Kā Kaupapa o te Wā
What’s On
Raymond McIntyre: A Modernist View
New exhibition now open.
Living Archives
Archives that tell stories about artists and history in Aotearoa
Whāia te Taniwha
Māori artists consider the enduring relevance of taniwha in Aotearoa.
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Late night Wednesday until 9pm
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Collection
Lonnie Hutchinson Fresh Cut
Lonnie Hutchinson’s Fresh Cut comes from a much larger, potentially variable assemblage of thirty-one intricately cut paper pieces; here five elements have been enabled to interact with each other (and the works around them) in new ways. Predominantly made from patterned suburban wallpaper, Lonnie’s chosen materials speak of everyday connections and inspiration celebrating Pasifika heritage and cultural identity.
(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )
Collection
Michelle Kerr, Fiona Collis, Claudette Collis, Te Whaitiri Tangohau-Kakau Ngā Manu a Ruakapanga
Collection
Marie Shannon Garden Fire
Many of Marie Shannon’s photographs are located inside; in 'Garden Fire', Shannon expands the boundary of the home to encompass the backyard too. The danger of an outdoor blaze is quietened by the privacy and domestic scale of this bonfire, but there is an uneasy tone underlying this image, hinted at by the strange angle of Shannon’s camera or perhaps the ground itself – at first glance, it is difficult to tell which, confused further by the drifting direction of the smoke. Shannon’s commitment to what she describes as the “emotional density and weight” of photography amplifies otherwise ordinary objects and events, and calls into question how reliable images are for telling us what is really going on.
(Jane Wallace, 2023)
Collection
Marie Shannon Baby Clothes
In 2018, Marie Shannon described works such as Baby Clothes as exploring her interest in domestic locations: “[It was a] location that I could control, that I could work in any time that I wanted. But that wasn’t just convenience. I am one of those people that really likes sitting in a room staring at a corner – looking at the space of a room, at the arrangement of furniture. Locations have their own characters but there is something universal about domestic locations. It’s a background against which you can do things and say things.
I really enjoy unspectacular locations. When I first began working in this way, a lot of photographers weren’t seeking out their own environments. They were outward looking and they were trying to put themselves in novel situations to bring back news of the world or bring back news from places that weren’t their own. I knew from early on that didn’t fit with me just because I wasn’t that kind of outgoing person. I wasn’t a person who could bury myself in somebody else’s life or situation.”
(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )
Collection
Sonya Lacey Edit, tabloid (2)
Sonya Lacey often focuses on the history of printing and forms of communication, creating a poetic relationship between water and print. Several years ago, she had the opportunity of filming a disused swimming pool in the basement of the St Bride Foundation located on Fleet Street in London.
The Foundation was built as a place for workers in the London newspaper printing industry to relax and socialise and in the twentieth century, Staff from the nearby Fleet Street printers would immerse themselves in this murky swimming pool after work, washing off the news of the day. For Edit, tabloid (2), Sonya washed sheets of newspaper until the content dissolved, turning newsworthy images and articles into abstract forms, and she then collaged these together to create a new version of the daily tabloid. This idea and process emphasises the fluidity of language and the instability of information systems.
(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )
