Art is presented with energy in Palmerston North galleries
At the end of another year, it is time to have a final look around Palmerston North art galleries.
Te Manawa ART feels energised.
There are the student graduates from UCOL (the BAVI) in one room and the Maori Visual Art School graduates in another while the ‘big’ gallery is occupied by two of the Massey teachers – Robert Jahnke and Israel Birch.
They are artworks that sit well together, Jahnke’s suite of neon works with mirrors playing with infinite illusion and Birch’s characteristic lacquered metal sheets. They are bold and a bit brassy, but a vibrant showing that will intrigue visitors.
My favourite show in the gallery was in the less illustrious upper floor where ex-art teacher Bruce Rennie’s works are hung, the exhibition titled ‘‘The Generous Heart’’.
Rennie’s easy drawing style makes you immediately smile. He spent the majority of his life in Marton, where he taught, and the show proves the richness of his imagination and creativity. His cards are the most fun.
The heavier qualities of oil paint he handles less well, but the graphics are excellent and the variety of works displayed show what a rich community he was part of and tell of his generosity.
Jahnke’s artwork has also spilled out of doors with the ninth addition to the Palmerston North Sculpture Trust Collection finally opened, titled Nga Huruhuru Rangitira. It is located on The Square, the first of the trust’s purchases to spill out on to this hallowed ground. It takes the form of a gateway, made from stainless steel sheet, of a group of huia feathers that leads to the Te Awe Awe historical figure.
Our private galleries staged their own pre-christmas exhibitions. Zimmerman Art Gallery for the month of December had a collection of ceramics by Kirsty Gardiner.
Many are urn forms or halves that have been collaged with a variety of imagery, plus small madeup creatures. Small imagined environments take skill to create but for me they had a Victorian fussiness that I found a bit overwhelming.
By contrast, the watercolours at Taylor Jensen Fine Arts by Celia Guy are straightforward – classic landscape scenes with fluid paint. The best are fresh and free but the weaker works lack surprise and seem somewhat dated.
We are at year’s end. Art still gets hung on walls, sculpture is still relevant as an important part of cities, times ebb and flow and it is still always worth an explore.