 --> 00:14:09.309 quiet, isolated post -war environment in New 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:11.289 Zealand and suddenly step into the United States 00:14:11.289 --> 00:14:15.649 in 1964, you have the explosion of pop art, the 00:14:15.649 --> 00:14:18.610 lingering giants of abstract expressionism, the 00:14:18.610 --> 00:14:21.149 beginnings of minimalism. It must have been completely 00:14:21.149 --> 00:14:23.250 overwhelming. It would have been a seismic shock 00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:26.620 to the system. Pop art alone with its embrace 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:29.539 of mass media commercial techniques and bright 00:14:29.539 --> 00:14:32.580 flat colors was fundamentally challenging the 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:35.659 definition of fine art. To experience that firsthand, 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:38.480 to see the scale of the canvases, to feel the 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.500 cultural energy of the American art scene in 00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:43.740 the mid -60s, it fundamentally rewires an artist's 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:46.259 brain. He's absorbing these global contemporary 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:48.360 ideas and bringing them back to a nation that 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:51.179 is still finding its modern footing. It's a vital 00:14:51.179 --> 00:14:53.769 act of cultural cross -pollination. And the most 00:14:53.769 --> 00:14:55.769 fascinating part is how he chooses to apply what 00:14:55.769 --> 00:14:57.809 he learned. He doesn't just return to Christchurch 00:14:57.809 --> 00:15:00.070 and start painting derivative pop art for exclusive 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:03.029 gallery shows. He brings back a philosophy. Yes. 00:15:03.230 --> 00:15:05.690 And after returning, he helps form an initiative 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.730 called 2020 Vision. He's collaborating with some 00:15:08.730 --> 00:15:10.490 of the artists he knew from his student days, 00:15:10.909 --> 00:15:13.149 people like Greer Twist, Derek Mitchell and Don 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:16.289 Peebles. And here's the detail from the source 00:15:16.289 --> 00:15:19.399 that I absolutely love. They produced commercially 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:21.960 screen -printed artist prints, and they sold 00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:25.519 them to the public for $2 each. That detail is 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.600 the crux of his philosophy. Think about the traditional 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:31.519 gallery model which is inherently built on scarcity 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:34.289 and exclusivity. You have one original oil painting, 00:15:34.529 --> 00:15:37.509 it carries a massive price tag, and it is accessible 00:15:37.509 --> 00:15:40.330 only to wealthy individuals or major institutions. 00:15:40.769 --> 00:15:42.769 By utilizing commercial screen printing, Coley 00:15:42.769 --> 00:15:45.730 and his peers were subverting that entire paradigm. 00:15:46.029 --> 00:15:48.309 Because screen printing is a technique heavily 00:15:48.309 --> 00:15:50.759 associated with the commercial world. printing 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:53.320 posters, advertising, and of course the pop art 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:55.559 movement he likely witnessed in the States. It 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:57.620 allows for the production of identical multiples. 00:15:57.940 --> 00:15:59.799 So by changing the method of production, they 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:02.340 completely changed the audience. Two dollars 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:04.840 means that fine art is no longer a luxury good. 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:07.679 Exactly. It's a radical democratization of culture. 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:10.720 Selling a piece of fine art by recognized serious 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.799 practitioners for the price of a couple of cups 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.259 of coffee meant that a university student, a 00:16:15.259 --> 00:16:18.179 young family, or an everyday worker could actually 00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:21.690 own and live with contemporary art. It breaks 00:16:21.690 --> 00:16:23.830 down the invisible walls that surround the fine 00:16:23.830 --> 00:16:26.389 art world. It states unequivocally that art should 00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:28.870 be integrated into the daily lives of the public, 00:16:29.149 --> 00:16:32.090 not just locked away in affluent homes. This 00:16:32.090 --> 00:16:34.750 generous populist approach aligns perfectly with 00:16:34.750 --> 00:16:37.470 his background in journalism and education. He 00:16:37.470 --> 00:16:39.730 wants the message to reach as many people as 00:16:39.730 --> 00:16:42.149 possible. The insight here for you listening 00:16:42.149 --> 00:16:44.230 isn't just that he found a clever way to sell 00:16:44.230 --> 00:16:46.909 cheap art. It's that he realized curation and 00:16:46.909 --> 00:16:49.210 distribution are forms of civic engineering. 00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:52.120 If you change who can afford to own art, you 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:53.779 fundamentally change who the culture belongs 00:16:53.779 --> 00:16:55.799 to. You empower the public. That's a great way 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.220 to put it. But while he's doing this incredible 00:16:58.220 --> 00:17:01.539 community -focused work, his own personal painting 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:05.200 practice is also hitting a major peak. In 1967, 00:17:05.619 --> 00:17:07.779 he begins what is noted in the source as his 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:10.019 best -known body of work, the Abacus series. 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:12.599 And we know that an example of this series is 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:14.559 held today by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.279 The abacus series is where we see all his influences 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.140 beautifully synthesized. An abacus at its core 00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:22.880 is a grid. It is an ancient tool for calculations 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.680 structured in rigid columns and rows utilizing 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:28.799 movable beads. Visually translating an abacus 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.279 into a painting implies a deep fascination with 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:33.480 structure, mathematical repetition, and order. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:35.420 But I'm looking at this timeline and it feels 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:37.960 almost contradictory. He's painting these highly 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:41.240 structured almost rigid grid -like pieces, but 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:42.839 at the same time we know the critics praised 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:44.940 him for having a fluid, unforced emotional use 00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:48.039 of color. How do those two concepts, the rigid 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.500 calculation of an abacus and the intuitive emotion 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:53.680 of a colorist, coexist on the same canvas? That 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:55.819 inherent tension is exactly what makes the series 00:17:55.819 --> 00:17:58.579 successful. The grid of the abacus provides the 00:17:58.579 --> 00:18:00.680 architecture, it gives the painting a strict 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:03.819 rational framework, but the color provides the 00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:07.640 life, the emotion, and the movement. If you merge 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:09.920 a mathematical structure with the emotive power 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.480 of pure color, you create a dynamic visual experience. 00:18:13.819 --> 00:18:16.019 The viewer is drawn in by the logic of the grid, 00:18:16.380 --> 00:18:18.859 but they're moved by the interaction of the hues. 00:18:19.220 --> 00:18:22.160 Yes. This kind of systematic, yet expressive 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.599 exploration of form was very much in the global 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:27.880 zeitgeist of the late 1960s. And it shows Coley 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:30.519 successfully marrying international trends with 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:33.019 his own innate sensibilities. It's a brilliant 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:35.640 balance. He's mathematically calculating the 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:38.160 emotional impact of his palate. And it's clear 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.039 that this kind of rigorous structural thinking 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:42.420 wasn't going to be limited to his canvases forever, 00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:45.059 because as we move into the 1980s, Coley takes 00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:47.400 on a role that requires him to think structurally 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:50.799 on a massive civic scale. Right. In 1981, he 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:52.900 steps into the directorship of the Robert McDougall 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:55.599 Art Gallery in Christchurch. This is a monumental 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:58.279 pivot. We are shifting from Coley, the individual 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:00.980 creator, to Coley, the institutional leader. 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:03.400 He takes over the directorship from Rodney Wilson. 00:19:03.579 --> 00:19:07.359 And the context of this handover is vital. Wilson 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.420 didn't simply hand over the keys and quietly 00:19:09.420 --> 00:19:12.460 retire. No, he didn't. He left a very public, 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:15.359 very pointed parting challenge. Wilson stated 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:17.460 that Christchurch deserved a bigger and better 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:20.019 gallery than it currently possessed, and specifically 00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:22.660 that it deserves spaces better suited to contemporary 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:25.119 works. That is quite the gauntlet to throw down 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:27.700 on your way out the door. He's essentially publicly 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:30.599 diagnosing the institution's flaws and demanding 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:33.400 his successor fix them. It is a profound challenge 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:35.940 and it highlights the realities of gallery architecture 00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:38.539 at the time. The old Robert McDougall building 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:40.759 with its classical architecture was likely well 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:42.880 suited for traditional domestic scale paintings. 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:45.900 But contemporary art, as Coley well knew from 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:48.059 his time in America and his own practice, often 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:51.039 requires large, flexible, robust spaces. It can 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.700 be massive, it can be multimedia, it can be disruptive. 00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:56.839 Exactly. Wilson was pointing out that the physical 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:59.460 infrastructure was failing the art. Coley took 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:01.599 this challenge head on. He didn't just maintain 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:04.420 the status quo. He stayed in the role for 15 00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:07.420 years, and his impact was described in incredibly 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:10.980 vivid terms. Vivid is the right word. The source 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:13.200 shares a quote from the artist Steve Furlonger, 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.279 who described Coley's arrival at the gallery 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:18.740 as the kiss of life. When you think about that 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:20.880 phrase, you only administer the kiss of life 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:23.099 to something that is unconscious, unresponsive, 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:26.269 or dying. That paints a rather grim picture of 00:20:26.269 --> 00:20:28.329 what the gallery's energy must have felt like 00:20:28.329 --> 00:20:31.170 prior to his arrival and the sheer vitality he 00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:33.789 injected into it. To have a working artist describe 00:20:33.789 --> 00:20:36.089 an institutional director's arrival as the kiss 00:20:36.089 --> 00:20:39.210 of life is the highest possible praise. It implies 00:20:39.210 --> 00:20:41.250 that Coley brought an immediate sense of relevance 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:43.369 and deep empathy for the artists themselves, 00:20:43.750 --> 00:20:45.589 because of course he was one of them. He had 00:20:45.589 --> 00:20:47.490 exhibited with the group he had hustled to sell 00:20:47.490 --> 00:20:50.099 two dollar prints. He understood the financial 00:20:50.099 --> 00:20:51.920 and creative struggles of the practitioners. 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:54.779 He wasn't an isolated academic bureaucrat who 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:57.160 only cared about historical preservation. He 00:20:57.160 --> 00:20:59.619 was an active participant in the living ecosystem 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:02.359 of the art world. But being an active participant 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:05.799 and having a bold vision means you are inevitably 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.779 going to collide with public expectations. And 00:21:08.779 --> 00:21:10.700 this leads us to one of the most defining and 00:21:10.700 --> 00:21:12.839 controversial moments of his tenure. The McCann 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:16.619 Purchase. Yes. In 1982, literally just a year 00:21:16.619 --> 00:21:19.920 after taking the job, Coley uses gallery funds 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.859 to purchase a painting by Colin McCann titled, 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:26.000 As There is a Constant Flow of Light. And the 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.440 source material explicitly notes this decision 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:30.859 was not well received by the public. This incident 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:33.500 is a masterclass in the tension between curatorial 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:36.119 responsibility and public funding. To understand 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:38.680 the outrage, we have to understand Colin McCann. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:41.539 Today, McCann is widely regarded as one of the 00:21:41.539 --> 00:21:43.480 most important, if not the single most important 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:45.579 New Zealand painter of the 20th century. But 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:48.920 his work is notoriously challenging. It is. He 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:51.759 didn't paint pretty decorative landscapes. His 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:54.640 work often featured stark painted text, deep 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.819 explorations of religious doubt, harsh contrasts 00:21:57.819 --> 00:22:01.140 of light and dark and rugged, unforgiving depictions 00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:04.279 of the New Zealand environment. It did not offer 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:06.519 easy comfort to the viewer. And what makes this 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:09.779 even more fascinating is that Christchurch already 00:22:09.779 --> 00:22:12.200 had serious historical baggage when it came to 00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:14.980 McCann. This wasn't the city's first rodeo with 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:17.369 his work. Far from it. The source notes that 00:22:17.369 --> 00:22:20.049 years previously, another McCann painting, ironically 00:22:20.049 --> 00:22:22.809 titled Tomorrow Will Be the Same, but not as 00:22:22.809 --> 00:22:25.509 this as had been shown at Gallery 91. When the 00:22:25.509 --> 00:22:27.990 city librarian at the time, Ron O 'Reilly, attempted 00:22:27.990 --> 00:22:30.329 to simply donate that painting to the city gallery, 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:33.190 it caused a massive public uproar. The local 00:22:33.190 --> 00:22:35.329 taxpayers were furious over a painting that was 00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:37.549 being given to them for free. The historical 00:22:37.549 --> 00:22:40.160 context is crucial. The public resistance to 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.480 McCann and Christchurch was a known hornet's 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.640 nest. It was a guaranteed trigger for public 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:46.819 outrage. The fact that the city had previously 00:22:46.819 --> 00:22:49.259 rejected a free McCann tells you everything you 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:51.039 need to know about the aesthetic conservatism 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:53.940 of the public at that time. And yet, Coley, fully 00:22:53.940 --> 00:22:56.440 aware of this bitter history, steps into the 00:22:56.440 --> 00:22:59.460 directorship and deliberately uses public gallery 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:03.380 funds to purchase. As there is a constant flow 00:23:03.380 --> 00:23:06.359 of light, it takes an incredible amount of nerve 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:09.079 to do that in your first year on the job. What 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:11.359 does that decision tell us about his philosophy 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:14.039 as a director? It demonstrates that he possessed 00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:17.720 an unwavering curatorial conviction. He was willing 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:20.359 to endure the wrath of the local taxpayers, the 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:23.240 scrutiny of local politicians, and the inevitable 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:26.279 negative headlines in the press in order to champion 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:29.299 art that he knew was historically vital. He understood 00:23:29.299 --> 00:23:31.359 a fundamental truth about public institutions. 00:23:32.019 --> 00:23:34.359 A gallery's role is not merely to reflect the 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:36.380 comfortable current tastes of its audience. Its 00:23:36.380 --> 00:23:38.579 role is to challenge those tastes, to educate 00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:40.500 the public's palate, and to preserve what is 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:43.200 genuinely significant even if it is deeply unpopular 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:45.900 in the moment. He wasn't just managing a collection, 00:23:46.019 --> 00:23:48.920 he was leading the culture. It requires immense 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:50.900 fortitude to spend public money on something 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:53.400 you know will cause outrage simply because you 00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:55.819 know that in 50 years art historians will thank 00:23:55.819 --> 00:23:58.359 you for it. He's playing the ultimate long game. 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:01.019 And he certainly didn't back down on his belief 00:24:01.019 --> 00:24:04.180 in McCann's value. In fact, he leveraged it brilliantly 00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:08.279 on the international stage. In 1986, Coley executes 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:11.200 a fascinating piece of cultural diplomacy. He 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:14.160 travels to Australia and meets with James Mollison, 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:16.940 who is the very first director of the newly established 00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:19.539 National Gallery of Australia. This is a highly 00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:22.200 strategic move. The National Gallery of Australia 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:25.680 was a massive, ambitious new institution looking 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:28.480 to establish its international footprint. Coley 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:31.140 meets with Mollison and arranges a specific exchange. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:34.420 He offers to loan another major McCann masterpiece, 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:37.299 The Crucifixion, according to St. Mark, to feature 00:24:37.299 --> 00:24:39.440 in the Australian Gallery's inaugural installations. 00:24:39.859 --> 00:24:42.099 And for those unfamiliar with museum politics, 00:24:42.619 --> 00:24:44.539 securing a spot in an inaugural installation 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:46.960 is a huge deal, isn't it? It sets the tone for 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.359 how the institution views the hierarchy of international 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:53.019 art. Absolutely. An inaugural exhibition is heavily 00:24:53.019 --> 00:24:55.609 scrutinized. By placing a McCann in that specific 00:24:55.609 --> 00:24:57.750 context, Coley is forcefully asserting that New 00:24:57.750 --> 00:24:59.690 Zealand contemporary art deserves to sit on the 00:24:59.690 --> 00:25:01.650 same stage as the international heavyweights. 00:25:01.930 --> 00:25:04.369 He is exporting New Zealand's cultural relevance. 00:25:04.849 --> 00:25:08.349 But crucially, it was an exchange. Yes. In return 00:25:08.349 --> 00:25:10.890 for the McCann loan, Coley arranged for the Robert 00:25:10.890 --> 00:25:13.609 MacDougall Art Gallery to receive a loaned painting 00:25:13.609 --> 00:25:16.569 by the highly prominent Australian artist Arthur 00:25:16.569 --> 00:25:19.000 Boyd. So think about the mechanics of this from 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:20.980 the listener's perspective. You're running a 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:23.420 regional gallery in New Zealand. You take your 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:26.339 most challenging, perhaps locally controversial 00:25:26.339 --> 00:25:29.480 artist and you use him as leverage to elevate 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:32.160 your country's art profile internationally. And 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:35.079 simultaneously you bring back a major significant 00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:37.140 international work for your local audience in 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:39.900 Christchurch to experience. It's a win -win that 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:42.539 broadens the cultural conversation in both directions. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:45.019 It shows Coley operating not just as a local 00:25:45.019 --> 00:25:47.299 curator but as an international cultural broker. 00:25:47.740 --> 00:25:49.759 He understood how to utilize the assets within 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:52.359 his collection to maximize both international 00:25:52.359 --> 00:25:55.480 exposure for New Zealand artists and educational 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:58.680 value for his local audience. It's a highly sophisticated 00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:00.990 deployment of institutional power. And speaking 00:26:00.990 --> 00:26:03.650 of institutional power, he hasn't forgotten the 00:26:03.650 --> 00:26:05.410 challenge that Rodney Wilson laid down when he 00:26:05.410 --> 00:26:08.349 first took the job. Wilson said the city needed 00:26:08.349 --> 00:26:11.130 spaces better suited to contemporary works. Coley 00:26:11.130 --> 00:26:14.210 heard that, and in 1988 he physically built it. 00:26:14.549 --> 00:26:16.869 He created the Robert MacDougal Contemporary 00:26:16.869 --> 00:26:20.089 Art Annex. This is perhaps one of his most tangible 00:26:20.089 --> 00:26:23.230 lasting legacies. By establishing a dedicated 00:26:23.230 --> 00:26:25.970 annex specifically for contemporary art, he was 00:26:25.970 --> 00:26:28.849 structurally solving the problem Wilson had identified. 00:26:29.389 --> 00:26:31.890 And the location he chose for this annex is deeply 00:26:31.890 --> 00:26:34.710 poetic. It was located in the Arts Center, which 00:26:34.710 --> 00:26:36.650 was formerly the town location of the University 00:26:36.650 --> 00:26:39.049 of Canterbury. I love the symmetry of this. If 00:26:39.049 --> 00:26:41.490 we trace the timeline back, where did Coley study 00:26:41.490 --> 00:26:44.410 in 1955? He studied at the Canterbury College 00:26:44.410 --> 00:26:45.849 School of Art right there in the city center 00:26:45.849 --> 00:26:47.569 before the whole school packed up and moved out 00:26:47.569 --> 00:26:50.839 to Elam. The symmetry is profound. By opening 00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:52.940 this vital new space for the avant -garde in 00:26:52.940 --> 00:26:55.599 that specific location, he is bringing the contemporary 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:58.220 energy right back to the very halls where he 00:26:58.220 --> 00:27:00.480 and that legendary cohort of artists like Hanley 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.839 and Colbert had cut their teeth decades earlier. 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:05.660 It is a geographical homecoming, but it has been 00:27:05.660 --> 00:27:07.720 entirely repurposed to serve the next generation. 00:27:07.849 --> 00:27:10.210 And the programming for this annex was intensely 00:27:10.210 --> 00:27:12.849 focused on the local and the current. The source 00:27:12.849 --> 00:27:14.829 lists several incredible exhibitions that took 00:27:14.829 --> 00:27:17.430 place there, and looking at them as a whole really 00:27:17.430 --> 00:27:20.089 reveals his vision. The opening exhibition in 00:27:20.089 --> 00:27:23.109 1988 was titled Here and Now. And it featured 00:27:23.109 --> 00:27:25.730 12 emerging Canterbury artists, including names 00:27:25.730 --> 00:27:28.329 that would become huge in the industry. Joanna 00:27:28.329 --> 00:27:31.190 Braithwaite, Jason Gregg, Grant Lingard, Philip 00:27:31.190 --> 00:27:34.089 Price and others. The title itself here and now 00:27:34.089 --> 00:27:37.170 operates as a manifesto. It is a loud declaration 00:27:37.170 --> 00:27:39.589 that the gallery is not just a mausoleum for 00:27:39.589 --> 00:27:42.190 the dead and historically established. It is 00:27:42.190 --> 00:27:44.630 a living, breathing entity that actively supports 00:27:44.630 --> 00:27:47.309 the artists currently working in the city. By 00:27:47.309 --> 00:27:49.710 giving 12 emerging young artists the immense 00:27:49.710 --> 00:27:52.529 prestige of the opening show at a brand new institutional 00:27:52.529 --> 00:27:55.430 space, Coley was validating their practice in 00:27:55.430 --> 00:27:57.809 real time. He was telling the public, pay attention 00:27:57.809 --> 00:27:59.509 to what is happening in your city right at this 00:27:59.509 --> 00:28:01.789 very moment. And he pushed that concept even 00:28:01.789 --> 00:28:05.269 further. In 1992, the Annex hosted an exhibition 00:28:05.269 --> 00:28:08.470 called Prospect Canterbury 92. It was curated 00:28:08.470 --> 00:28:11.109 by Laura Strongman and it featured works by over 00:28:11.109 --> 00:28:14.400 50 artists. But the astonishing detail is that 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:17.000 every single piece of work in that show was completed 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:19.630 in that very same year. That is an incredibly 00:28:19.630 --> 00:28:22.190 aggressive turnaround for a major public institution. 00:28:22.529 --> 00:28:24.710 Typically, institutional curation operates on 00:28:24.710 --> 00:28:27.289 a significant delay, often years if not decades. 00:28:27.930 --> 00:28:30.289 Curators wait to see what has proven to be historically 00:28:30.289 --> 00:28:32.269 significant before committing it to the gallery 00:28:32.269 --> 00:28:35.369 walls. To host an exhibition of over 50 artists 00:28:35.369 --> 00:28:38.309 showing work made that year is essentially executing 00:28:38.309 --> 00:28:41.690 live journalism within a gallery space. It connects 00:28:41.690 --> 00:28:43.710 right back to his roots as a cadet reporter. 00:28:44.410 --> 00:28:47.150 Capturing the immediate messy reality of the 00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:49.309 present moment before the ink has even dried. 00:28:49.849 --> 00:28:52.690 I ask you to consider how does establishing a 00:28:52.690 --> 00:28:55.309 dedicated space for the immediate present change 00:28:55.309 --> 00:28:58.230 the creative ecosystem of an entire city? It 00:28:58.230 --> 00:29:00.809 has to change everything. If you are a young 00:29:00.809 --> 00:29:02.730 artist and you know there is an institutional 00:29:02.730 --> 00:29:05.210 space explicitly dedicated to what is happening 00:29:05.210 --> 00:29:07.890 right now, it gives you a tangible target. You 00:29:07.890 --> 00:29:10.390 don't have to wait until you are 60 to be recognized 00:29:10.390 --> 00:29:13.109 by your city's major gallery. It provides hope 00:29:13.109 --> 00:29:15.640 and motivation. It does and crucially it helps 00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:18.400 prevent the talent drain. If young artists feel 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:21.099 seen validated and supported by their local institutions 00:29:21.099 --> 00:29:23.220 they are far more likely to stay and build the 00:29:23.220 --> 00:29:25.599 culture locally rather than fleeing to larger 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:28.460 more established centers overseas. The Annex 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:30.799 under Coley's direction acted as an anchor for 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:33.319 the contemporary scene in Christchurch. The Annex 00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:35.640 also hosted other culturally significant shows. 00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:39.839 In 1994, an exhibition titled Araki Hikurangi, 00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:42.420 which points to a deepening institutional engagement 00:29:42.420 --> 00:29:45.299 with bicultural themes and the specifics of New 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:48.279 Zealand's indigenous identity. And then in 1995, 00:29:48.539 --> 00:29:50.960 Canterbury Bells, an exhibition featuring female 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.970 contemporary artists like Julia Morrison. Margaret 00:29:53.970 --> 00:29:56.809 Dawson, and Mary Kay. Highlighting female artists 00:29:56.809 --> 00:29:59.250 in a focus named exhibition is another critical 00:29:59.250 --> 00:30:01.609 step in broadening the historical narrative beyond 00:30:01.609 --> 00:30:04.369 the traditional male -dominated canon. These 00:30:04.369 --> 00:30:06.609 exhibitions show a gallery program that is highly 00:30:06.609 --> 00:30:09.490 responsive, diverse, and deeply embedded in its 00:30:09.490 --> 00:30:12.829 specific geographic and cultural context. Coley 00:30:12.829 --> 00:30:15.109 wasn't just importing culture from abroad, he 00:30:15.109 --> 00:30:17.250 was cultivating it directly from the soil of 00:30:17.250 --> 00:30:19.410 Canterbury. The contemporary art annex remained 00:30:19.410 --> 00:30:21.869 a vital space for 12 years, eventually closing 00:30:21.869 --> 00:30:24.529 in 2000. Coley himself stepped down as director 00:30:24.529 --> 00:30:27.549 a bit earlier in 1995 and was replaced by Tony 00:30:27.549 --> 00:30:30.309 Preston. So he successfully completes a 15 -year 00:30:30.309 --> 00:30:32.569 run as director. He gave the gallery the kiss 00:30:32.569 --> 00:30:34.690 of life, he fought the public battles over McCann, 00:30:34.990 --> 00:30:36.869 and he built a dedicated space for the future. 00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:38.690 You would think that would be enough for one 00:30:38.690 --> 00:30:41.950 career. Right. But throughout all of this, the 00:30:41.950 --> 00:30:44.410 painting, the teaching, the directing, he was 00:30:44.410 --> 00:30:47.660 also wielding a pen. He was maintaining a rigorous 00:30:47.660 --> 00:30:50.259 output as a writer and critic. This is where 00:30:50.259 --> 00:30:52.700 we see the total integration of his diverse skill 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:55.440 set. He never abandoned one discipline for the 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:58.339 other. He allowed his practice as a painter to 00:30:58.339 --> 00:31:00.920 inform his work as a curator and his work as 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:03.380 a critic to clarify his administrative vision. 00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:05.819 I want to share a great anecdote from the source 00:31:05.819 --> 00:31:08.480 regarding his exhibition history that captures 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:10.440 the spirit of this multi -layered engagement. 00:31:10.750 --> 00:31:13.549 In 1973, there was an exhibition called Canterbury 00:31:13.549 --> 00:31:15.950 Confrontations at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, 00:31:16.130 --> 00:31:18.289 part of the Pan Pacific Arts Festival. And in 00:31:18.289 --> 00:31:20.150 this show, Coley painted a portrait of a fellow 00:31:20.150 --> 00:31:23.299 artist, Leo Bensman. And Leo Benson painted a 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:24.920 portrait of Coley. They essentially faced off 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:27.960 on canvas. It is a wonderful historical detail. 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:30.740 What that dual portraiture highlights is the 00:31:30.740 --> 00:31:33.279 incredibly tight -knit, collaborative, and almost 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:35.480 playful nature of the Canterbury art community 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:38.539 during that era. They weren't isolated geniuses 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:41.240 suffering alone in garrets. They were a community 00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:43.839 in constant dialogue, looking at each other, 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:45.779 challenging each other, and literally recording 00:31:45.779 --> 00:31:48.440 each other's physical presence. Benson was another 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:50.880 legendary figure. associated with the group. 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:54.099 So this dual portrait is a visual record of their 00:31:54.099 --> 00:31:57.220 deep mutual respect and camaraderie. And while 00:31:57.220 --> 00:31:59.559 he is painting his peers, he is also writing 00:31:59.559 --> 00:32:02.599 about them for the wider public. Yes, for a significant 00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:05.079 portion of the 1970s, Coley served as the art 00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:06.640 critic for the Christchurch Store newspaper. 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:09.259 And then for a period in the early 1980s, right 00:32:09.259 --> 00:32:11.299 before he took the directorship, he was a critic 00:32:11.299 --> 00:32:13.599 for Art New Zealand, which is the premier journal 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:15.880 for the visual arts in the country. This brings 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:17.980 us full circle back to the young cadet reporter. 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:21.059 Think about the dual audiences he is managing 00:32:21.059 --> 00:32:23.900 here. In The Crest Church Star, he is using his 00:32:23.900 --> 00:32:26.920 platform in the popular press to translate the 00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:28.900 complexities of the contemporary art world for 00:32:28.900 --> 00:32:31.599 the general public on a weekly basis. He has 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:34.339 to use accessible language to explain why a new 00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:36.880 exhibition matters. Then in Art New Zealand, 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:40.240 he's engaging in high level rigorous academic 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:42.660 discourse with the national art community. He 00:32:42.660 --> 00:32:44.720 has the intellectual flexibility to speak to 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:46.980 both the person buying a newspaper on the street 00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:49.779 and the academic reading a specialized journal. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:52.539 He is the ultimate translator and he continued 00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:54.940 this writing practice much later into his life. 00:32:55.130 --> 00:32:57.569 In the year 2000, he published two books with 00:32:57.569 --> 00:33:00.349 Hazard Press. The first was titled Jane Evans, 00:33:00.829 --> 00:33:02.470 which was an overview of the work of the Nelson 00:33:02.470 --> 00:33:04.710 -based artist. Writing a book about a contemporary 00:33:04.710 --> 00:33:06.849 artist is an act of historical preservation. 00:33:07.349 --> 00:33:09.990 He is using his authorial voice to cement Jane 00:33:09.990 --> 00:33:12.369 Evans' legacy, ensuring that her work is recorded, 00:33:12.609 --> 00:33:15.190 analyzed, and placed firmly within the art historical 00:33:15.190 --> 00:33:17.849 canon. But the second book is a fascinating pivot 00:33:17.849 --> 00:33:20.650 in subject matter. It's titled Charles Looney, 00:33:20.809 --> 00:33:23.279 The Building of a Lifetime. Charles Linney wasn't 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:25.619 a painter or a sculptor, he was a builder, but 00:33:25.619 --> 00:33:27.319 he was the builder of some of Christchurch's 00:33:27.319 --> 00:33:29.500 most iconic and famous structures, including 00:33:29.500 --> 00:33:32.000 the Miles Warren Town Hall and the James Height 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:34.700 Library at the University of Canterbury. Why 00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:36.859 do you think an art gallery director and painter 00:33:36.859 --> 00:33:40.519 dedicates a book to a commercial builder? The 00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:42.819 choice of subject matter is deeply revealing 00:33:42.819 --> 00:33:45.660 of Coley's broader worldview. It shows that he 00:33:45.660 --> 00:33:47.839 isn't just interested in the paints applied to 00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:50.420 a canvas. He is fundamentally interested in the 00:33:50.420 --> 00:33:53.259 physical architecture that shapes a city's culture. 00:33:53.660 --> 00:33:55.539 The Miles Warren Town Hall and the James Hite 00:33:55.539 --> 00:33:58.140 Library are monumental defining structures of 00:33:58.140 --> 00:34:01.000 Christchurch's civic and educational life. By 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:02.960 profiling the builder of these structures, Coley 00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:04.599 is acknowledging that the physical environment 00:34:04.599 --> 00:34:07.180 we inhabit is inextricably linked to our cultural 00:34:07.180 --> 00:34:09.800 identity. It's all connected, isn't it? The mathematical 00:34:09.800 --> 00:34:12.559 grid he explored in the abacus series, the physical 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:14.920 layout and location he shows when building the 00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.840 contemporary art annex, the monumental civic 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:21.079 architecture of the city's library. He is endlessly 00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:23.440 fascinated by structure, both visual and civic. 00:34:23.659 --> 00:34:26.079 Precisely. And for all of this incredible varied 00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:28.280 work, the painting, the directing, the writing, 00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:30.880 the literal and figurative building of a culture, 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:33.849 he received formal state recognition. In the 00:34:33.849 --> 00:34:36.909 1989 Queen's birthday honors, John Coley was 00:34:36.909 --> 00:34:38.570 appointed a member of the Order of the British 00:34:38.570 --> 00:34:42.230 Empire, an MBE for his services to art. He eventually 00:34:42.230 --> 00:34:44.170 retired from his administrative roles and moved 00:34:44.170 --> 00:34:47.050 to Auckland with his wife in 2007. An MBE is 00:34:47.050 --> 00:34:49.949 a powerful acknowledgement. It recognizes that 00:34:49.949 --> 00:34:52.150 his contributions transcended his own personal 00:34:52.150 --> 00:34:55.250 ambition. His defense of controversial art, his 00:34:55.250 --> 00:34:57.489 democratization of the medium through $2 prints, 00:34:58.090 --> 00:35:00.409 his support of young artists, and his decades 00:35:00.409 --> 00:35:02.929 of translating art for the public had a measurable 00:35:02.929 --> 00:35:05.010 positive impact on the nation as a whole. If 00:35:05.010 --> 00:35:06.769 we bring this back to the listener's own life 00:35:06.769 --> 00:35:09.590 and career, the story of John Coley asks a very 00:35:09.590 --> 00:35:13.050 potent question. What is possible when you combine 00:35:13.050 --> 00:35:15.269 a deep, hands -on technical understanding of 00:35:15.269 --> 00:35:18.110 a craft with the administrative and institutional 00:35:18.110 --> 00:35:21.630 power to promote it? Coley proves that true leadership 00:35:21.630 --> 00:35:23.610 in any field, whether you are working in the 00:35:23.610 --> 00:35:25.969 arts, in business, or in community organizing, 00:35:26.630 --> 00:35:29.590 requires far more than just managing existing 00:35:29.590 --> 00:35:32.530 resources. It requires actively championing the 00:35:32.530 --> 00:35:34.670 difficult, the new, and the visionary. He didn't 00:35:34.670 --> 00:35:37.010 just administer a gallery, he educated an entire 00:35:37.010 --> 00:35:39.340 city. He engineered the culture he wanted to 00:35:39.340 --> 00:35:42.139 see, and he gave the public the tools to understand 00:35:42.139 --> 00:35:44.559 it. And that leaves us with a final thought for 00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:46.820 you to mull over as we wrap up this deep dive 00:35:46.820 --> 00:35:49.599 into his life. When a single individual becomes 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:52.019 the celebrated creator, the definitive critic, 00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:54.659 and the institutional director of their own generation, 00:35:54.940 --> 00:35:56.820 do they merely preserve the history of their 00:35:56.820 --> 00:35:59.519 local art scene, or do they inevitably end up 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:01.719 writing it themselves? Thanks for joining us 00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:03.860 on this exploration. Keep looking closely at 00:36:03.860 --> 00:36:05.300 the world around you, and we'll see you on the 00:36:05.300 --> 00:36:06.000 next deep dive.