February 2012

Please note that the galleries will be closed on Monday 6 February for Waitangi Day. We apologise for any inconvenience. For any urgent enquiries, please contact Gary Langsford or John Gow.

January 2012 / Reuben Paterson Bottled Lightning opens this week at Gus Fisher Gallery

Paterson_Older Wiser

Curated by Andrew Clifford, Bottled Lightning highlights Reuben Paterson’s lively exploration of materials, starting with his glitter-on-canvas depictions of kowhaiwhai and fabric designs, and diversifying into a range of media including sequins, foil, diamond dust, shoes, gourds, video and installation. Guiding this is Paterson’s ongoing conceptual investigation into aspects of time and energy through the properties of light, which reflects the power of history, memory, whakapapa, spirituality and place. His work is a celebration of the future, interwoven with a melancholic consideration of the present as it slips into the past – like the faded glory of a much-anticipated party, gleefully recalled the morning after.

Kinetic energy has always been a key feature in Paterson’s works, whether it is the optical effects of painting, influenced by Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely, the spiritually charged dance of light and dark on reflective surfaces, or the kaleidoscopic distortions of his interactive and digital works. Fusing liquid, light and metal, his cultural patterns have evoked sacred diamonds, the social and ecological aftermath of gold mining, and the tidal pull of lunar forces. These remind us of the underlying power that ripples beneath the land we stand on with its ever-changing layers of history. Contained on a canvas like bottled lightning, they challenge our perception and control of the present as a state of flow, an analogy for capturing the elusive creative process as it shifts between boredom and inspiration. (source: Gus Fisher Gallery website)

20 January 2012 to 3 March 2012. For a full list of related events and opening hours, see their website.

December 2011 / John Pule Hauaga at Auckland Art Gallery

The first major survey exhibition of John Pule’s work is now open at . The exhibition curated by Gregory O'Brien and Aaron Lister surveys his career from one of its key turning points, in 1991, when he travelled back to Niue and reconnected with its traditional art of hiapo (barkcloth painting). Hauaga is now in its final venue as part of a nationwide tour, beginning at City Gallery Wellington.

Until 25 March 2012. Free entry. See their website for more information.

December 2011 / Judy Millar in International Collections

Judy Millar's work is now part of two important European Collections, The Tichy Collection and the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen.

Housed in the Czech republic, The Tichy Collection includes works by Richard Prince, Thomas Ruff and Gunter Forg. Millar is the first artist from New Zealand to participate in this collection.

The Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland is an important collection of painting that includes paintings from all eras, including recent times, and holds a number of important works by Andy Warhol.

Gow Langsford Gallery

February 2012