Reuben Paterson: The Only Dream Left - Book

"Paterson’s approach is as much sensual as it is serious, political as well as playful, surreal as it is scintillating. It’s gay, straight, he, she, they. The artist as agent provocateur pushes against the rules of arts production and, in the process, creates visions of the universe that authenticate the identities of you, they, we, us." – Witi Ihimaera

Reuben Paterson is the dazzling publication that captures the spirit, magic and wonder of the City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi exhibition Reuben Paterson: The Only Dream Left (2023).
 
This book features essays by Witi Ihimaera, curator and writer Geraldine Barlow, and the exhibition's curators Aaron Lister and Karl Chitham. It contains over 100 pages of 'pairings' of works made by Paterson that stretches across his 30 year practice. Extended Whānau's design captures the full majesty of Paterson's art. This is a book that literally casts rainbows.
 
* By Reuben Paterson
* Edited by Dr Kirsty Baker
* Design by Extended Whānau
* Published by City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi, with the support of the City Gallery Foundation; Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland; and Page Galleries Wellington.
 
Paterson’s work revolves around the relationships we have with our bodies, desires and cultures—and those we share or negotiate with others. Made in celebration of exchange and encounter, hybridity and fluidity, spirituality and sexuality, his work is especially attuned to the dynamics of queer identity and whakapapa-based modes of cultural knowledge.