Walter Buller Glaucopis Wilsoni [North Island Kōkako], Glaucopis Cinerea [South Island Kōkako], from A History of the Birds of New Zealand, London, 1873. Collection of Christchurch City Libraries Ngā Kete Wānanga-o-Ōtautahi
This exhibition is now closed
A selection of lavishly illustrated books from the Victorian era relating to New Zealand landscape, Māori culture, colonial enterprise and our unique flora, fauna and birdlife.
Showcasing gems from Christchurch City Libraries collections, New Zealand Illustrated focuses on a selection of illustrated books relating to New Zealand from the Victorian era. Among the highlights are the monumental edition The New Zealanders Illustrated (1847) by George French Angas and the beautifully illustrated A History of the Birds of New Zealand (1873) by Walter Buller. These colonial era books illustrate the New Zealand landscape, but also reflect the Victorians' thirst for knowledge of the wider world during the 19th century. New Zealand Illustrated provides Christchurch audiences with an opportunity to view historic art, examples of which have been hard to come by since earthquakes.
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Date:
29 October – 2 December 2013 -
Curator:
Peter Vangioni -
Exhibition number:
957
Related reading: Outer Spaces
Exhibition
Done: Recent Drawing Books by Philip Trusttum
23 September – 28 October 2013
A selection of drawing books by one of Canterbury's best known artists featuring cute children's toys pulled together in bizarre and sometimes malevolent combinations through the process of drawing.
Notes
What's in a title page
Quite a lot if you happened to be a graphic designer working in London during the Victorian period as the three examples below highlight.
Notes
Buller's Birds
For all the bad press Walter Buller gets for his activities as a bird stuffer you've got to hand it to him, he pulled one out of the bag with his first edition of A History of the Birds of New Zealand.
Notes
Holloway Press 1994-2014
Last chance to view the Holloway Press exhibition at Central Library Peterborough this week so if you are in the neighbourhood and like beautifully printed, designed and hand-crafted books then make sure you head along.
Notes
Sian Torrington Call Out
Christchurch Art Gallery is excited to be working with Wellington-based artist Sian Torrington on a site-specific sculptural installation that will combine ideas, images and materials that relate to living in Christchurch now.
See below for a message from Sian to find out how you can get involved.
Notes
Outer Space programme sees Canterbury arts graduate exhibit work in Showhome
The Gallery's latest exhibition in the Outer Spaces programme, Showhome, has opened in Christchurch, featuring the disconcertingly 'perfect' works of recent University of Canterbury graduate Emily Hartley-Skudder.
Notes
Worcester Boulevard exhibition extended as publication developed
The popularity of Reconstruction: Conversations on a City has led to the exhibition being extended until 14 October, and the development of a publication.
Notes
The inner binding now on display at the library
If you've not been down to the Central Library Peterborough yet now's a good time to do it.
Notes
(Way Out)er Spaces
We're pretty pleased with what we're achieving with our Outer Spaces programme, but it's always good to see what else is out there. And I do mean 'out there'...
Notes
The ghost of studios past
In preparation for the next issue of Bulletin, Gallery photographer John and I have been out photographing some of the local artists who will be taking part in Rolling Maul when we reopen.
Interview
Silent Patterns
When we asked Tony de Lautour to produce a new work for the Bunker—the name Gallery staff give to the small, square elevator building at the front of the forecourt on Montreal Street—he proposed a paint scheme inspired by Dazzle camouflage. Associated with the geometric near-abstraction of the vorticist movement, Dazzle was developed by British and American artists during the First World War to disguise shipping. It was a monumental form of camouflage that aimed not to hide the ship but to break up its mass visually and confuse enemies about its speed and direction. In a time before radar and sonar were developed, Dazzle was designed to disorientate German U-boat commanders looking through their periscopes, and protect the merchant fleets.
Senior curator Lara Strongman spoke with Tony de Lautour in late January 2016.
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