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Hotere comes to town

A free exhibition of one of New Zealand’s most important artists is showing at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Ralph Hotere: Ātete (to resist) is co-curated by Christchurch Art Gallery and Dunedin Public Art Gallery and brings together works from collections across the country.

 

 

Photo: Ralph Hotere in The Artist’s Studio, Port Chalmers 1979, by Marti Friedlander. From the collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 1998. Courtesy of the Gerrard and Marti Friedlander Charitable Trust.

 

 

Christchurch Art Gallery Director Blair Jackson says the exhibition has been a huge project to bring together.

“Hotere’s art is enormously significant in Aotearoa – particularly now in these politically charged days,” he says.

“It’s been more than 20 years since the last survey of his work, and we’re pleased to be able to show so many of these important and deeply meaningful works to a new generation.

“The show charts Hotere’s journeys throughout Aotearoa and the world, and is a reflection of his experiences, identity, concerns and politics. It includes formative abstraction, strident works of protest and landmark works such as Black Phoenix and Godwit/Kuaka.”

The exhibition has already been on display in Dunedin – where Hotere lived for many years. Blair says the exhibition has sparked many visitors to share their own memories of the places, moments and issues that feature in his work.

“I’m sure it will have the same effect on those that visit here in Ōtautahi,” he says.

It runs until July 25, and is free to attend.

 

Giving the gift of art and framing: Windsor Gallery

So, you’re getting married – congratulations! If you’re like many other couples who already have a home and its contents, why not consider something extra special, like your own piece of art or beautiful framing for all your wedding photos?

 

 

At Windsor Gallery, couples can start a wedding registry for artwork, framing for their special memories of the day – and even framing the wedding dress!

Displaying beautiful art from local and international artists, Windsor Gallery is home to a rich variety of artwork and wedding guests can gift the bride and the groom with a magnificent artwork from the showroom, a commissioned piece, a custom-made mirror, or the couple can take advantage of the bespoke framing service.

Windsor Gallery for art and framing you can be proud of.

386 St Asaph Street | (03) 366 0724 | www.windsorgallery.co.nz

 

An artistic partnership

Local art lovers are in for a treat as a broad array of exhibitions will be coming to town, thanks to an 18-month partnership between Toi Moroki Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) and Auckland gallery, Objectspace.

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An idea born out of lockdown, the new collaborative project is thanks in part to Canterbury expat, Kim Paton, whose love of art grew at CoCA and who is now the director of Objectspace.

Kim says the collaboration pools resources across locations to bring more ambitious exhibitions to more people, by more artists.

“The partnership will express a kind of marriage between CoCA’s focus and Objectspace’s discipline focus. Another key focus is really trying to think about how to engage and attract diverse audiences. I really believe in the democracy of a public gallery, as a public space for everyone.

“With doing that work with Objectspace, we’ve learnt a huge amount and it’s a good footing to take that knowledge and be able to hit the ground running in Christchurch.”

The partnership will see four seasons of exhibitions delivered across CoCA’s Mair and North Galleries and Objectspace’s Ockham and Chartwell Galleries. Highlights include major exhibition Hostile Architecture that will open simultaneously across the two venues in late 2021.

“The partnership particularly focuses on creating good and well-resourced opportunities for artists in the midst of not ideal conditions,” she says of the impact Covid-19 has had on the arts.

“I think without a doubt the cultural sector is underfunded, so certainly the pressures Covid-19 has placed on that make these incredibly testing and challenging times for big and small institutions throughout the country.”

Kim says CoCA was an important influence in her love of art as a teen which grew into her career. She holds a First Class Honours degree in Sculpture and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management, has held academic positions at Massey University and Wintec School of Media Arts, and has curated and written extensively on craft and contemporary art.

“CoCA was an important space to visit particularly through my teens, so I’ve obviously got really strong memories of it in that way, but I also love the architecture of the building.

“It’s a beautiful example of regional modernism and that is an incredibly exciting architectural space for exhibitions due to its scale and natural light.”

 

 

The places we call home: McAtamney Gallery

Norah Johnson came to New Zealand from Toronto when she was seven years old. Her Irish-Canadian father and Kiwi mother settled the family in Auckland, and though it initially came as quite a culture shock, gradually Norah came to love living in the City of Sails.

 

In her early 20s, Norah visited Canada on a pilgrimage to her birthplace, but halfway through her trip she began to miss New Zealand. “I missed the beaches, the light – the open skies.”

Norah returned home to do her Bachelor of Arts majoring in Art History and English Literature, followed by a Master of Arts in Communications Studies. After her Masters, Norah began painting and exhibited at Franklin Arts Centre, NZ Steel Gallery, Megan Dickinson Gallery and Hangar Gallery.

It was on a visit to Christchurch, post-quake, that Norah felt an attraction to our city and eventually made the move here. Ōtautahi is now the city she calls home.

Of her current exhibition Homage to Home at McAtamney Gallery, Norah has this to say:

“I’m an abstract expressionist. Colour and mark making are my primary tools for expression. My work embraces the accidental, the spontaneous and the experimental.

“I work intuitively – interacting with the canvas in a non-critical, unpremeditated way. I seek to bypass the conscious mind (as far as possible) and engage with more subtle, intangible processes of art making. I want to discover how colour and marks interrelate in a harmonious, balanced and abstracted manner to ultimately reveal their lyricism.

“Homage to Home is about the universal need and desire to put down roots and cultivate harmony within a landscape that is both domestic and geographical. Motifs and references of Mid-Canterbury and Christchurch have consistently featured in my work since I arrived 18-months ago. My work attempts to provide the viewer with a perceived sense of belonging to a time and place recorded and then distilled in an overall impression of that experience.”

 

Lines, light & rhythm: McAtamney Gallery

Susanna Izard loves the drama of dark skies, the interplay of light and shade, the power of nature, which she describes as “awe inspiring, wonderful and terrible!”

 

When it comes to her paintings, the “three big things” are lines, light and rhythm.

Though working on landscapes for now, Susanna responds to the challenge of anything that catches her eye.

“During lockdown I kept a daily drawing journal and drew things both inside and outside.”

Inspiration is never far away, with Lake Tekapo and the stark, uncompromising beauty of the Mackenzie Country right on Susanna’s doorstep, it’s just a matter of loading the ute with her paints and painting kit and heading on out there.

McAtamney Gallery in Geraldine is hosting Susanna’s exhibition, Clarity and Beauty in a Mad World, on November 11.

 

Uber-urban art: Fiksate Gallery

It is the only gallery in New Zealand specialising in urban contemporary art, and with the most recognised names in the genre associated with it, Fiksate Gallery has much to be proud of.

1. STATIC – JOEL HART

 

It was the Spectrum 2015 Street Art Festival that brought husband and wife artists Jenna and Nathan Ingram together with stencil artist Clint Park (Porta) and curator and art historian Ruben Woods.

They meshed so well that they rented studio space in New Brighton, which organically evolved into Fiksate Gallery.

A move to the UniMed Building on Gloucester Street in 2018, and connecting with Life in Vacant Spaces, raised Fiksate’s profile, with eight exhibitions since, drawing some of the top echelon of urban artists – AskewOne, Pener, Milarky, Meep, Joel Hart, Jacob Yikes and Dcypher.

When not running the gallery and custom framing service, holding workshops, such as Wednesday fortnightly sticker making classes Slapcity, or raising young son Frank, Jenna and Nathan produce their own artworks under the pseudonyms of Jen and Dr. Suits.

Next up in November for this dynamic duo is an exciting exhibition showcasing everything urban art – from photography to graffiti – featuring the cream of Aotearoa’s female urban artists.

2. CAPITANA V3” – VOXX ROMANA (PORTLAND, USA)

 

A place of passion: Tait Gallery

Visit the beautiful alpine village of Hanmer Springs, park your car and take a stroll up Conical Hill Road to Tait Gallery. Take time to browse and chat to the gallery owner, William Taylor – his passion for the arts is infectious and his gallery is full of colour and vitality. You may even meet some of the artists in person during your stay!

 

ALETHEA TSE-ROCHE – ARROWTOWN RIVER

 

William enthusiastically describes Hanmer Springs as, “the cultural centre of the South Island”.

The village might be small, but it boasts two very fine art galleries, one of them being Tait Gallery, which opened three years ago and quickly became known as a sought-after destination. “We represent over 50 different artists and display a wide range of mediums at affordable prices,” William says.

He loves to promote established and emerging artists in the space and it’s not just for the adults; there’s also a children’s section for those between 8-15 years old.

The gallery also has a varied selection of exquisite glassware, sculptures, pottery, wood turning, ceramics and jewellery.

This gorgeous place of passion is just another addition to the must-sees of Hanmer Springs which make it a hotspot of the South Island.

Tait Gallery is located at 34 Conical Hill Road and open Thursday to Tuesday 10am to 4pm. For more information, phone 027 432 5914 or email info@taitgallery.co.nz.

 

From Marlborough to Mauritius: Windsor Gallery

Outstanding artworks by Anneke Bester and Rhonye McIlroy are showcased in the 18 May – 13 June exhibition at Windsor Gallery.

 

 

A follower of the neo-renaissance movement, Anneke has been painting and sculpting since she was 16 years old.

She has sculpted commercial commissions for hotel projects in South Africa, Mauritius and Dubai (including sculpting eight bronze life-size falcons for the Dubai Mall), and has also sculpted for the Chronicles of Narnia movie. Her exhibition is titled Sister Water.

Rhonye McIlroy’s background was originally fashion based. Her love for fashion, especially the top hat, has become her trademark in most of her paintings since 2011, which detailed many aspects of early New Zealand colonial history.

Current work explores Rhonye’s ancestors John and Elizabeth Guard, pioneers of New Zealand’s shore-based whaling industry in the Marlborough Sounds.

Rhonye’s exhibition is titled Stone to Flesh.

Find Windsor Gallery at 386 St Asaph Street, phone 03 366 0724. Follow Windsor Gallery on Facebook and windsorgallerynz on Instagram.

 

Living Art

Formerly at Pareora Street, Riccarton, Bryce Gallery has now relocated out to the idyllic serenity of the countryside and on Saturday 1 February, artists Min Kim and Jamie Stewart welcomed around 200 friends and associates to the reopening of Bryce Gallery at 84 Vincenza Drive, Ohoka.

 

Their vision for the gallery is to develop the four acres of land into a sculpture garden and the 422 square metre home into an artistic paradise for art lovers.

Already Min and Jamie have turned the concept of what we think of as a working gallery on its head, for there is no one standalone room in which to view the Bryce collection; instead, artworks grace each and every room, as well as the garden and surrounding parklands.

It is an astounding concept, but also a glorious one. “I’ve always felt that in connecting with nature, we are safe,” Min says.

“Listening to the wind in the trees here – it’s so magical.”

Min’s love of meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends has prompted the opening of an Air B&B in March; it’s a heavenly way for guests to experience that magic for themselves and revel in the beauty that’s truly all around them.

“Bryce Gallery’s relocation is very much about my giving back to the artistic society, because my clients have fed my soul,” Min says.

“I want to know who has bought my art and why – what it means to them.”

Find Bryce Gallery at 84 Vincenza Drive, Ohoka.

 

Gauguin in Aotearoa

An exhibition showcasing the works of artists Gabriel Heimler and Anna Proc is soon to open at McAtamney Gallery in Geraldine.

 

 

Titled Gauguin in Aotearoa, the exhibition features a series of paintings inspired by a time when French post-impressionist artist, Paul Gauguin had a ten day stopover in Auckland in 1895, en route to Tahiti.

Gauguin visited the Auckland Museum and, discovering the then newly-opened Māori Art wing, immersed himself in studying and making sketches of the artworks on display.

“Gauguin was a world-citizen; he was half-Peruvian and half-French,” Proc explains.

“He felt himself to be already cosmopolitan and, although he lived in France for some years, he didn’t feel at home there.

Gauguin was searching for a newness, for diversity… he dreamt to find an optimal inspirational place and Tahiti seemed an idyllic destination for his creativity.”

Proc says that, like Gauguin, she and Heimler are from Europe and have been searching for a place that is new and diverse yet also rooted in its history.

“Our inspiration is to ask ourselves what would Gauguin paint if he were here in New Zealand now?

Our work also asks can we choose another country and represent it; interpret this new land – our fascination with Māori culture and that underlying female presence?

Gauguin’s paintings of women are rather mysterious; our big point of difference is that certainly, we want to celebrate and show the beauty and importance of women, but integral to our work is to make them contemporary – of today’s world.”

Heimler and Proc have been painting collaboratively for 10 years.

They work in tandem, from large wall murals through to diptychs. Gauguin in Aotearoa poses many questions, such as why alongside the Polynesian women featured in the series, there are also blue-eyed blondes, sports cars and, somewhat surreally, Heimler, Proc and Gauguin chatting in a doorway!

“In sum, our art is a reflection of our quest to gain a deeper understanding of our single and united selves,” Proc says, “Our work is not didactic; rather, we raise questions. Our process is as much one of exploration as of discovery.”

Find McAtamney Gallery and Design Store at 40a Talbot Street, Geraldine. Phone 027 305 3000 or email carolyn@mcatamneygallery.co.nz.