Water, a group exhibition I have work in opens next Thursday!
‘Ma te wai, ka ora tonu ngā mea katoa!’
Through water, all things live! Water gives life to all things!
The exhibition is from 3 May – 25 June 2018, at Geoff Wilson Gallery
Northtec, Toi Te Pito Arts Precinct NorthTec
51 Raumanga Valley Road
Whangarei 0110
New Zealand is surrounded by oceans and sea and is home to many rivers and inland waterways. This environmental fact inspired the group exhibition Water, hosted at The Geoff Wilson Gallery, Northtec, Whangarei.
The exhibition features works by twelve artists each responding to the notion of water via an image, sound or sensation. Represented are discussions pertaining to the qualities of water albeit; beauty, environmental challenges, cultural discussions or water’s sensual and erotic nature.
Participating artists include: Angela Carter, Benjamin Pittman, Brenda Briant, Denise Batchelor, Emma Smith, Jill Sorensen, Linda Cook, Lydia Anderson, Martha Mitchell, Natalie Robertson, Robert Carter and William Bardebes.
A calendar of events, workshops, lectures and discussions, will accompany the exhibition as Water runs its course through May – June.
Curator – Linda Cook
Social Bodies; Ocean of Air, installation, and opening night engagement.
“…We live not, in reality, on the summit of a solid earth but at the bottom of an ocean of air.” – The Invention of Clouds, by Richard Hamblyn (2002).
Using garments as signifiers, as tools of socialisation, communication, and belonging; Social Bodies; Ocean of Air invites the gallery visitor to step into an other world. The objects in this exhibition are activated when worn within the space, the viewer~wearer becomes part of the social experiment, bringing them to life, adding meaning and their own story to the garments.
Social Bodies; Ocean of Air, detail.
Visitors are invited to consider; what is your relationship with this Ocean of Air? And how do you navigate it? You are invited to use the objects in Social Bodies; Ocean of Air as tools for communication, play and ‘dressing up’.
Everyday dress is a performance…will you play along?
“Fashion is thus representative of both social and cultural performances, since the ways in which our bodies are clothed is imbued with socially constructed meanings, especially in regards to gender. Fashion also acts as both a cultural and social symbol, operating under the overarching cultural conventions defined by dominant systems of power. Within clothing are the possibility for constructing power and influence, and a space for dissent, critique, and exploration.” (Neumann, 2011).
References:
Hamblyn, Richard. The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies. New York: Picador, 2002
Neumann, Jessica, “Fashioning the Self: Performance, Identity and Difference” (2011). Electronic theses and Dissertations. 475. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/475
mermaids purse 