Based around the concept of the calendar year, the latest works by Robert Ellis are bound together within the title Covenant. The new paintings (bar one) reveal a consistency of scale and theme. These are smaller than the monumental Maungawhau paintings in the last exhibition, and are dynamic as a result of this shift in scale. They are still based on the shape and location of Maungawhau/Mt Eden, and are developed within the format of the ‘calendar page’.

The paintings speak collectively of seasonal factors. Various symbols and emblems are overlaid into the landscape, and these work to mark time and chart change throughout the series. As a body of work, these paintings develop definite narrative threads, whereby the pages of the calendar - titled in both Maori and English, show repetition, variance and emphasis – just as a diary or calendar might. And it is the template aspect of the Maunagwhau site that connects one work to the next - creating the covenant and the commitment. The differing elements within the series give each a uniqueness while imparting a rhythm to the whole.

Robert Ellis’ paintings describe a great deal about time, chance, change and renewal. His trademark paint application informs the objects, spaces and colours that he selects, and the thematic content. These are the constituent parts of a well–reasoned debate about land, belonging and the various ways to read history. And it is a debate that continues seamlessly from exhibition to exhibition and within each painting by Robert Ellis. His work reverberates with highly suggestive emblems and symbols, that lie within the now ‘template’ background, that is invigorated and strengthened by repetition.

Over the many years of his career, Robert Ellis has established a unique visual language incorporating historically meaningful symbols. His comprehensive exhibition career has been informed and enhanced by his interest in and work with the connection between European and Maori cultures.