John Pule: The Blue Plateau of Polynesian Memory

In this exhibition of new paintings by revered Niuean artist and poet John Pule, the plateau is explored as a metaphor for land altered by memories of the human spirit. It is land often stumbled upon after years sometimes decades of searching. It is as if Pule asks: What do you see once you find that land? What do you know afterwards? What are you looking for?

In his use of blue Pule references Oceania. It is the colour of the sea, which must be crossed to seek other lands and it is the sky that we must also travel under or in close proximity to. It is between these two spheres, according to Pule, that the desire to know is given to us, intravenously.

The Blue Plateau of Polynesian memory comprises eight paintings and poems on paper. The ten poems, chosen by the artist from his own published collections, are central to his practice and the basis for his research into personal history. They are hand written in blue ink, encapsulating poetically the themes of the exhibition: blue, plateau, memory and Polynesian.