Mahon says art isn’t ‘just entertainment’
Sam Mahon is taking a quiet approach to controversy in his latest exhibition – but there’s still undertones of sticking it to the man.
His latest exhibition, Sculpture, sees him collaborate with eight other artists to show their work and talk about it through recorded interviews on his website.
The message is not as bold as his life-like sculpture of former MP Nick Smith defecating in a cup, but it’s there, rallying against the commercialism of art.
Artists are able to speak about their pieces instead of ‘‘someone with a pHd’’ telling the public what it’s about and allowing only art that could sell to be shown, he says.
One such piece is Anna Dalzell’s fish net woven from flax, which reaches up two floors from a wooden hairbrush. It was based on a story Dalzell heard from the Auckland Islands where a woman died alone on a ship wreck, Mahon said.
‘‘That’s a story that’s important for Anna, but she could never hope to sell it.’’
Art wasn’t ‘‘just entertainment’’, Mahon said.
‘‘That’s part of the deal here.’’
The exhibition will be held at Mahon’s home in Waikari between November 20 and December 12, with work from Ashley Smith, Matt Williams, Tim Main, Alison Erickson, Tony O’Grady, Rory McDougall, Anna Dalzell and Chris Reddington.
McDougall’s piece, titled Femen, symbolises women in Ukraine having no ‘‘standing in the community’’.
The carved granite with a round bottom is unable to stand, and fluids running out of the granite represent ‘‘the cervix and the vulva and the seeds’’.
Mahon said McDougall created a ‘‘huge powerful container’’ that cannot stand upright because ‘‘it’s in a community that doesn’t accept those women have a voice’’.
‘‘Him telling that story was such a cool thing.’’
That’s what the exhibition was about, Mahon said.
‘‘Artists saying what they think art is and the reason for doing it – it’s the ‘why’ of art, and that’s important to me.’’
Mahon has raised some eyebrows in the past by using his art to protest. In 2016, his bronze-cast sculpture of conservationist Catherine Sintenie, who died in 2014, included a pointed criticism of then Environment Canterbury deputy chairperson David Caygill.
In 2017, Mahon’s name became synonymous with Smith, now mayor of Nelson, when he created a sculpture of the then environment minister pooing in a glass, symbolising his feelings on freshwater management in Canterbury.
In a rare move at his latest exhibition, artists’ works are commission-free, meaning they will pocket the entire price tag instead of requiring to give the exhibitor a cut.
Mahon said commission used to be about 20%, but these days artists could expect to give up to 50% of their earnings to the gallery.
‘‘Artists are having a pretty tough time, especially after lockdowns.’’
The Sculpture at The Mill Waikari exhibition is on from November 20 to December 12.