ANDY LELEISI'UAO

ANDY LELEISI’UAO

Atmosphere People of Moana 29 Aug - 23 Sept 2015 www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Milford Galleries Dunedin 18 Dowling Street (03) 477 7727 info@milfordhouse.co.nz

Atmosphere People - Part I (2014) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1522 x 762 x 33 mm

1

Atmosphere People - Part II (2014) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1521 x 763 x 33 mm

2

Atmosphere People of Masina (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1015 x 760 x 36 mm

3

Atmosphere People of Lano (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1019 x 759 x 39 mm

4

Atmosphere People of La (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1023 x 774 x 41 mm

5

Atmosphere People of Mauga (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1017 x 760 x 34 mm

6

Atmosphere People of Fetuao (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1021 x 763 x 41 mm

7

Atmosphere People of Vao (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1015 x 761 x 33 mm

8

Atmosphere People of Moana (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1012 x 760 x 36 mm

9

The paintings of Atmosphere People of Moana show a rainbow world through which Andy Leleisi’uao continues to explore the structures of community.

Dozens of stories are played out on each canvas as the “atmosphere people” play, work, and rest together. Each singular moment contributes to the meta-narrative of social cohesion and communality, which binds the paintings of this exhibition together and establishes their place within Leleisi’uao’s larger oeuvre.

The dynamics of communal existence has been a long-standing thematic strand underpinning Andy Leleisi’uao’s practice. The inhabitants of his canvases are working towards a superordinate goal, to which the viewer is not yet privy. Leleisi’uao embeds messages within each painting using a symbolic language of form and motif and he issues an invitation to decipher them but does not provide a Rosetta Stone to assist with this task. This results in an intimate relation between viewer and work, as each bone, hand, or hidden face takes on a personal signification. The viewer enters into a hidden contract with the artist and is complicit in the creation and re-creation of the work each time it is viewed.

Andy Leleisi’uao has always played with scale to disrupt visual conventions and his painted figures do not comply with standard ideas of depth; they may be simultaneously large and distant, or small and nearby. Reflecting concepts of embracing and respecting difference within social continuities, the individuals Leleisi’uao paints subvert traditional concepts of dominance or subordination. They operate within a holistic system on mutual

interdependence, irrespective of size or prominence. Like the chess or jigsaw pieces they juggle, each being has a place in the world.

The horizontal layering seen in many of Leleisi’uao’s earlier works has been modified in Atmosphere People of Moana; it operates in these works as a perspectival as well as a framing device. The angular mountain forms and suggested horizons create strong spatial boundaries that increase the depth of the picture plane. From the tree-line at the foot of the mountains a plain spills forth that serves as a stage upon which the activities of the people take place. The two-dimensionality of the mountains suggest the sliding set backdrops of the theatre, as do the giant origami bird-forms, whose geometries mimic those of the mountains behind, but whose struts and trusses reveal their deliberate construction. Flattened and shallow, the picture plane/plain reinforces the proximity of each individual to one another and the subtle relationships that knit them together.

The bold colours Leleisi’uao has chosen contribute to the theatricality and celebratory nature of the scenes. The contrast of hue, line and shape enhances the dynamic energy of each painting as the eye is drawn first to one scene and then another. The weightless jellyfish floating over and above the stage in Atmosphere People of Lano show how the artist deftly combines organic and geometric forms to build an internal narrative structure within each painting. Their trailing tentacles subtly direct the gaze to the clear blue of the central pool, which acts as a visual foil for the towering, rainbowtopped peaks beyond. Through this act of looking, the viewer is implicated in the communal ritual of the inhabitants as they gather on the shore.

Andy Leleisi’uao has created a theatre of community on his canvases and the Atmosphere People of Moana embodies notions of mutual respect, collective endeavour, and creative energy. Drawing upon a complex language of metaphor and sign, Andy Leleisi’uao’s paintings are rich with personalised narratives that are within reach of every individual who takes time to unravel them.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST 1

Atmosphere People - Part I (2014)

7,500

2

Atmosphere People - Part II (2014)

7,500

3

Atmosphere People of Masina (2015)

7,000

4

Atmosphere People of Lano (2015)

7,000

5

Atmosphere People of La (2015)

7,000

6

Atmosphere People of Mauga (2015)

7,000

7

Atmosphere People of Fetuao (2015)

7,000

8

Atmosphere People of Vao (2015)

7,000

9

Atmosphere People of Moana (2015)

7,000

All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

ANDY LELEISI’UAO b. 1969, lives Auckland

Andy Leleisi’uao: Pa'ceania Part 1 - II (2011)

Drawing together threads from such disparate sources as Stone Age rock art, classical Greek vase painting, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Samoan siapa cloth, Andy Leleisi’uao speaks with a distinctive visual language.

His layered worlds suggest multiple mythologies and show a community populated by rainbow-headed people and Bosch-like beasts. More akin to a hive than a hierarchy, the industrious beings who people Leleisi’uao’s canvases are linked in an undefined common purpose: groups work together carrying and lifting, individuals sit in thought or prayer, or spring and soar with a sense of joy. The world they inhabit is ‘multi-storied’ in both the figurative and narrative sense.

Leleisi’uao often paints in series and seen together, the paintings may be viewed as an extended narrative; taken individually, each painting provides an intimate view of a world that is at once alien and very familiar. Recurring motifs throughout the works provide visual touchstones for viewers and remind us of the inherent humanity of his creatures, and the universality of their struggle and endeavour within a limited existence.

Andy Leleisi’uao lives in Auckland and in 2000 he was the first recipient of AUT School of Art and Design Pasifika Scholarship, gaining a Master of Fine Arts with Honours in 2002. Residencies within New Zealand include a Research Scholarship, at the University of Canterbury’s Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies and the McCahon House Artists’ Residency; international residencies have taken him to Rarotonga, Taiwan, and, most recently, Bridge Guard in Slovakia (2013).

Leleisi’uao has exhibited throughout New Zealand and has been involved in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Rarotonga, Germany, Taiwan, and the United States of America. His work is included in the permanent collections of Pataka Museum and Art Gallery, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the Auckland Art Gallery, the Chartwell Collection, and the James Wallace Arts Trust collection.

Andy Leleisi’uao 2015 CV P a g e |1

Milford

Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

ANDY LELEISI’UAO b. 1969, lives Auckland EDUCATION 2002

MA in Art and Design, First Class Honours, AUT, Auckland

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 2014 2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008 2007 2006

2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

Atmosphere People of Moana, Milford Galleries Dunedin Waking up to the Oculus People, milford galleries queenstown The Crucifixion Series, Chambers 241 Gallery, Christchurch World of Trylapid, BCA Gallery, Rarotonga Rainbow You, Rainbow Me, Ezstergom, Hungary Rubik Sunflowers of Sturovo, The Bridge Guard Artist in Residence, Sturovo, Slovakia The Choirs of Lupotea, Milford Galleries Dunedin Le Tumau, Whitespace, Auckland Episades of Pino'nati, Auckland Art Fair, Auckland The Quixotic Cruxifiction of Iesu, Whitespace, Auckland Dandelion People, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Quasimodo Love, PaperGraphica, Christchurch Polyneitus Spring, Milford Galleries Dunedin Imaginary Park, Snowhite Gallery, Unitech, Auckland Olaga People, Cosset Café, Auckland Immigrant Mind, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland Op City, Whitespace, Auckland World of Lemeads, ROAR! Gallery, Wellington The World of Erodipolis, Milford Galleries Dunedin Arytipidal, Blue Oyster, Dunedin Ufological City, VOLTA, New York, USA Cryptid Illuminati, Whitespace, Auckland Wandering Through Pandemonium Quiet, CoCA Gallery, Christchurch Andy Leleisi’uao, Thistle Hall, Wellington Carousel of Cryptid Abanimals, Whitespace, Auckland Andy Leleisi'uao, McCahon House, Titirangi, Auckland Andy Leleisi'uao, Taipei, Taiwan.

Asefeka of the Unmalosa, Kips Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA Areatures of the Arctaur People, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Le Onoeva - Misunderstood Aitu, Whitespace, Auckland Andy Leleisi'uao, McCarthy Gallery, Auckland Angipanis of the Abanimal People, Whitespace, Auckland Lost Kamoans of the Godly and Godless, Whitespace, Auckland The Ballad of a Cheeky Darkie, Te Tuhi, Pakuranga, Auckland Catch a Sparkling Spirit, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch I Need to See Alien, Whitespace, Auckland Empowered Wallflower, Whitespace, Auckland We're Not Black (with I. Nikalo), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Cheeky Darkie, Whitespace, Auckland The Ballad of Tinou'amea and Pepe, Whitespace, Auckland Dressed to Kill (with J.Ioane), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Tribute to W Samoa (with N.Lela'ulu), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch The Umu Collection of Titles, Whitespace, Auckland Minoi, Minoi Mai, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch My Samoan Accent, Artstation Gallery, Ponsonby, Auckland The Brown Corner, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Seta Blue, Mangere People's Centre, Mangere, Manukau Tired of Silence, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, Wellington

Andy Leleisi’uao 2015 CV P a g e |2

Milford

Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995

Polynesian Grotesques, Muka Studio, Ponsonby, Auckland Crashed Presbyterian, Te Taumata Art Gallery, Auckland Patterns of My Lavalava, School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Christchurch Furious (with G. Hookey), Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia The Brownest Dawn, The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland Selected Works, Pakuranga Cultural Centre, Manukau Waking Up To My Polynesian Spine, Aotea Centre, Auckland Selected Works, Aotea Centre, Auckland Selected Works, Manurewa Nathan Homestead, Auckland Selected Works, Papatoetoe Library, Manukau, Auckland Early Escapades, Mangere Community Arts Centre, Manukau, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2014 2013 2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown The Review, milford galleries queenstown New Works Group Show, Milford Galleries Dunedin Drawing the Line, Whitespace, Auckland Not for Entertainment, Whitespace, Auckland NZ Adam Portraiture Award and Exhibition Chosen, milford galleries queenstown Tree House McCahon Residency, Titirangi, Auckland Wonderland, Chambers, Christchurch Tenei a Wairoa, Uxbridge Centre, Auckland Drawing Show, Papergraphica, Christchurch Salon des Refuses, The Pah, Hillsborough, Auckland CURRENT, October Gallery, London, England Pacific Currents, Waiheke Community Art Gallery, Auckland Team McMillan BMW Bonnet Awards, Newmarket, Auckland Living Doll, Quiqcorp, Central Christchurch Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art, COCA, Christchurch Aids Awareness, Bone and Art Gallery, Christchurch Manuia, Native American Community House, New York, USA TAV Air Group Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan My True Love Gave To Me…, Whitespace, Ponsonby, Auckland ROAR! Mince Pies, ROAR! Gallery, Wellington Art Asia/Scope International Contemporary Art, Chelsea, New York, USA Travelling Exhibition, New Dowse Museum, Lower Hutt, Wellington James Wallace Awards Selected Finalists, BNZ Gallery, Aotea Square, Auckland Queer Takes, Quiqcorp Gallery, Central Christchurch Take 40, Fresh Gallery, Otara, Auckland Anon Drawings No 9 show, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Bethanien, Berlin, Germany Axis, Selected Works from MCC Art Collection, Manukau City Le Folauga 2, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan Bite Me!, Our City O-Tautahi, Christchurch Samoa Contemporary, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga James Wallace Awards Selected Finalists, Aotea Square, The Edge, Auckland Samoa Contemporary, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art, CoCA, Christchurch Artists for Save our Water, NG Gallery, Christchurch The Artist Room, Whitespace, Auckland Samoa Contemporary, Pataka, Museum of Arts and Cultures, Wellington Dateline Returns, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Palmerston North Political World, Whitespace, Auckland Los Angeles Art Show with Whitespace, Los Angeles, USA Date Line, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany Scriptures from the West, Beachcomber Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Life According to Art, Waikato Museum, Hamilton

Andy Leleisi’uao 2015 CV P a g e |3

Milford

Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2006 2004 2003

2002

2001 2000

1999 1998

1997

1996

1995 1985

Le Foulaga, The Past Coming Forward, Auckland Museum, Auckland Relations Indigenous Dialogue Exhibition, IAIA Museum Santa Fe, New Mexico Works on Paper, COCA, Christchurch, Christchurch Weird Names for Girls, Platform, Hamilton Another Day in Paradise, The Den, Auckland Six Pacific Artists, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch 20/20 Sight Spacific, COCA, Christchurch, Christchurch Pacific Notions, Whitespace, Auckland Pacific Notions, Rozelle, Sydney, Australia Pacific Notions, Columbia, New York, USA Cross Currents, Lane Gallery, Auckland South Pacific, Waiheke Island, Auckland Out of the Blue, Hawkes Bay, Hastings Sway, MA Group Show, AUT, Auckland Go Home You Deserve To Die Samoa, AUT, Auckland Island Crossings, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia As Is/Where Is, Mangere Arts Centre, Mangere, Auckland A Sea Change, Olympic Arts Festival, Sydney, Australia Fireworks, Aotea Centre, Auckland Central, Auckland Testing Traditions, Aotea Centre, Auckland Central, Auckland Out of the Blue, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Tautai Exhibition, Outreach Centre, Howick, Manukau Romance of the Mask, Uxbridge Centre, Howick, Manukau Searching, The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland From Here to There, Manukau City Chambers, Manukau Dots on the Blue, Pakuranga Cultural Centre, Auckland Tokoroa Art Awards, Tokoroa, Waikato The Seventh Pacific Festival of Arts, Apia, Samoa Mangere Bridge Art Exhibition, Mangere Bridge, Auckland The Pumphouse Art Awards, Takapuna, Auckland Pacific Dragons, Uxbridge Centre, Howick, Manukau Pasifika with Tautai Trust, Western Springs, Auckland Beyond the Mask, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland Auckland Star Secondary Schools Exhibitions, Auckland

SELECTED AWARDS 2013 2012 2011 2010

2009 2008 2006 2004 2002 2001

2000 1999

Artist in Residence, Bridge Guard, Slovakia Artist in Residence, Uni-tech, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand towards group exhibition in London, England Wallace Arts Trust funding towards solo exhibition, New York, USA Artist in Residence, McCahon House, Titirangi, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand to travel within Taiwan and to Hong Kong Artist in Residence, Taipei Artist Village, Taiwan Artist in Residence, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Funding from Creative NZ towards solo exhibition at Kips Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA Funding from Creative New Zealand towards Le Onoeva - Misunderstood Aitu catalogue Research Scholarship, Macmillan Brown Centre, University of Canterbury Charles Southwell Award, NZ Association of Rationalists and Humanists (INC) Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Whitespace, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Whitespace, Auckland MA in Art and Design, First Class Honours, AUT, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Powhiri opening for Seta Blue and mural, Mangere People's Centre, Manukau Recipient of the James Wallace Postgraduate Exhibiting Scholarship Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Dowse Art Museum, Wellington First recipient of AUT School of Art and Design Pasifika Scholarship Artist in Residence, Macmillan Brown Centre, University of Canterbury

Andy Leleisi’uao 2015 CV P a g e |4

Milford

Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1998

1997 1996 1995 1994

First recipient of Martin Hughes Interior Architects Travel Grant Artist in Residence, Casula Powerhouse, Liverpool, Sydney Australia Funding from the Australian Arts Council for a Residency in Sydney Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Pumphouse Gallery, Auckland Certificate of Appreciation from Mayor of Manukau for supporting local arts Funding from Creative New Zealand to travel to the Sixth Festival of Arts in Samoa Merit Award, Pumphouse Art Awards, Pumphouse Gallery, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Mangere Arts Centre, Manukau Artist in Residence, Mangere Community Arts Centre, Mangere

COLLECTIONS Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki Collection Auckland University Collection Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia Chartwell Trust Collection Leo Benenson Collection Museum of Ethnography, Frankfurt, Germany Ilam University Collection, Canterbury James Wallace Trust Collection Manukau City Collection Pacific Business Trust, Otahuhu, Auckland Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, Wellington Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011

2010

2009

2008 2006 2005 2004 2003

2002

2001

‘Offbeat Discoveries and an Easygoing Vibe Give Volta a Positive Charge’, www.artinfo.com, 2011 <https://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37153/offbeat-discoveries-andan-easygoing-vibegive-volta-a-positive-charge/?page=1> Moore, Christopher. The Press, July 17, 2010 Khan, David. COCA Galley, July 6, 2010 Arboleda, Yazmany. The Huffington Post, April 28, 2010 Nicholson, Kate. Art Rader Asia, April 12, 2010 Daly Peoples, John. National Business Review, April 12, 2010 The Malo Conversations. Blackmail Press, Number 26, New Zealand Poets Online Mine, Kamoan with K. Higgins. Space Between Journal, Hawai’i Leleisi’uao, Andy, Captain Kirk in the South Pacific. Art News, Summer, pg 72 Brownson, Ron and Dr. P. Zeplin. Andy Leleisi’uao, Essays, Whitespace, Auckland Akersten, Matt. Gaynewzealand.com, May 22, 2009 McNamara, T.J. The New Zealand Herald, April 11, 2009 Daly Peoples, John. National Business Review, 3 April, 2009 Submission in FIKA, Pasefika Writers Group, Christchurch The New Zealand Herald May 01, 2008 - T. J. McNamara Coley, John. The Press, March 22, 2006 Watson, Aron. ART ZONE, No.9, 2005 Stevenson, Dr. Karen (Senior Lecturer in the School of Fine Arts). University of Canterbury No.1 Dunn, Michael. New Zealand Painting, A Concise History, 2003 ISBN 1869402979, 9781869402976 Brownson, Ron. Pacific Art Association Conference, Against the Grain: Counter-Images of Urban Pacific Identity, 2003 Caroline Vercoe (MA, Auckland University Senior Lecturer). Pacific Art Association Conference, Against the Grain: Counter-Images of Urban Pacific Identity (edited version), 2003 (ed.) Sean Mallon and Pandora Fulimalo Pereira, Pacific Art Niu Sila, The Pacific Dimension of Contemporary New Zealand Arts, 2002 Mellon, Sean. Samoan Art and Artists, O Measina a Samoa, 2002 Fitzgerald, Michael. TIME, April 8, 2002 Hynes, Victoria. The Sydney Morning Herald, March 22, 2002 Mallon, Sean. ART ASIA PACIFIC, Issue Number 31, 2001

Andy Leleisi’uao 2015 CV P a g e |5

Milford

Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1999

Wong, Gilbert. The New Zealand Herald, February 19, 2001 The Chronicle, Thursday August 19, 1999 The Press, August 18, 1999 Johnstone, Jocelyn. The Christchurch Star, June 30, 1999 Community Arts Express, New South Wales, December, 1998 Brownson, Ron. Art New Zealand, Number 87, Winter, 1998 A Sea Change, The Sydney Morning Herald,1998 Gregg, Stacy. Sunday Star Times, July 5, 1998 Hansby, Bill. Manukau Courier, April 2, 1998 Carroll, Penelope. The New Zealand Herald, September 29, 1997 Manukau Courier, September 25, 1997 Page, Maud. ART ASIA PACIFIC, Issue Number 14, 1997

Andy Leleisi’uao: Opacity People Part I & II (2014)

Andy Leleisi’uao 2015 CV P a g e |6

Milford

Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz