The world in other ways _{by Alessia Belsito-Riera}

Kiwi artist Alistair McDonald was first captivated by the simple line drawings, bold flat colours, and limited shading of the Japanese ukiyo-e style, “and their stories of another era and culture”.

“I saw an exhibition of Utagawa Hiroshige's uchiwa-e (fan prints) at Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1978,” he continues. “I had seen ukiyo-e before but not in person in a collection, so many colours and stories in one room.”

McDonald presents his own iterations of ukiyo-e at his latest exhibition Auckland in the Style of Hiroshige. On display at Exhibitions Gallery from the 13^th of February to the 8^th of March, the works present views of modern cities across Australia and Aotearoa.

“I’ve tried to imagine how the great artists Hiroshige and Hokusai might have seen Auckland today,” McDonald says. “I wanted to show these 24 views as a collection; they become more of a statement when viewed together.”

McDonald’s repertoire is diverse, as he also paints New Zealand landscapes in an expressionist style to “tap into our national affection for our countryside”. He sees his art practice as a way to indulge both his left and right brain, with his process consisting first of problem-solving and technicality that gives way to pure creativity. He considers his moderate colour blindness an attribute as it gives him a point of difference. “There is no temptation to do other people’s realism, which is liberating”, he says. “For me, art asks us to imagine the world in other ways”.