Te Uru presents an exhibition of new work by Wayne Youle, made during his studio residency at McCahon House in 2019. Spilling out from the Learning Centre Gallery into Te Uru’s stairwell, Elevation is anchored by a large sculpture that cuts across the centre of the gallery. This is based on the famously open-air children’s bunkroom underneath the McCahon cottage and brings an imagined section of McCahon House into the gallery. Throughout this exhibition, Youle mixes history with design and sculpture, demonstrating a deep engagement with the McCahon legacy.
Like many artists, Youle views Colin McCahon as a kind of ancestor figure – someone to look up to, and live up to, when making his own work. During his residency, Youle focused on something he shares with McCahon; being an artist and a father (he has made works previously about the difficulty of doing both jobs well). Youle is interested in the things McCahon repaired – and didn’t – in the small house he shared with his wife and their four young children between 1953 and 1960. Several works included here relate to the hand-drawn plans – or elevations – McCahon submitted for a building consent to extend the house, and Youle offers his own versions of some of the artist’s most famous works, made from suitably domestic materials. But he also completes something McCahon neglected while busy concentrating on his painting – a set of walls and doors to protect the McCahon daughters’ open-air bedroom from the rain.
Felicity Milburn
