Susan Te Kahurangi King

About

Marlborough Contemporary is pleased to announce an exhibition of works on paper by the self-taught New Zealand artist Susan Te Kahurangi King. Marking her first solo gallery show in Europe, the exhibition brings into to focus 32 drawings from throughout the artist’s career, offering an overview of King’s surreal and psychedelic landscapes, populated by her idiosyncratic characters.

Born in 1951 in Te Aroha, New Zealand, King was raised with eleven siblings on the North Island. Sometime between the ages of four and nine years, King gradually stopped speaking, over a period when she would still occasionally hum or sing while she drew. King then ceased drawing for a 20 year period, until with the encouragement of her mother and siblings she resumed again in 2008. The artist's extended family - beginning at an early age with her maternal grandmother - have dedicated themselves to caring for her and preserving not only her work, but also anecdotes and artifacts. Her father, who taught the Maori language, gave her the middle name "Te Kahurangi" meaning "the treasured one". Today she continues to draw every day, only breaking to silently socialise with her family during meals and excursions.