Tony Fomison Life of the Artist
by Mark Forman
It is argued that Tony Fomison (1939–1990) is one of New Zealand’s most influential twentieth-century artists.
Tony Fomison, Life of the Artist by Mark Forman is a biography focusing on his career spanning three decades. It was a huge undertaking for author and researcher Mark Forman; a book thirteen years in the making and drawing from interviews from more than 120 people.
But the big shock when you start reading it is that none of Fomison’s paintings or drawings are in the book. The Fomison family’s decision to withdraw consent for paintings to be included has been respected by the author and publisher. But it is very disappointing that they are not included. I really wanted to see his art as a way of understanding him as an artist. Especially his very well-known painting What shall we tell them? (1976) or The Fugitive (1982-1983) that sold for $1.8 million dollars in 2022. Concerned about possible factual inaccuracies, the late artist's three sisters who represent his estate withheld consent for his artworks to be reproduced in its pages.
It is well known that by the 1970s morbidity and the grotesque begins to surface in his work. But I would have been fascinated to see drawings and paintings from when he was younger and to see if his style of paintings changed before his early death in 1990.
His long-time friend Richard McWhannell describes Fomison in the book. Tony was supportive, praising, loving, he was vile, fiendish and cruel, he was funny and entertaining, he had great humour, he had great lows and he suffered doubts; he was incisive, he was prickly, he would take the piss, he would challenge and offend. He loved to poke shit at apocracy. I couldn’t help but love him and hate him.
Fomison was born in Christchurch in 1939 and as a schoolboy he was interested in archaeology and in particular Māori rock drawings.
For a short time he worked at Canterbury Museum as an ethnologist.
He lived in Auckland in the late 1970s and early 1980s and developed a strong connection with the Samoan community, even receiving a traditional Samoan pe’a tattoo at the age of 40. This was a great honour and extremely unusual for a Pākehā to receive this tattoo.
Fomison died in 1990 when he was fifty years old. He was taken to Auckland University marae and was given the honour of being the first ever Pākehā to have a tangi held at the marae. Toss Woollaston, Hone Tuwhare, Llew Summers and many other New Zealand artists and writers attended the tangi.
The 472 page book is divided into 9 chapters, an introduction, author’s note, notes, biography, acknowledgments and a very thorough index. The chapters are chronological from 1939 to 1990. The book is extremely well researched, focusing on his childhood, beginning as an artist, his career and many connections with other New Zealand artists, such as Colin McCahon, Allen Maddox, Philip Clairmont, Richard McWhannell. It covers his identity as an ‘outsider’, his addictions, struggle with his sexuality, loneliness, sadness and essentially embracing the label of a ‘working class painter’.
Forman finishes the book by describing Fomison one last time; an intelligent gifted and generous man, flawed, emotionally tangled and wounded man, the darkness and the light – all of it, together at once.
Author Mark Forman, was awarded a Whiria Te Mahara New Zealand History Grant, and the 2024 Gerrard and Marti Friedlander Charitable Trust publishing grant. He lives in Onehunga.
Tony Fomison, Life of the Artist is a deep dive into the man behind the art. Mark Forman has done an excellent job curating 13 years of research into an impressive book about a complex artist.
by Mark Forman
It is argued that Tony Fomison (1939–1990) is one of New Zealand’s most influential twentieth-century artists.
Tony Fomison, Life of the Artist by Mark Forman is a biography focusing on his career spanning three decades. It was a huge undertaking for author and researcher Mark Forman; a book thirteen years in the making and drawing from interviews from more than 120 people.
But the big shock when you start reading it is that none of Fomison’s paintings or drawings are in the book. The Fomison family’s decision to withdraw consent for paintings to be included has been respected by the author and publisher. But it is very disappointing that they are not included. I really wanted to see his art as a way of understanding him as an artist. Especially his very well-known painting What shall we tell them? (1976) or The Fugitive (1982-1983) that sold for $1.8 million dollars in 2022. Concerned about possible factual inaccuracies, the late artist's three sisters who represent his estate withheld consent for his artworks to be reproduced in its pages.
It is well known that by the 1970s morbidity and the grotesque begins to surface in his work. But I would have been fascinated to see drawings and paintings from when he was younger and to see if his style of paintings changed before his early death in 1990.
His long-time friend Richard McWhannell describes Fomison in the book. Tony was supportive, praising, loving, he was vile, fiendish and cruel, he was funny and entertaining, he had great humour, he had great lows and he suffered doubts; he was incisive, he was prickly, he would take the piss, he would challenge and offend. He loved to poke shit at apocracy. I couldn’t help but love him and hate him.
Fomison was born in Christchurch in 1939 and as a schoolboy he was interested in archaeology and in particular Māori rock drawings.
For a short time he worked at Canterbury Museum as an ethnologist.
He lived in Auckland in the late 1970s and early 1980s and developed a strong connection with the Samoan community, even receiving a traditional Samoan pe’a tattoo at the age of 40. This was a great honour and extremely unusual for a Pākehā to receive this tattoo.
Fomison died in 1990 when he was fifty years old. He was taken to Auckland University marae and was given the honour of being the first ever Pākehā to have a tangi held at the marae. Toss Woollaston, Hone Tuwhare, Llew Summers and many other New Zealand artists and writers attended the tangi.
The 472 page book is divided into 9 chapters, an introduction, author’s note, notes, biography, acknowledgments and a very thorough index. The chapters are chronological from 1939 to 1990. The book is extremely well researched, focusing on his childhood, beginning as an artist, his career and many connections with other New Zealand artists, such as Colin McCahon, Allen Maddox, Philip Clairmont, Richard McWhannell. It covers his identity as an ‘outsider’, his addictions, struggle with his sexuality, loneliness, sadness and essentially embracing the label of a ‘working class painter’.
Forman finishes the book by describing Fomison one last time; an intelligent gifted and generous man, flawed, emotionally tangled and wounded man, the darkness and the light – all of it, together at once.
Author Mark Forman, was awarded a Whiria Te Mahara New Zealand History Grant, and the 2024 Gerrard and Marti Friedlander Charitable Trust publishing grant. He lives in Onehunga.
Tony Fomison, Life of the Artist is a deep dive into the man behind the art. Mark Forman has done an excellent job curating 13 years of research into an impressive book about a complex artist.
Review by Renee Hollis
Title: Tony Fomison, Life of the Artist
Author: Mark Forman
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 9781776711277
RRP: $59.99
Available: bookshops
Author: Mark Forman
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 9781776711277
RRP: $59.99
Available: bookshops
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