13 October 2008: The Fantastica drawings

13 October 2008: Leo Bensemann: the Fantastica drawings

Leo Bensemann: the Fantastica drawings
National Library Gallery
2 December 2008 – 14 March 2009

First published by the Caxton Press in 1937, Fantastica: 13 drawings is a technical and artistic marvel. It undoubtedly represents one of the highpoints of the book arts in New Zealand.

Bensemann's intense, hypnotic drawings are rich with artistic and literary allusions, the latter stretching from Japanese folktales to the Brothers Grimm to Doctor Faustus. Bensemann's allegiance to the imagination and European cultural traditions set Fantastica apart from the landscape-based realism that dominated New Zealand art through the 1930s. The Caxton Press rightly promised that ‘Nothing quite like these drawings has appeared in New Zealand".

The Alexander Turnbull Library purchased Bensemann's pen and ink drawings in 2003. The metal blocks used in the printing of the book were subsequently donated to the library by the Bensemann family. Auckland's Holloway Press used these original blocks to reprint a highly acclaimed, fine-print edition of Fantastica in 1997.

The Fantastica drawings have previously been exhibited only individually or in small groupings. This exhibition brings together the complete set of drawings for the first time – sparking off the web of associations and allusions that grants the series much of its power. Don't miss this opportunity to immerse yourself in the wondrous visions of one of this country's most intriguing artists.

Other items from the Alexander Turnbull Library are used to flesh out Bensemann’s project, including an unusual double-sided painting. One side holds a self-portrait – showing the suave, mono-browed artist striding across a dramatic landscape. The other depicts a bulbous-eyed masked or alien figure. This combination is richly suggestive of the two worlds straddled by Bensemann’s art – the real and the imaginative, the everyday and the fantastic.

'Leo Bensemann: the Fantastica drawings' accompanies the exhibitions 'Welcome Sweet Peace: returning home after the Great War' and 'Collecting Pandemonium: John Milton in the Alexander Turnbull Library'. Connections between these exhibitions abound. 'Collecting Pandemonium' includes the beautifully designed Caxton Press edition of Areopagitica, Milton's iconic defence of the freedom of the press.