Oct 9, 2024

Lisa Reihana’s in Pursuit of Venus [Infected]

The multi-disciplinary artist’s massive panoramic video installation is on view now as part of Bright Signs.

Lisa Reihana, in Pursuit of Venus [infected], 2015-2017 (installation view). Ultra HD video (colour, sound, 64 min.). Photo by Brad Coleman.

In 2011, multi-disciplinary artist of Māori descent Lisa Reihana visited the National Gallery of Australia and saw Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, an early 19th century panoramic wallpaper produced by French entrepreneur Joseph Dufour. Inspired by the fabricated voyages of Captain James Cook, the 20-panel wallpaper featured offensively inaccurate and Eurocentric depictions of Polynesian Indigenous communities. Reihana was struck with the idea of recreating the wallpaper using video technologies, telling a historically accurate and more empowering story about the Māori and Pacific peoples. Roughly seven years later, her expansive panoramic video installation in Pursuit of Venus [Infected] was complete – and it’s on view now at the AGO as part of Bright Signs: Spotlight on Video Art.

in Pursuit of Venus [Infected] is a massive 31-foot-long projection of a series of vignettes that transports visitors to a vivid South Pacific shoreline. The video, shot in 15k resolution, scrolls horizontally, depicting live actors in an outdoor setting designed to appear as moving wallpaper. In a range of scenes including sacred rituals, dancing, and historically accurate interactions with European settlers, the installation brings to life Māori and Pacific Indigenous peoples relationships with their cultural knowledge and spaces. It includes an intricate sound design meant to immerse visitors in the world they are viewing, complete with the sound voices, wildlife, ocean waves and trees in the breeze.

Lisa Reihana, Still from in Pursuit of Venus [infected], 2015-2017. Ultra HD video (colour, sound, 64 min.). Courtesy of Lisa Reihana, New Zealand at Venice, and Artprojects.

In 2019, Foyer spoke to Reihana about In Pursuit of Venus, inquiring specifically about the 70 vignettes depicted throughout. “The vignettes I chose foreground issues of gender, Indigenous politics and events which I read about, but couldn't quite understand,” she explained. “As well, I wanted to look at traditional mourning practices, many of which have been altered since colonization. Working with actors and performers brings these accounts to life and seeing them performed by living bodies brings new levels of understanding.”

Lisa Reihana was born in 1964, Auckland (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāi Tū), and lives and works in Auckland. Reihana represented New Zealand in 2017 at the Venice Biennale with in Pursuit of Venus [infected]. Reihana has an extensive exhibition history, including her solo exhibition Native Portraits at MLAC, Italy; Global Feminisms, Brooklyn Museum; the Asia-Pacific Triennial, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia; the Liverpool Biennale, UK; Pasifika Styles, Cambridge, UK. Digital Marae, shown at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth in 2007, was shortlisted for the Walters Prize 2008 and Anne Landa Art Award, AGNSW, Sydney.

Don’t miss your last chance to see Bright Signs: Spotlight on Video Art, on view on Level 5 of the AGO until October 14. Curated by Debbie Johnsen, AGO, Manager, Modern and Contemporary Collections, this exhibition features artworks that will form the cornerstone for the expansion of the new Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery, starting construction in 2024. Check out additional Foyer coverage of this exhibition highlighting video works from AGO Collection, including stories about artists Kahlil Joseph, Theaster Gates and Sarah Sze.