Star Gossage exhibition on at Whanganui's Sarjeant Gallery until February

'Marae' by Star Gossage. Photo / Supplied

A collection of paintings by acclaimed New Zealand artist Star Gossage is now on display at Sarjeant on the Quay.

The show is a touring exhibition from the NZ Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata in Wellington, and was co-curated by its director Jaenine Parkinson.

"Gossage works from a wahine-centred perspective, celebrating women's ability to bring life and to weave and hold together the social fabric of community," Parkinson said.

"Her paintings also express the excruciating beauty and colour of where Gossage is from, and of the people in her life."

Star Gossage: He Tangata The People covers 20 years of artistic practice, illuminating the use of portrait and figure in the landscape to communicate themes of unity, grief, compassion and aroha (love).

"Tamariki (children) are foregrounded in the paintings, supported and guided by ever-present kuia (female elders)," Parkinson said.

"The paintings also communicate a wide and deep-seated grief."

Gossage lives and works on ancestral land at Pākiri, north of Auckland.

Grant Hall, co-curator of the exhibition and a personal friend of Gossage, said the works painted a day-to-day reality but could also have a spiritual, mystical quality to them.

Viewing the painting was a "rare, emotional experience".

"New Zealanders may gain knowledge through her work, particularly in relation to the importance of the land and its preservation, the importance of kindness and support for others.

"It provides an opportunity to view paintings from a wahine Māori painter on a scale and venue that is timely, rare, instructive and richly rewarding.

"The works emotionally articulate the interconnectedness between the people and whenua (land)."

Sarjeant Gallery curator and public programmes manager Greg Donson said he was thrilled to have the works installed in the gallery over the summer.

"At a time when everyone is feeling a bit worn down, Gossage's contemplative works provide a solitude, calm and a deep connectedness to place that is grounding," Donson said.

"I remember one of my first encounters with her work was the sublime painting Rangi Marie (Peace), 2004, which features in the current exhibition.

"The painting, a large self-portrait of Gossage with her new baby daughter, absolutely encapsulates its title and has stayed with me.

"Seventeen years on, its mauri has intensified."

The exhibition features more than 30 paintings and installation of painted boxes, and a small number of painted ceramics, spanning Gossage's career.

Star Gossage: He Tangata The People runs until February 6.