Graham Percy was an artist, designer and illustrator. He was born in Stratford, New Zealand and studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland. After graduating in the early 1960s, Percy worked as an illustrator for the New Zealand School Journal and collaborated with other Auckland-based writers and artists. He designed the typography for a number of Colin McCahon's exhibition invitations and set up one of New Zealand's first design consultancies with Hamish Keith. During this period he designed covers for The End of the Golden Weather and The Pohutukawa Tree by Bruce Mason. In 1964, Percy received a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art in London. From late 1964 until the end of his life, he lived and worked in London as an illustrator and artist. He was the production designer on the 1973 animated film Hugo the Hippo. While working on the film he met his second wife, the photographer Mari Mahr. For much of his career, Percy specialised in children's books, illustrating more than 100 works for children. In later years, he produced a body of his own independent art for adults. In 1994, Chronicle Books published a book of his drawings for adults, Arthouse. In 2007, a further series of his drawings for adults, 'Imagined Histories' was published, supported by the Scottish Arts Council. Graham Percy died on 4 January 2008.
Notable works published during his lifetime
Books illustrated by Percy for children include the following:
Illustrations for La Belle au bois dormant written by Charles Perrault
Illustrations for When Dad cuts down the chestnut tree by Pam Ayres
Illustrations for the Fantastic Flying Journey and Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure by the noted author and naturalist Gerald Durrell
Illustrations for The mailbox mice mystery by Juli Mahr
Illustrations for Mama tiger, Baba Tiger by Juli Mahr
Animated film for children:
Production designer of the full-length animated film Hugo the Hippo in Hungary
Books for adults:
Illustrations for Crime and the law by Bernard Brown
Concept and illustrations for Arthouse, published by Chronicle Books, reviewed in the New York Times, artwork exhibited at Storyopolis gallery in Los Angeles.
Concept and illustrations for Imagined Histories, published by Crear, space to create, supported by the Scottish Arts Council.
Posthumous exhibition and book
The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy was a major posthumous exhibition of Percy's work. It was developed in partnership between City Gallery Wellington and Gus Fisher Gallery, The University of Auckland; it was curated by Gregory O'Brien, leading New Zealand poet, art critic and curator and winner of the 2012 Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement. A Micronaut in the Wide World: The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy is an account of Graham Percy’s life and art by O'Brien. It was a finalist in the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2012 and was highly commended in the Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book 2012. A copy of the book was donated by the Chartwell Trust to every high school in New Zealand. As of October 2013, the itinerary of the exhibition was as follows:
