10 exhibitions to see this month

Among the 10 events this month are a tribute to musician and artist Hamish Kilgour, the opening of the annual Tai Tapu Sculpture Garden Festival, and Form Gallery’s contemporary jewellery director Koji Mayazaki retires after 31 years in Ōtautahi. Warren Feeney writes. 1. I Go Side On, The Creative Works of Hamish Robert Kilgour

Pūmanawa Gallery, The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, 2 Worcester Blvd, Christchurch. March 8 to 31.

Known in Aotearoa as “the best band in the world”, The Clean’s founding member, Hamish Kilgour (1957-2022), was a musician, painter, photographer and video artist. Musicians and friends Paul Kean and Alex Bathgate have curated I Go Side On, an exhibition featuring works in various media that celebrate Kilgour and his inspirational arts practice.

2. Tai Tapu Sculpture Garden Festival 2024 1/199 Cossars Rd, Christchurch, open three weekends, March 2, 3, 9, 10, 16 and 17. $20 entry, children under 16 free.

Founded by Peter Joyce and Annabel Menzies-Joyce, the annual Tai Tapu Sculpture Garden Festival encompasses contemporary works by 40 senior and emerging artists, and the opportunity to experience the Sculpture Garden’s aweinspiring permanent collection.

3. Euan Macleod, June and Henry PGgallery192, 192 Bealey Ave, Christchurch. March 5 to April 5.

In June and Henry, neo-expressionist Euan Macleod makes touching and confronting observations about family and relationships, his mother June and grandson Henry. MacLeod delivers a moving commentary on the human condition, his unwell, elderly mother the subject of paintings that include Mum on Closed Summit Rd, her presence poignant and tenuous.

4. Jacob Yikes, Professionally Uncomfortable Chambers Gallery, 80 Durham St, Sydenham, Christchurch. Till April 3.

For Professionally Uncomfortable, multidisciplinary artist Jacob Yikes journeys into areas of vulnerability and disquiet, commenting: “Using life experiences to guide the creation of these works I have approached them using nothing but raw feeling … directing me into the somewhat unknown, leaving a mild discomfort within as I try to make sense of the reality around me.”

5. Ivan Lupi, Musings City Art Depot, 96 Disraeli St, Sydenham, Christchurch. Till March 18.

In Musings, Italian-born Ivan Lupi (resident in Aotearoa since 2016) co-ordinates two complementary series: Set of Pleasant Feelings, a sequence of circular wall-works, and Solitaire, a performance work premiered on opening night and scheduled during the exhibition’s opening hours.

6. Bekah Carran, Georgina May Young and Kate Fitzharris, Can you pick me up The National, 249 Moorhouse Ave, Christchurch. March 8 to April 6.

The three artists in this exhibition, Can you pick me up, collectively value the form and detail of their chosen materials, Georgina May Young describing her processes as “thread by thread … utilising natural materials, exploring whakapapa and memories held in a place of real and imagined landscapes”.

7. Group Exhibition, Talis – Pendant Exhibition Form Gallery, 468 Colombo St, Sydenham, Christchurch. March 2 to 30.

Among the 12 jewellers contributing to Talis is Form Gallery’s retiring founding director, Koji Miyazaki. Opening 31 years ago in Chancery Lane in Christchurch, Form was resident in the Christchurch Art Gallery from 2003, and from 2013 post-quake at 468 Colombo St. Introducing thousands of visitors to seriously contemporary jewellery, Form is internationally renowned. Its new director, Sarah Roberts, is in residence from April.

8. Dilana, THE LAST EDITION 102 Buchan St, Sydenham, Christchurch. Till April 30.

Dilana’s director, Hugh Bannerman, is redefining rug-making, opening up new opportunities for artists, transitioning from edition hand-made rugs to accessing international rug-making techniques. Dilana is also paying homage to its history with the launch of THE LAST EDITION, selected rugs from the 1980s to 2023, including works by Don Peebles, Ralph Hotere and more.

9. Steve Carr, New Arrangement Jonathan Smart Gallery, 52 Buchan St, Sydenham, Christchurch. March 12 to April 6.

Investigating the notion of speed and slowness, New Arrangement encompasses video and sculpture. It’s described by Steve Carr as exploring “materiality, humour and vastly different time scales”, his subjects anchored in both their promises and deceptions. His 2019 installation, Chasing the Light, was described by writer/commentator Robert Leonard as “pulling the rug, cueing entertainment expectations only to frustrate them”.

10. Ina Johann, Fractures and Residues – the unruly existence of things Stoddart Cottage Gallery, 2 Waipapa Ave, Diamond Harbour. Till March 24.

Fractures and Residues is a site-specific exhibition, artist Ina Johann documenting the flora, fauna, geological forms and living things at Stoddart Cottage and Banks Peninsula. She comments: “I like to dig, reveal and release something unruly; the in between and less predictable spaces in life.”