Cryptic Colourations captive viewing
Featured artists launch the Wild Things group exhibition at Whanganui's A Gallery
Featured artists displayed their work at A Gallery in Whanganui in an exhibition that launched on Friday night with a group art show called Wild Things by Tsubaki Scythe, Sheila Pearson and Rachael Garland. In Gallery 85, a solo show by Brit Bunkley called Cryptic Colourations began running.
Brit’s video artwork How We Dream has been in ten festivals internationally, one in Rio de Janeiro and a show in London.
The deer in the video — Pere David’s — are native to China but were effectively extinct there. Herbrand Russell, Duke of Bedford, saved the species from extinction by acquiring the last of the world’s captive deer and breeding them on his estate.
Nearly a century later, the first conservation reintroduction in China was met with some scepticism. Few people thought the deer would survive, given the small gene pool. But the deer defied expectations; the founding population of 38 has now reached 600 in this centre alone.
At the visitor centre, director Wen Huajun has been working with Pere David’s deer for 20 years.
“These animals are much smarter than we initially thought, and with a strong survival instinct,” he says. “They’ve learned to use their hooves as tools, kicking open watermelons and flipping fish out of shallow water onto the ground. The deer are also skilled athletes, running and swimming with impressive speed and endurance.”
There are some in the United States and New Zealand, where they are used for bounty hunting.
“They have donkey tails and their antlers grow in all directions, like tree branches,” said Brit.
He has been living in Whanganui for 28 years and hails from New York City, where he was getting grants or commissions for his artwork.
Brit went to art school in Minneapolis and attended Minneapolis College of Art and Design — where Hazel Gamec (who started the design school here) taught when he was there.
“I didn’t know that she came here when I applied for the job,” said Brit.
“I applied to the New Zealand job when an art professor on sabbatical (formerly down the hall from me from in Brooklyn) advertised starting an art school in New Zealand.
“I went to Hunter College for graduate school and made it through in four years, getting two grants. You had to be a professional to get the grants, so I dropped out of graduate school, then started again later to get through.
“I graduated in 1985 and, with luck, received the prestigious Rome Prize. Perhaps the luckiest part — I met my wife when in Rome. We had a child and decided to move to the country from NYC. We ended up in Whanganui.
“The sculpture in the exhibition
I make 3D prints and slice them up into pieces in order to make a full-size animal, or furniture hanging out from trees. Brit Bunkley
was inspired by a collaboration of two works in Auckland Botanical Gardens. I make 3D prints and slice them up into pieces in order to make a fullsize animal, or furniture hanging out from trees. Each piece is assigned a different colour in a computer programme. I then redesign the colour combination,” he said.
Rachel Garland contributed with her Bloomers creation. She is a Whanganui artist who’s been here for 23 years and was originally a printmaker and painter. She’s now doing 3D works.
“I construct from found objects, similar to Bloomers — I cobble things together and come what may,” she said.
She has the Magpie Studio and completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Whanganui in 2000. She then finished a Master’s Degree at Massey University in 2010.
“The calibre of art in this city — due to the concentration of practising artists — is quite top-notch, I think. Whanganui’s known for it. There is diversity, depth and selection — every corner you look at in the exhibition is amazing,” she said.