Past Exhibitions

Aurora

21 Nov 2015 - 10 Feb 2016

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Artists

Exhibition Works

Te Wai-a-Rangi
Israel Tangaroa Birch Te Wai-a-Rangi (2015)
Ranginui
Lisa Reihana Ranginui (2007)
Urban Warrior
Lisa Reihana Urban Warrior (2007)
Kowhaiwhai Jug (Pale Cobalt)
Mike Crawford Kowhaiwhai Jug (Pale Cobalt) (2014)
Grace and Poise
Chris Heaphy Grace and Poise (2014)
Kowhaiwhai Bowl (Clear)
Mike Crawford Kowhaiwhai Bowl (Clear) (2015)
Rolled Lip Bowl #5 (Red)
Ann Robinson Rolled Lip Bowl #5 (Red) (2013)
Beaumont
Karl Maughan Beaumont (2015)
Waitaki
Karl Maughan Waitaki (2015)
Notes on Nursing
Joanna Braithwaite Notes on Nursing (2013)
Charm School
Joanna Braithwaite Charm School (2013)
Ngā Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black & Red)
Te Rongo Kirkwood Ngā Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black & Red) (2014)
Forces of Land and Ocean [19438]
Chris Charteris Forces of Land and Ocean [19438] (2015)
Saleapaga Primary School After Tsunami Galu Afi, Saleapaga
Yuki Kihara Saleapaga Primary School After Tsunami Galu Afi, Saleapaga (2013)
Agelu i Tausi Catholic Church After Cyclone Evan, Mulivai Safata
Yuki Kihara Agelu i Tausi Catholic Church After Cyclone Evan, Mulivai Safata (2013)
Discus
John Edgar Discus (2014)
High Point Study
Neil Frazer High Point Study (2015)
White Rush
Neil Frazer White Rush (2015)
Cloud 16
Neil Dawson Cloud 16 (2015)
Black Halos 17
Neil Dawson Black Halos 17 (2015)
Shade
Reuben Paterson Shade (2015)
In Languages of Fragrance
Reuben Paterson In Languages of Fragrance (2015)
Flock
Paul Dibble Flock (2015)
Ice Bowl #89 (Hyacinth Blue)
Ann Robinson Ice Bowl #89 (Hyacinth Blue) (2010)
Wilderness
Nigel Brown Wilderness (2013)
Dusk Near Strathmore
Dick Frizzell Dusk Near Strathmore (2015)
Mt Hutt Station
Michael Hight Mt Hutt Station (2014)
The Seduction of Zealandia
Jenna Packer The Seduction of Zealandia (2013/14)
Limestone Road Kawhia
Dick Frizzell Limestone Road Kawhia (2015)

Exhibition Text

Aurora commences the 2015/16 Summer programme. It features the beguiling, visual phenomena of Israel Birch’s Te Wai a Rangi (2015); two large scale, mythic, time travelling, important works by Lisa Reihana (New Zealand’s representative at the 2017 Venice Biennial); and includes key photographs from Yuki Kihara’s acclaimed Where do we come from…? suite. Like Reihana, Kihara is one of the featured artists at the forthcoming Asia Pacific Triennial opening late November at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art.

Reuben Paterson is represented by two masterful paintings recently exhibited at the University of Waikato. Ann Robinson’s Ice Bowl # 89 (2010) is being exhibited for the first time and comes from her private collection.

Beaumont is one of the largest single panel paintings undertaken by Karl Maughan. In it he presents the architecture of the landscaped garden and the coded languages of colour in acclaimed ways that traverse stylistic techniques as diverse as abstraction (when viewed close) and representation (when viewed with some distance). Dick Frizzell compellingly delivers the specific and local, the generic and ubiquitous simultaneously in Limestone Road Kawhia (2015)and Dusk Near Strathmore (2015).

Neil Dawson’s Cloud 16 (2015) is an optical poem of swallows in flight, the spiralling patterns rising and falling, the myriad shadows constantly altering. Black Halos 17 (2015) is an enthralling, suggestive, visual contradiction that both advances and recedes. Utilising a 5th Century halo design from southern Spain, powder coated in black water silk, the work appears to be drawn in air as it redefines space.

Neil Frazer’s White Rush (2015) is like no other landscape work. It is imbued with a state of sensory immersion and delivered with such authority it is as if it has been hewn from the very landscape itself. Michael Hight’s Mt Hutt Station (2014) is a compositional masterpiece, filled with particularities, infused with light and matter of fact, seasonal, details.

There are significant sculptures by Chris Charteris, John Edgar, Paul Dibble and Mike Crawford. Joanna Braithwaite’s incisive, visual puns Notes on Nursing (2013) and Charm School (2013) are being shown in New Zealand for the first time.

Jenna Packer’s Seduction of Zealandia (2013/14) has a multi-layered narrative about the morality of the financial world, and the vanities of human behaviour.

Te Rongo Kirkwood (currently exhibiting at the prestigious De Young Museum, San Francisco; and next year at Auckland Museum) is represented by the transformative glass and black flax strand cloak Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu (Black and Red) (2014), first shown at Te Uru, in the opening exhibition at the magnificent new public gallery in the Waitakeres.

Nigel Brown’s Wilderness (2013) is iconic in structure and intent, presenting his archetypical black-singlet man reborn as a protector of what once he would have felled, arms crossed in an image of nurture and restraint.

Chris Heaphy’s silhouetted Grace and Poise (2014) is a parabolic time capsule, filled with suggestive events, symbolic vignettes, in which we witness a cultural and social journey where everything faces west.

Exhibition Views