The exhibition reveals the extraordinary secret art project of former MP Gerald O’Brien as seen through the lens of his nephew, Wellington-based artist Lucien Rizos.
Working with curator Robert Leonard, Rizos presents his project, which catalogues O’Brien’s extensive secret imaginary world of fictional histories, events, maps, and characters, alongside documentation and remnants of O’Brien’s life.
Leonard says, “Everything juxtaposes O’Brien’s fantasy world and his real world, the private and the public, the audacious and the mundane. It makes us speculate as to what was going on for him in making his art, but also what was going on for Rizos in obsessively ordering and curating his uncle’s papers as his own art.”
Even though Gerald O’Brien (1924–2017), a New Zealand Labour Party MP for Island Bay from 1969 to 1978, lived a very public life, his extraordinarily intricate fantasy world, created from his childhood into the 1970s, remained concealed, even from his wife of 60 years. Rizos, O’Brien’s nephew, only came across the elaborate body of work upon O’Brien’s death in 2017. Compelled to preserve his uncle’s legacy and attempt to make sense of the man, Rizos began the arduous task of scanning, photographing, and compiling the treasures he found.
O’Brien’s hidden world uncannily parallels aspects of the times, events, and prominent figures he knew and includes hundreds of cut out and painted figures—individualised and named, these are the public office holders of this secret world—maps, handwritten fictional newspapers, and constructed histories of political events and military engagements.
Rizos calls the project that emerged from the marathon process of documenting his uncle’s personal possessions Everything.
At Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery Rizos presents large photographs of the bookcases in O’Brien’s home; a sampler of the thousands of digital images Rizos has compiled of O’Brien’s papers and possessions sorted by topic or category; and display cases containing archival material including cut-out figures, maps, newspapers, and more.
“Rizos’ project shows us a fictional world that wasn’t conceived to be presented in an art gallery,” says Christina Barton, Director of Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery. “This project takes us away from fine art to the domains of geopolitics, social history, and boy’s own fiction. But it also shows us one of the most interesting photographic projects to be undertaken recently.
“Rizos’s exhibition gives us a glimpse into the human psyche. Even if we cannot explain why this particular mind did this, we are shown its myriad workings in a rich and fascinating display.”
Lucien Rizos: Everything is presented alongside Megan Dunn: The Mermaid Chronicles at the Adam Art Gallery between 21 October and 18 December 2022. The Gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am–5 pm. For more information about the exhibitions and the accompanying public programme, visit www.adamartgallery.org.nz
Exhibition Details
Lucien Rizos: Everything
Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery
21 October–18 December 2022