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  Exhibitions
 

   

 

  
  
                     Kura Te Waru Rewiri, Haere ki wiwi, ki wawa
                               (Go wherever you like)
2009
                                     Courtesy of the artist


   
                         Shane Cotton, Eden to Ohaeawai 2000
                                       Collection of the artist

   
                  Ngataiharuru Taepa, Te Pitau a Tiki #1
                            Collection of the artist, 
                       Courtesy of Page Blackie Gallery

MUA KI MURI
Intergenerational Creativity
7 October 2009 - 7 February 2010

6 contemporary Maori artists

Mua ki Muri/ Intergenerational Creativity showcases the work of six of New Zealand's leading contemporary Māori artists – Bob Jahnke, Shane Cotton, Kura Te Waru Rewiri, Ngataiharuru Taepa, Rachael Rakena and Israel Birch - all connected by teaching roles at Te Putahi-a-Toi, the School of Māori Studies at  Massey University. Working alongside each other, the six artists have created a strong, intergenerational artistic community - diverse in whakapapa and art practice and informed by both the local and the global. These artists, and Te Putahi-aToi, have become an influential force in New Zealand's artistic life.

The exhibition illuminates the strength of contemporary Māori art. The six artists are conscious of participating in – and contributing to - the continuum of Māori art. Central to Māori culture is the idea of lineage or whakapapa – the passing of knowledge, expertise and values from one generation to another. Mentorship and  manakitanga is seen as a fundamental responsibility. Te Putahi-a-Toi, through these artists, has indigenised the practice of teaching contemporary art, imbuing it with a commitment to Māori culture and Te Reo - enabling a modern and evolving expression of indigenous concepts. 


Rachael Rakena, One man is an island [He Waiata Whaiaipo Series] 2009
Courtesy of the artist and Bartley + Company Art

   
Bob Jahnke, Roses for Wittgensteini II, 2009        Israel Birch, Tukarangi 2008 
Collection of Massey University                            Collection of the artist, 
Albany Art Collection                                           courtesy of Page Blackie Gallery

 


  PETER ADSETT

  MATAWHERO: BULLET HOLES AND BANDAGES
  28 November 2009 - 14 March 2010

Peter Adsett has exhibited widely throughout Australia, Japan, the US and New Zealand. He has built a considerable career as an accomplished  and distinctive abstract artist.

Peter Adsett has taken one of the most arresting events in Tairawhiti history and declined to talk about it. Instead, through his decades-long experimentation with abstraction, the Melbourne-based artist invites the viewer to “seek out the edges”, to try to make their own sense out of the 1868 Matawhero Massacre.

Not that his exhibition, Matawhero: Bullet Holes & Bandages, is about the massacre per se. What it’s about, he says, is the process of painting – about the language of abstraction, the responses of Western artists to “spaces” in indigenous art and, most importantly, how black and white are never actually black and white. In the past Adsett has, in exploring his craft, dealt with issues from decay (in the 2005 exhibition More Rot) to the potential vitriol of colour (Polychrome Poison, 2002).

Fittingly, though, there is a sense of violence in the Matawhero series. Or rather, as the artist puts it, there is “violation” in the damaged surfaces of the 25 canvases. The thick bristles that are torn from his brush as he paints are incorporated into the works. As are other pock-like contaminants that, to a wondering eye, might be interpreted as bullet holes. “What first occurs to me when I think about Matawhero is that it was a violation,” the Gisborne-born artist said. “These paintings, too, have in a way been violated. Their surfaces have been destroyed.” He says his relationship with Matawhero, and with people who live there, was the reason why it took him 30 years to offer his visual response to its history.

NOTE: The 'Matawhero Massacre' refers to the 1868 incident when Maori prophet Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki and his followers killed around 60 people - roughly equal numbers of Maori and Pakeha. The attack was said to be vengeance for Te Kooti’s treatment after his capture at Waerenga-a-hika three years earlier (SOURCE: NZ History). 

  

 
   Click below for Peter Adsett's talk about his exhibition Matawhero: Bullet Holes and Bandages

  

    NOTE: PCC staff and some organisations may not be able to view this video if their organisations do not allow video streaming.





   

LORENE TAUREREWA
SLEIGHT OF HAND
21 November 2009 - 7 February 2010

Finding inspiration in the stories of her Samoan, Chinese and European ancestors, Lorene Taurerewa weaves her personal and historical family narrative into her large-scale drawings.

In this new series of figurative, charcoal works, Sleight of Hand, begun during her recent residencies in New York and Seoul, Taurerewa focuses on stories from her mother's childhood.

Combining an intense and powerful presence with a subtle, emotional complexity, the monumental drawings present themselves as alternative psychological worlds. Dressed in Victorian dresses, the imposing, life-size figures that confront the viewer seem caught between childhood and adulthood - uncertain, apprehensive and vulnerable. Solitary figures, they interact with a variety of exotic pets and toys. In some of the drawings mysterious, spirit-like figures evoke the presence of family ancestors.

By contrast, her small works on paper and canvas are delicate and intuitive - visual fragments of narrative stories.

Taurerewa's drawing technique has been influenced by her study of traditional Chinese painting. She consciously sets up an ambiguous space with subtle shifts of scale and spatial depth, contrasting the inky charcoal marks with empty spaces.

Click here for Lorene's personal statement on the works in this exhibition




    
     Tony Lane Three Necklaces 2004 

      
       Fiona Pardington, Tauhou-Silvereye 2006
      
    
     
Richard Lewer Goodnight 2004  
DIASPORA
Pluralism + Singularity
17 October 2009 - 31 January 2010

6 New Zealand contemporary artists
Gretchen Albrecht, Tony Lane, Richard Lewer, Denis O'Connor, Fiona Pardington, James Ross.


 
  
Gretchen Albrecht Rosebud 2009 

   
      Denis O'Connor The Tangler's Highway (Trolley Car) 2008

     
  
      James Ross Yellow Black 




   BOTTLE CREEK GALLERY

   EMERGING ARTISTS, LOCAL INTEREST GROUPS AND MORE, THIS IS OUR GALLERY FOR THE COMMUNITY:

               
          
          
          
          
          
          All above photographs by Evan McBride

ETHIOPIA
An exhibition of photographs and a multimedia presentation of 
3 of our Wellington region's residents time spent working for
'Habitat for Humanity' in Ethiopia 

21 January 2010 - 16 February 2010

Kate MacPherson - photographs taken by children of Ethiopia, with Evan McBride's photographs taken in Ethiopia while working for 'Habitat for Humanity' and a multi media presentation from Ethiopia by Peter Van Der Burg.

Kate MacPherson 
In November 2008, sixteen children from Mercy Home in Addis Ababa were introduced to photography. All had come either directly from living on the streets or from extremely poor and underprivileged backgrounds. Their enthusiasm and delight in photography have culminated in some incredibly unique and inspired imagery that will be showcased in this exhibition as well as on the website www.eyesfromethiopia.com.
All profits from the sale of prints are donated back to the children’s home to fund their education and living expenses.


Peter van der Burg
Peter van der Burg travelled to Ethiopia in 2007 and 2008 with  teams of New Zealanders for Habitat for Humanity as part of their Global Village program. While there, the teams worked alongside locals to build their houses using the "chika method" building style. Spending four weeks at a time there, Peter shares his impressions of this very important time in his life as he experienced the country, it's people, the culture, work and religions.
 
The documentary "Chucking Chika" follows the method of this cost effective building technique, while the video wall (a matrix of 4 by 6 computer screens) becomes a dynamic photo display of images that capture the essence of the Ethiopian life as witnessed by the teams.
 
Peter is a Porirua resident of seven years (otherwise a Mainlander hailing from Nelson), and works in Information Technology for the Porirua City Council.


Evan McBride
Evan McBride - Faces of Ethiopia - a collection of photographic images  of the people of Ethiopia. Taken whilst in Ethiopia for a Habitat for  Humanity project.
       
           

      BLUE PACIFIC GALLERY

   ARTWORK FOR SALE BY LEADING CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS FROM AROUND NEW ZEALAND
 

   PORT NICHOLSON HANDWEAVERS
   16 January - 14 February 2010

   
   

 

 

 

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