On The Road, 2018
“The sun goes down long and red. All the magic names of the valley unrolled - Manteca, Madera, all the rest. Soon it got dusk, a grapy dusk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves and long melon field; the sun the color of pressed grapes, slashed with burgundy red, the fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries. I stuck my head out the window and took deep breaths of the fragrant air. It was the most beautiful of all moments.”
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road
In his seminal work, On the Road, Jack Kerouac traveled the back roads of the vast United States. He felt the very heartbeat of the nation as he journeyed from one town to the next. He met men, women and children from all walks of life. He heard their secrets, looked inside their dreams. He ate, he drank, he smoked. He lived life fully, gloriously. He peered into the depths of men, and as he did so, he unearthed truths deep within his own soul.
In much the same way as Kerouac opened his heart and his mind, allowing the vastness of the country to fill him with wonderment, so too do Gabriel Heimler and Anna Proc embrace the people and places of New Zealand. Their lively depictions of New Zealand travelers burst with life and color. Heimler and Proc's whimsical characters come to life as they hit the road in their fanciful vintage automobiles. Characters leap of the canvas, cheerfully inviting the viewer to join them on their merry journeys.
"The sun goes down," Kerouac said, "long and red… Soon it got dusk, a grapy disk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves… The sun the color of pressed grapes, slashed with burgundy red, the fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries." (On the Road, 1957)
With his words, Kerouac splashes the page with vivid color, enlivens it with one-of-a-kind personalities. In their homage to ‘On the Road’, Heimler and Proc do much the same with their paintings, bringing to life the characters that Kerouac envisioned. The written and the painted compliment one another beautifully, and when the two come together, the effect is nothing short of magical.
Island Sound (60 x 50 cm)
Tamara Lempicka’s painting Tamara in a Green Bugatti (1929) is one of her most famous paintings and also her auto-portrait as a driver. "This showed her at the wheel of a Bugatti racing car wearing a leather helmet and gloves and wrapped in a grey scarf, a portrait of cold beauty, independence, wealth, and inaccessibility" (Foxhall 1987). We recognised the historical connection between this painting and our idea for the series ‘On the Road’. It inspired us to work on Island Sound, which became the first of our 'On the Road' series. We used this painting’s construction and developed a New Zealand context. We inserted a stylish woman, her pet dog next to her and Jane Campion’s landscape. The dog has an ear lifted up as if it is hearing something coming from the sea or from the island. The dog works as a link between the landscape and the woman.
Manfeild (153 x 102 cm)
A direct inspiration for the exhibition, the cult book of writer Jack Kerouac, representative of so-called Beat Generation. The picture goes even further by suggesting New Zealand writer Katharine Mansfield in a scenario of female empowerment, with a message of tolerance and transformation that is repeated in the painting entitled Trans.
Carved Surf (169 x 100 cm)
Through a surfboard carved with Maori motifs, Heimler & Proc pay tribute to one of the most representative works of the artist Michael Parekowhai. The complelling painting fosters a sense conversation between the automobiles and their distinguished occupants, human and birds included.
Trans (153 x 102 cm)
In the exhibition ‘On the Road’, the painting Trans is the guardian of change, of evolution. The characters in the canvas celebrate their own individuality while decidedly sharing their experiences and embarking on a journey through the anchoritic New Zealand. Thus, each subject performs an exercise of introspective exploration, discovering and accepting itself, as it travels through the indomitable Kapiti Coast, aboard a vehicle that becomes synonymous with renewal in this world where modernity demands diversity, inclusion and tolerance. Trans is therefore an ode to the permanent transformation of everything that makes us human.
Rita (127 x 88 cm)
In a colorful interplay of professional camaraderie, the renowned painter Rita Angus accompanies metaphorically a group of young people in the painting that bears her name. In this manner, artistic expressions are honored and the search for a personal and unrepeatable identity is furthered.
New Era (127 x 88 cm)
The works discussed above lead us to the painting entitled New Era, a balanced composition where the artist Ralph Hotere shelters a new generation that looks to the future with energy. Behind him, Mount Taranaki emerges, synonymous of strength and Maori oral tradition.
Seatoun (127 x 88 cm)
In the work entitled Seatoun, the famous painter Michael Smither ventures deeply into New Zealand territory. He sits at the wheel of a collectable vehicle, surrounded by a very local landscape and allusions to the rural and urban worlds that coincide in Aotearoa.
Jaguar's Hunt (153 x 102 cm)
The iconic and artistic references continue in the rest of the works of ‘On the Road’, including the avant-garde New Zealand poet Sam Hunt, who is seen driving a classic vehicle. He offers a friendly greeting to a fellow driver who responds with indifference. The interaction is symbolic of the encounters and disagreements between the different sectors of modern societies.
Shooting Star (153 x 102 cm)
‘On the Road’ concludes with a message for all of us, illustrated in the painting of the two lovers who look out from their vehicle at a car with dark windows and incognito occupants. The scene hints at an unknown forthcoming, but one that is full of possibilities. On this road through New Zealand that Heimler and Proc have invited us to travel, to enjoy and to admire, we will be the architects of our own our conversations, our own stories.