The Painter and His Protests
A generation ago in 1987, New Zealand passed legislation to make the country nuclear free. To celebrate this wonderful achievement writer, Trish Gribben and Lopdell House Gallery are publishing a children’s book featuring Pat Hanly’s anti-nuclear paintings and Gil Hanly’s documentary photographs. The gallery will be showing an exhibition of the fabulous works featured in the book as well as Claudia Pond-Eyley’s excellent documentary, ‘No Nukes is Good Nukes’ and Gil Hanly’s ‘Nuclear Free: Protest Photography.’
Pat Hanly’s paintings are about passion and protest, light, love and life. He painted with many different styles and subjects but this book focuses on the work made in fear or protest about nuclear weapons. In the story of New Zealand’s struggle to be nuclear-free no artist is more important than Pat Hanly.
Pat Hanly was a small man with a big-hearted, wide-seeing view of the world. He was bold and brave. All through his life he painted and spoke up about political and social things that disturbed him, especially nuclear testing when France was exploding bombs at Moruroa, in French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean.
With this book and exhibition, we hope to engage an audience of all ages and tell a very New Zealand story of the power of art to move hearts and minds.
Image: Pat Hanly: Pacific Hope (1984). Silkscreen print. Collection of the Hanly Family Trust. – detail