As autumn dances ever closer, we farewell our long summer days one twilight sky at a time. A different kind of jewel catches the light this time of year, and the galleries have them on display in abundance. Here’s my selection for April.
Declaration:
A Pacific Feminist Agenda
Until 31 July
Auckland Art Gallery
A group exhibition featuring works by: Jasmine Togo-Brisby, Marti Friedlander, Jessicoco Hansell, Taloi Havini, Lonnie Hutchinson, Ioane Ioane, Sione Monū, Suzanne Tamaki, Latai Taumoepeau, Molly Rangiwai-McHale & Luisa Tora and Kalisolaite ’Uhila.
Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda brings together 12 prominent artists from across the Pacific whose works set a feminist agenda by bringing to the fore the most pressing issues of our times: climate change and resilience, tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty), activism and social justice.
Ex-Post
Artists: Fiona Amundsen, Susan Schuppli & Chia-Wei Hsu
Until 14 May
Artspace Aotearoa, 292 Karangahape Road, Newton
Ex-post is the follow up and conclusion of Ex-ante, an exhibition that took place in November 2017, the first exhibition curated by Remco de Blaaij at Artspace Aotearoa. In Ex-post, three artists show cinematic and moving image works that help us think through both the emerging of new histories and imagine future potential.
Recollections May Vary
Bill Henson
8 March – 15 April
Starkwhite Queenstown, 1-7 Earl Street, Queenstown
The exhibition presents a body of work by celebrated Australian photographer Bill Henson. Known for haunting, dramatic photography, Henson captures place in an in-between state that recalls cinema and dreamscape. His nighttime urban landscapes are moody explorations of the twilight zones of our lives – those borders states between night and day, male and female, youth, and adulthood, urban and rural. Bill Henson is joined in the gallery by seven other artists whose work offers a similar take, emphasising that landscapes are culture before they are nature: Billy Apple, Whitney Bedford, Petra Cortright, Fiona Pardington, Layla Rudneva-Mackay, Yuk King Tan and Jessica Winchcombe.
Shiny Things
Tania McMillian & Hannah Maurice
8 April – 4 May
Mercury Plaza, 4a Cross Street, Newton
Shiny Things explores the ideas of sentience and the magic life and growth of our inner and outer world. Referencing the sacred feminine and the collective (un)consciousness with their intriguing painting styles and working in exciting collaboration to celebrate the magic of existence in an installation to engage all the senses.
From Tartan to Tatau
Linda Va’aelua
5 April – 5 May
Opening Event 6 April 5-7pm
Studio One – 1 Ponsonby Road, Grey Lynn
Linda Va’aelua delves into the ancient significance of traditional designs from her Sāmoan and Scottish heritage, juxtaposing elements from both cultures, such as the traditional Sāmoan malu (female tattoo) on her legs and her Scottish family tartan.
Anna Miles – Richard Stratton – Porcelaneous Vessels of Karori
Until April 9th
10/30 Upper Queen Street
annamilesgallery.com
Oddly – Group Show – Synonym Of Something
25 March – 16 April
216 Dominion Road, Mt Eden
instagram.com/oddly.projects
Foenander Galleries – Belinda Griffiths – The Work of Belinda Griffiths
2-22 April
455 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden
foenandergalleries.co.nz
Gow Langsford Gallery – Dale Frank – New Works
5-30 April
28-36 Wellesley Street East, Auckland
gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz
Volvo Scandi Film Fest Aotearoad – Various – Films From Scandanavia
21 April – 2 May
Rialto Newmarket & The Bridgeway Cinemas
scandifilmfestival.co.nz
Sanderson Contemporary – Josephine Cachemaille – Be Soft, Be Strong
12 April – 8 May
Osborne Lane, 2 Kent Street, Newmarket
sanderson.co.nz
