Author(s): Gregory O'Brien

Art | Aotearoa New Zealand Non-Fiction

Graham Percy is one of New Zealand's highest achieving illustrators on a global scale. Though he lived in London from 1964 until his death in 2008, he grew up here and never ceased thinking of himself as an expatriate Kiwi. A Micronaut in the Wide World re-discovers the life and work of this talented, original artist/illustrator/typographer. A tribute to the exquisite beauty of the hand-drawn line, the book also features large, colour reproductions of art works, documentary photos and a biographical, art historical text exploring the imaginative territories opened up by the drawings. It draws on his published illustrations as well as a remarkable body of independent work, some of which has never been seen before. This book underlines Percy's significance as an illustrator and an artist, and sheds light on his milieu in early 1960s Auckland, where he associated with, amongst others, Colin McCahon, Dick Scott, Greer Twiss, Hamish Keith, Wystan Curnow, Don Binney and Mervyn Williams.