Keep New Zealand Green

Abstract

McCahon 100 is a project encompassing 100 articles by artists, writers, and cultural commentators, each on a different painting in Colin McCahon's oeuvre. I selected one of McCahon's early poster works to reflect on environmentalism and how it has changed from notions of "conservation" to ecological thought. Given the serious nature of the project, including reflections from established critics such as Rex Butler, Wystan Curnow, and dignitaries such as the Prime Minister of New Zealand, I inject some levity, and anecdotal digressions, into the article.