ARTS + CULTURE
@ WHITESPACE 7 February - 7 March
Te Whakahoki Penny Howard (Te Mahurehure, Ngapuhi) was impelled to create the paintings and drawings in this body of work through a profound sense of anger. - artefacts – taonga tüturu Her perusal of recent online sales of historic Maori – at the British auction house, Sothebys, at huge prices, motivated her to re-capture them. And by extending from their photographic images, she is ensuring they are brought back to us, if not literally, at least figuratively: te - kainga hokinga ki tenei o Aotearoa New Zealand.
PATRICIA PICCININI @ SCOTT LAWRIE 13 February – 7 March
Patricia Piccinini is one of the most popular – and controversial – artists in the world. She has had over 55 solo shows in the past 13 years including Brazil (where over 1.2 million visitors came to see her show), USA, Germany, UK, Finland, Australia, Sweden, Slovenia, Ireland, Lithuania and now... Ponsonby/Grey Lynn! Patricia’s work can be confronting, engaging, touching and deeply emotional and for this carefully selected New Zealand show (her first in over a decade) we’ve worked with the artist to select a broad range of highlights, including her famous ‘Metamorphosis’ from 2017 (pictured) which is not to be missed!
Penny is re-claiming our existential heritage and her work incorporates not only these taonga, but also the red thread of te mauri interconnecting Maori, and them as always living tupuna or ancestors ever deeply vested to the land. More, her depiction of nga- manu – birds – in her drawings, is a further visceral embodiment of this ever-present spiritual interconnectedness of taonga and - ethos; te ao Maori - katoa. The birds are kaitiaki of these the entire Maori taonga, ready to escort them back to where they ontologically belong. They were always ready to return to the landscapes backgrounding the paintings: just look at their eyes. It is important to note that all the taonga represented in this work – and - aof course many more such treasures – have been in the hands of Pakeh collectors for at least two centuries. How were they first obtained? Some were traded for such articles as tobacco, axes and pots, to early whalers and sealers. Others were somehow attained by first-contact collectors such as Joseph Banks. Some were sold for minimal sums of money by later colonial collectors. Others were traded by local New Zealand museums, in their effort to obtain similar indigenous artefacts from overseas. Some were stolen outright. PN www.whitespace.co.nz
Known for her imaginative, yet strangely familiar, ultra-lifelike chimera works (human/animal hybrids), Piccinini invites us to think about our place in a world where advances in biotechnology and digital technologies are challenging the boundaries of humanity. Given the importance of this show, I’m delighted to announce that we’ll also be opening on Sundays starting from 14 February,11am-4pm. Entry as always is free. See you at the Auckland Art Fair! Scott Lawrie Gallery will have two booths at this year’s Auckland Art Fair at The Cloud where we’ll be showing some magnificent work from local and international artists. Dates are 24-28 February, tickets from: www.artfair.co.nz Contact scott@scottlawrie.com for more info. See you in the gallery soon! Free parking at 15 Williamson Avenue. Open Thursday to Saturday 11am-5pm. Sundays 11am-4pm. PN SCOTT LAWRIE GALLERY, 2 Murdoch Road, www.scottlawrie.com
Patricia Piccinini
Penny Howard Sotheby’s Lot 14, Whakahoki, painting on board
ARTIST TALK: SAT 13 FEB, 2PM
PENNY HOWARD TE WHAKAHOKI A sort of homecoming
~ 13 Feb - 07 Mar 2021 2 Murdoch Rd, Grey Lynn (Off 15 Williamson Ave) Thurs to Sun, 11 – 5pm
scottlawrie.com
98 PONSONBY NEWS+ February 2021
whitespace.co.nz 20 monmouth st, grey lynn, auckland open tues–fri 11-5pm, sat 11am-4pm
PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)
