Webb of intrigue

A retrospective of artist Marilynn Webb argues for her place as one of Aotearoa's most important and innovative landscape artists.

- THOMAS MCLEAN

Her work was admired by Ralph Hotere. She was celebrated in verse by Hone Tuwhare and Cilla McQueen. Her teaching shaped thousands of art students, and she was honoured with awards, exhibitions, and interviews. Her pastel images of Fiordland, in shades of silver, olive and blue, have become iconic. And yet one could argue that Marilynn Webb's achievements remain undervalued in Aotearoa, especially outside Otago and Southland.

"Being Māori, a woman, living 'regionally, and an artist who works on paper are all factors that result in her artwork being readily dismissed by many public institutions," says artist Bridget Reweti. "But despite this, her work is loved and continually receives the credit it deserves from artists."

Reweti, Lauren Gutsell and Lucy Hammonds are co-curators of Folded in the Hills, a major retrospective of Webb's art from the late 1960s to the mid 2000s that currently fills the Dunedin Public Art Gallery's vast first floor. The exhibition, which travels to Christchurch in June, and the handsome accompanying catalogue are an attempt to shift public thinking about Webb's remarkable body of work.

The seeds of the exhibition were sown in 2018, when Gutsell and Hammonds curated (with input from Webb) a selection of the gallery's holdings of her work. "I guess that was a catalyst for realising that the time had come for a much more expansive look at Marilynn's career," says Hammonds. Webb died in August 2021, as plans developed for the current retrospective.

The exhibition has been organised meticulously. Most of the walls are painted white, accentuated at key points with a suitably Fiordland-esque smoky teal, which acts as "a connecting fibre through the spaces", says Gutsell. All 140 works on display have been reframed in identical white matting, white frames, and non-reflective glass. "We wanted the work to be the focus," she says.