How To Paint A Nude

Sam Mahon, a Christchurch artist, activist, conservationist, writer, and subversive, is renowned for his sculpture of Hon Nick Smith nude and squatting over a glass of water. With his latest work, How To Paint A Nude, Mahon is sure to cause controversy with a wonderfully written yet dangerously close to reality fiction set within the real world of the Canterbury art scene during the year of the earthquake.

The story centres around a Belarusian refugee who fled his country in search of freedom. Sam and Gregor meet weekly to discuss the purpose of art and critique Lukashenka from afar. However, the narrative’s pervasive enemy — the corporate world — lurks beneath the surface, wickedly described in the words of Sam’s friend, architect Peter Beaven.

Ultimately, disillusioned by the local polite tyranny, Gregor decides to leave.