Reuben Paterson's artwork shines bright on campus

Though several artists from Aotearoa have been known to incorporate sparkling materials into their works, no one does shimmer quite like multi-media artist Reuben Paterson (Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi, Scottish).

Working across painting, sculpture, installation and animation over almost three decades, Reuben’s exploration into glitter and light is an undeniable sign of the artist’s hand.

As memorable as they are enchanting, three of Reuben’s celebrated glitter paintings reside at the City Campus as part of the University of Auckland Art Collection.

Reuben Paterson (born 1973) graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1997 and is now based in New York. Throughout his oeuvre we find a trail of shimmering media, from glass to glitter and even diamond dust.

From early in his career, a source of Reuben’s inspiration was the naturally occurring ‘glitter’ in the environment, harking back to his childhood spent alongside the glistening waters and sparkling black sands of Auckland’s West Coast. This textural and enlivening quality of his artworks is often coupled with an exploration of queer identity and whakapapa-based modes of cultural knowledge.

Reuben has become especially known for his kaleidoscopic compositions of kōwhaiwhai, depicted in vibrant glitter on canvas. Relax with Frankie’s Whānau (2002) is one such work, in which he uses a contemporary medium to affirm Māori visual tradition.

It was created during Reuben’s time as a teacher at Westmere Primary School, after he graduated from the Auckland College of Education (2001). The painting was first acquired as part of the Faculty of Education Collection, which retains a unique focus on works by arts educators as a distinct part of the University’s collection.

Reuben’s works in this format feel as though they hold a similar sentiment to that championed in Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole’s recent Wharenui Harikoa (House of Joy) (2020– 2023) – a tactile and life-sized wharenui that was crocheted using florescent shades of wool.

In Relax with Frankie’s Whānau, the use of both glitter and the juxtaposed electric blue and green create a joyful frisson on the surface that is further brought to life by the interplay of surrounding light.

Reuben also uses language to interrogate how culture can be portrayed through advertising, specifically through slogans on t-shirts. The work’s title references the controversial 1983 single ‘Relax’ by British pop group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and the subsequent legacy of the iconic ‘Frankie Says Relax’ t-shirts that lived beyond the publicity around the song.

Alongside glitter, water makes frequent appearances in Reuben’s work. It was the subject of his 2010 exhibition The Water Between Us (Milford Galleries, Dunedin) from which a pair of works were accessioned into the University’s collection that same year.

Fish to Water (2010) and Water to Fish (2010) each depict an ambiguous underwater scene.

From our vantage point, it is impossible to tell whether we are looking at the bottom of a lake or at the inside of a man-made aquarium. Reuben implies the presence of water by using the glitter to convey depth, volume and a dance of refracted light.

Throughout the entire body of his work, the artist has engaged directly with environmental issues by platforming water as both a subject and a metaphor to prompt contemplation about its historic use and abuse.

Reuben’s works on campus are publicly accessible. Relax with Frankie’s Whānau hangs on Level 1 of the General Library. Fish to Water hangs on Level 10 of the Science Centre (Building 302) and Water to Fish on Level 4 of Kate Edger Information Commons (Building 315).

Madeleine Gifford, art collection adviser, Te Tumu Herenga, Libraries and Learning Services