Pātaka in the Media: Grant Smithies chats with artist Glen Wolfgramm
19 Dec 2022
This article first appeared in the Sunday Star Times and Stuff, 18 December 2022
This article first appeared in the Sunday Star Times and Stuff, 18 December 2022
These days, Glen Wolfgramm’s art-making is confined to very early in the morning or late at night. During the day, he works as a printer, rising at 3.45am to go for a run before starting at 6am.
“It’s a time when it feels like you have the whole city to yourself,” he says. “It’s a little scary, running in the dark, but your senses are heightened, too, and that helps with making art.”
Of Tongan, German and Irish descent, Wolfgramm has a major survey show called A‘eva tokotaka he Pasifiki: Solo across the Pacific at Pātaka Art + Museum in Porirua until February 26. The show covers 25 years of making graphically intense paintings in which Polynesian and Palagi, ancient and futuristic motifs collide.
Critic Mark Amery once described Wolfgramm’s painting Islander as an “abstract expressionistic particle accelerator, with shifting planes of visual information in hyperdrive” while writer David Eggleton credits Wolfgramm with “revitalising the imagery of traditional (Polynesian) art.”
Wolfgramm lives in Auckland’s Mt Albert with his wife Kirsten and sons George and Levi.
That I was going to shrink as I got older. I used to be 6ft 2 [1.88m], and now I’m 5ft 11 [1.80m]. I’m only 51, and I’ve lost 2in [5cm]! It’s just old age, eh? I think your spine compacts down a bit over time. My boys are both in their early teens, and they’re a good 4in [10cm] taller than me now. They give me a hard time about it. They love the fact that they’re now looking down on their old man.
Francis Ngannou. He’s the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. I don’t even watch UFC, and I’ve never been in a fight my whole life. I do my best to avoid verbal conflict, too. Even during those years when you’re a teenager and drinking and testosterone sometimes takes over, I always avoided physical fights.
But there’d be something amazing about having all the strength and power Francis has, and the inner peace of knowing that in any confrontation, you’ll be absolutely fine. I’ve seen Francis in interviews and he’s a really mellow and friendly guy when he’s not in the ring.
Sashimi, with a little bit of wasabi. It’s so fresh, healthy and delicious, and I would never get sick of it. I’m always amazed when rich celebrities with private chefs go on about how they’re struggling with their weight. Just get your chef to make you some sashimi.
Fiordland. I remember watching a documentary about this guy Warrick Mitchell who went bush in there and built his own cabin, four days walk from the nearest road. As an introvert, something about that really appealed to me. I could picture myself living in a beautiful hut somewhere deep in the bush, and painting all day.
Colin McCahon, maybe, or Tāme Iti. Or anyone else who has helped shape the country’s consciousness. You could fill up our banknotes with lesser-known New Zealand characters that had changed the place in some positive way, even if you didn’t really recognise their faces. Those people could even change every few years, so more people got a go.
UE Boom speakers at the beach. It’s such an inconsiderate thing to do in a peaceful public place. I was at Goat Island a while back, up near Leigh. It’s a little bay on a marine reserve, with a tiny sandy beach that’s always packed. A lot of snorkellers go up there. But one day these people rocked up with a really loud UE Boom and just sat there pissing everybody off. They got a lot of dirty looks.
My dad. He passed away just a couple of months ago at the age of 86. He was a cheeky sort of guy, with a dry sense of humour. Me and my five other siblings used to see him most weekends, and I really miss him now he’s gone.
Patient. I wish people took the time to understand each other’s point of view a bit more. Social media has been a real polarising force, sadly. Someone sitting behind a keyboard will often say outrageous things they wouldn’t say if they were looking you in the eye. It would be nice if people slowed down and found a way to be a bit more empathetic, rather than aggro.
