the Beholders

The fish and chip shop piece is darling, and harkens back to everyone’s common childhood experience of being given a few bucks to run down and buy something deep-fried. It’s got every bit of Aotearoa in it: corrugated iron, blue-washed storefronts, the expanse of background ocean, “To Take Away”, scrawled on the sign…I can almost taste the salt and batter.

The store is closed on a Monday and a Tuesday. You can barely make out the sign, written on the window, that tells you about the closure. What’s going on on Monday and Tuesday? How can such a tiny shop afford to take two days off, or is that just their Saturday and Sunday? Are the owners behind the building, down on the beach? What do they do on their days off? We don’t know, but we know that it’s a bluebird day, the store is closed, and the owners, presumably, are lapping up the sun. At least, I hope they are. I want to join them.

Next, we took a look at Mere and Siulolovao, Otago Peninsula , from 2017. Again, the piece has elements of nostalgic Aotearoa. It’s a candid oil painting depicting a mother holding her child, with their Portobello cottage visible behind them, framed on either side by washing on the line.

The mother, clad in a bold yellow shirt and intricately-patterned skirt, draws your attention to the glum-faced toddler positioned on her hip as one would a washing basket, who she gazes lovingly at through chic aviator glasses (yeah, mumma).

All mothers would probably relate to the slight exasperation in her gaze - she has shit to do, washing to fold, and this kid is looking like it just dropped a deuce in its diaper. It’s nice weather, though, so a quick walk to a nearby river for a dunk should do the trick while she waits for the summer sun to dry the sheets on the line. We’ve all been that toddler, but how many of us have been the mum?

All up, the exhibition is chock full of pieces that will make you reminisce. It was like taking a step back, both in time and in space.

Recommended song for your visit : For What it’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield

INGREDIENTS:

900g chicken breast

Large chunk of ginger, minced

4 cloves of garlic, diced finely

Juice of 1 orange

Zest of 1 orange