Take a peek at a new art show
Gallery is closed for HB artists exhibition
Passers-by will be able take a peek at art installation action while the Hastings City Art Gallery is closed for a few more days.
The closure is needed to set up East, an exhibition of works by 23 artists with connections to Hawke’s Bay — from the internationally-known to emerging.
East 2018 (August 11 to November 11) features a mixture of rarely seen existing works and 10 new works commissioned specifically for the exhibition, says gallery director Toni MacKinnon.
There are internationally recognised artists among the names, including George Nuku, David Trubridge, Vanessa Arthur, Rangituhia Hollis, Joyce Campbell and Clare Plug. But for those who are keen, there will be peep-holes in the window coverings to catch glimpses of the action, Toni says.
“It is an exciting, if very busy time, arranging the installation of works from so many artists across a comprehensive range of mediums, from painting, ceramics, photography and architecture, to industrial design, video, conceptual and performance art.”
The exhibition has been put together by senior independent Wellington-based curator and writer Bruce E. Phillips. He had traversed the country meeting with the artists, and says the breadth of conversations during that process had been enormously diverse.
“We discussed tracing whakapapa and reliving childhood memories. We marvelled at climate change data and mourned the death of fish and forests. We considered the rhizomatic nature of images, the ancient knowledge of Japanese kilns and debated the politics of everything from cigarettes to overlooked deities and architecture.”
As the art and artists came together, he had crafted a whakatauki (proverb) to accompany the exhibition, similar to one that had been on his mind during the planning. The original was ‘Whatungarongaro he tangata, toitu¯ he ka¯ inga’ (People pass away, but places still remain). The whakatauki for the exhibition is: ‘People pass away, but places still remain; Order controls limits, but chaos unleashes infinity; Cities eventually collapse, but forests forever rise’.
Hastings District councillor Wendy Schollum, who holds the community engagement portfolio, says the exhibition will showcase just how broad the arts community is in Hawke’s Bay.
“I am really looking forward to it — seeing some of our wellknown favourites but also getting a look at work by our next generation of artists.
“Of course some of the artists still live here but others are coming back from points afar and it will be wonderful to have their work all in one space at one time. I really do recommend that people make the most of this opportunity.”
Going region-wide
East is spreading its wings this year, as Hastings City Art Gallery and MTG Hawke’s Bay grow the two-yearly exhibition into a regional event. There will be work by two East artists at MTG Hawke’s Bay in Napier, an exhibition of EIT postgraduate honours arts students at Kinross and Co Wool Store, off West Quay in Napier, and work heading to Wairoa later in the three month exhibition period.
Jacob Scott’s video of the Marine Parade development project is one of those sited at MTG. The other is Natalie Robertson’s wonderful work about her wha¯ nau land in Puketapu. The exhibition of EIT honours students would be very exciting, Toni says.
“These are our artists of tomorrow. I fully expect that they will be the known names in the East exhibitions of the future.”
The regional expansion will also mean work by Joyce Campbell focusing on development in Wairoa will be exhibitedthere in October. Joyce, whose mediums are photography, film, video and sculpture, has most recently focused on work looking at “the collision of natural and cultural systems”.
“Joyce’s videos are familiar to audiences who attended the Sydney Biennale and Walter’s Prize exhibition in Auckland, as well as many other international venues. It’s great to have her exhibiting back in her home region,” Toni says. “Spreading the work across the region meant it could be appreciated by an even wider audience. It has been wonderful collaborating with MTG in the presentation of East. This is the fruition of both MTG’s and Hastings gallery’s desire to see our Hawke’s Bay review exhibition become a regionwide event.”