A Micronaut in the Wide World deeply enriched my understanding of this artist's life and work.
Like O'Brien's history of the School Journal, A Singing Nest of Birds, his short text is not the last word.
It's unreferenced and unindexed (shame, AUP!) and largely based on a longstanding friendship. But those weaknesses (if indeed they are weaknesses) also bring into focus the life of a New Zealander who underwent several transformations.
He was at various times a Kiwi and an expatriate.
Fifty years ago, the contemporary of bright young things such as Hamish Keith, Graham Percy shocked the stodgy arts scene here and then disappeared overseas to the heart of empire, where he prospered producing art in a commercial environment.
In A Micronaut in the Wide World, O'Brien takes us through Percy's artistic development, from modern artist, to commercial designer through to creator of small-scale illustrations such as his children's book stories.
That's where the micronaut comes in.
Throughout his life, Percy was fascinated by small-scale images and objects - and objects such as engines and balloons, which feature prominently in his art.
His London home was full of postcards and small objects.
And his best work illustrated children's books, or poked a stick at politics and imperialism in small images that craftily mixed seemingly conventional images with a quietly subversive text.
Sequences such as "The Hungarian Navy Sails Through the Cities of Europe" reminds me of Baxter's wonderfully subversive postcards. As do his sketches of homesick Kiwis.
AUP may have been sloppy with indexing, but it has packaged A Micronaut in the Wide World elegantly in a sumptuous hardback. Hopefully, the exhibition will tour widely.
- Dr McLean is a Wellington historian and reviewer.
