Hocken exhibition to mark Hotere's 80th birthday

The man many consider New Zealand's greatest living artist will mark his 80th birthday in Dunedin next month.

An exhibition tribute will be unveiled this weekend honouring Ralph Hotere's birthday on August 11.

"Ralph Hotere: Zero to Infinity" will feature 50 of his works at the Hocken Gallery over the next three months.

The exhibition would highlight milestones and lesser-known moments in the artist's career, Hocken pictorial collections curator Natalie Poland said yesterday.

"We've tried to do a bit of a solid gold hits. There will be classics for the diehard Hotere fans from each of the series he's noted for and a few surprises.

"It would be the biggest solo show we've had for a while. There will be a couple of pieces that haven't been exhibited in Dunedin before."

The exhibition will span more than four decades of Hotere's career, from the 1960s to the present, and was sourced from the Hocken, the Hotere Foundation Trust, Hotere's own collection and private art collections, Ms Poland said.

"The exhibition's title references both Hotere's Zero series of 1966-67 and the infinity symbol, which is a recurring motif visible in his work as recently as 2005."

Another event planned to coincide with Hotere's birthday next month is the restoration of his artwork Rain (1979), the three 5m-high banners which hung in the foyer of the University of Otago Hocken Building, now known as the Richardson Building, for nearly 30 years.

The banners incorporate the poem Rain, by Kaka Point poet and Hotere's long-time friend the late Hone Tuwhare.

The exhibition opens at the Hocken Gallery on Saturday and runs until October 1.