Sixty-two new ideas in Pataka gallery
10 September 2012
“There are sixty-two works in this exhibition representing sixty-two new ideas. I get excited about that because art is about ideas,” said Darcy Nicholas, Director of Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures in Porirua at the opening of the “Original Voices” exhibition yesterday.
Original Voices, a national exhibition featuring work by creative space artists, is presented by Arts Access Aotearoa and runs at Pataka Museum until 23 September. Seventeen creative spaces from Dunedin through to Auckland submitted close to 300 works. Curator Stuart Shepherd selected 62 works to line the walls of the Bottle Creek Gallery in Pataka and all of the works are presented in a continuous slide show throughout the exhibition.
"Beautiful" catalogue for sale
An 84-page catalogue features a number of the works from across the 17 creative spaces and also includes a CD of the slide show presentation. Arie Hellendoorn, Studio Co-ordinator and tutor at Spark Centre in Auckland, attended the opening. He described the catalogue as “beautiful”.
“It’s impressive to have such an interesting mix of works in one publication,” he says. “It’s also great to see so many creative spaces and artists represented here in this gallery. Arts Access Aotearoa has done a very good job with both the exhibition and this beautiful catalogue.”
The catalogue can be purchased at any of the associated events for $15 or from the Pataka store or Arts Access Aotearoa’s office (T: 04 802 4349) for $20.
Menno Huibers, an artist and art tutor at Pablos Art Studios in Wellington, attended the opening and described the exhibition as a “tight, well thought-out show with a strong cross-section of artists from creative spaces.
“I like surprises – and there are a lot of them here.”
In reference to Martin Kerschbaumer’s work, Menno said: “I love Martin’s work and his artist’s statement. ‘I paint I breathe’ . It’s such a powerful expression.”
Curator Stuart Shepherd says the art produced by creative space artists is contemporary, edgy and imaginative. An art lecturer at Massey University until earlier this year, Stuart hopes that gallery visitors will be open to the different “voices” of each artist.
“You don’t need a degree to enjoy art. You need a confidence and an openness to appreciate the work and the different forms of expression. I am constantly challenged and delighted by the innovation, and the fresh visual languages and accents bubbling up from this sector of the art world.”
Stuart Shepherd has been promoting New Zealand self-taught art since 1991, when he first attended the New York Outsider Art Fair. He has marketed the work both here and internationally in New York and Paris – and now in Liège, Belgium, where he has curated an exhibition of four New Zealand self-taught artists, on until 9 September.
Public programme
A public programme will include an art workshop by Marcel Baaijens (30 August); an artists talk (13 September); and a curators’ talk and panel discussion, moderated by art critic Mark Amery (16 September).
Participating creative spaces
The creative spaces whose artists are participating in the exhibition are Artsenta, and Studio2 and Margaret Freeman Gallery in Dunedin; Hohepa Canterbury in Christchurch; Community Art Works in Nelson; Vincents Art Workshop, Alpha Art Studio and Pablos Art Studios in Wellington; Colours Art Studio in Porirua; Take 5 & Te Whare Marama and Dudley Arthouse in Lower Hutt; King Street Artworks in the Wairarapa; RealPeople @ Mosaic in Taradale; Centre 401 and Sandz Gallery and Studio in Hamilton; and Spark Centre for Creative Development, Toi Ora Live Art Trust and Hohepa Helios in Auckland.
