Provenance

Dr Allan Godfrey Collection

Illustrated: p. 32 Hanly, Gregory O'Brien, Ron Sang Publications 2012

Cyclop and Bouquet is a superlative example from Hanly's Fire Series: a collection created by the artist whilst living in London at the time of the Cold War. This painting possesses a wonderful energy, one borne of the unique language of poetic, lyrical surrealism which characterised this series, and technical finesse and passion with which Hanly manipulated colour. Art historical comparison has often been drawn between Hanly's works of this period and Marc Chagall; this is certainly evident in the case of the present painting.

The work affords an alluringly abstract quality. Two seemingly disconnected elements have been married together and presented, without explanation, as an ideological fait accompli. The viewer is immediately compelled into an alternative, surrealist reality in which a narrative between the disfigured human visage which has earned the title of Cyclop and a so-called bouquet which, channelling the apocalyptic qualities of the series, recalls both the form of a burning bush and the hopeful symbol of the tree of life.

Hanly was now, for the first time, using the motif of the yacht: this symbol of freedom, one of personal significance in relation to his own experience of the water, of being on the Auckland harbour, would become iconic and recurrent in much of his later work.

Hanly's identity as a politically active artist is crucial to appreciating this work, for it lends extra significance to the impetus of his artistic remit. Cyclop and Bouquet, along with other works from this series, were created in response to the threat of nuclear war possible. Yet although the work was created in response to the threat of nuclear war, the defining characteristic of Cyclop and Bouquet in its conception of a hopeful alternative. This goes to the very heart of Hanly's art. The yacht is a symbol of hope, of possible escape to a better reality. Through engaging mythological devices and imagery, we are presented with some alternative reality which reminds us of the possibility for human growth, escape and spiritual redefinition.