Venue
If You Were To Work Here: the Mood in the Museum, 2013

If You Were To Work Here: the Mood in the Museum, 2013

Born 1966, Ashburton
Lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand

Peter Robinson’s recent work investigates both the materiality and metaphoric potential of his chosen medium. Whether it is the massive weightless volume of polystyrene forms or the densely contracted materiality of felt, Robinson’s sculptural propositions play out various oppositions such as density and lightness, and dispersion and compression. His felt sticks reference the formalist legacies of minimalist, post-minimalist and conceptual art, conflating these iconic art-historical conventions with both traditional Māori abstraction and taonga (treasure) forms, and genetic or binary codes, to activate a contemporary recoding and recontextualisation.

Selected exhibitions (solo): Defunct Mnemonics, Peter McLeavey Gallery Wellington, 2012; Structure and Subjectivity, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, 2012; Essential Security, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne 2011; Modern Standards, Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, 2010, Wellington, 2010; The Influence of Anxiety, The Centre for Drawing Project Space, London, 2010; Polymer Monoliths, Artspace, Sydney and Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2009; Snow Ball Blind Time, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2008; Soft Rock Baroque, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington2008; Concatenation and Dispersion, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2007; ACK!, Artspace, Auckland, NZ, 2006;The Humours, Dunedin Public Art Gallery,2005

Selected exhibitions (group): All our relations, 18th Biennale of Sydney, 2012; De-Building, Christchurch Art Gallery, 2011; The Walters Prize, Auckland Art Gallery, 2008; Three Colours: Gordon Bennett and Peter Robinson, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2004; Centre of Attraction, 8th Baltic Triennale of International Art, Vilnius 2002; bi-polar, 49th Venice Biennale, 2001.

‘Peter Robinson, at Auckland Museum, reminds us that Conceptual art can jolt viewers into revisiting the perceived and the accepted.’

Marcus Boroughs, Head of Public Programmes, Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira

If You Were To Work Here: the Mood in the Museum

2013
Auckland War Memorial Museum

240 felt-covered aluminium rods
2500 x 32 mm (each), overall dimensions variable
courtesy of the artist and Hopkinson Cundy, Auckland


Venue
Just in time for too late, (2013)

Just in time for too late, (2013)

Born 1974, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaeke, Pākehā
Lives and works in North Canterbury, New Zealand

Wayne Youle’s playful and subversive art practice ranges from painting and sculpture to photography, ceramics and bronze casting. Informed by his heritage, Youle makes work which addresses Māori/Pākehā relations and bicultural concepts as well as broader social issues. One of his most recent projects was a large-scale mural painted on a concrete wall in Sydenham, Christchurch. I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour, 2012 was a giant painting of a shadow board with tools that represented what had gone from people’s everyday lives and all those who lent their equipment and hands to help clean up Christchurch following the earthquake in February 2011.

Selected exhibitions (solo):

So they say...,Tauranga Art Gallery, 2013; Fingers Crossed, City Gallery Wellington, 2012; 10 Down, Pataka Museum of Arts & Cultures, Porirua, 2010; The Icon 500, The Physics Room, Christchurch, 2005. Selected exhibitions (group): Close Encounters, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, 2009; Plastic Maori, The Dowse, Lower Hutt, 2009; Winners are Grinners, PICA, Perth, 2007; Pasifika Styles, University of Cambridge, 2006; Hei Tiki, Auckland Art Gallery, 2005; Manawa Taki, City Gallery Wellington, 2005.

‘... the play of words and symbols which are often utilised to intersect national bicultural debates in provocative ways.’

Nigel Borell, Kaiwhakahaere, Toi o Manukau, Auckland Council

Just in time for too late

2013
Fresh Gallery Otara

Emory Douglas, Rigo 23, Wayne Youle
painted mural
2940 x 11300
Courtesy of the artists


Venue
Tropical Thunder,2013

Tropical Thunder,2013

Tropical Thunder,2013

Tropical Thunder,2013

Tropical Thunder,2013

Tropical Thunder,2013

Born 1978, Perth, Australia Lives and works Sydney, Australia

Keg de Souza is an inter-disciplinary artist who works across mediums including video, artist’s books, printmaking, inflatable architecture, installation and drawing. The investigation of spatial politics is central to de Souza’s work, as she focuses not only on the built environment but also social space. De Souza is involved in collaborative artistic projects and groups, such as the SquatSpace artist collective, the collaborative duo You Are Here, the Network of Un-Collectable Artists and the Rizzeria printmaking collective. Under the name All Thumbs Press she publishes hand-bound books and zines featuring her illustrations and writing.

http://www.allthumbspress.net/

Selected exhibitions (solo):

Gonflables et amuse-bouches, Darling Foundry, Montréal, 2012 Living Under the Stars, Urban Art Projects, Brisbane, 2012; Rosen-tales; Women’s Studio Workshop, New York, 2012; Ramble Through The Rocks, Offsite: MCA, Sydney, 2011; Whatever Floats Your Boat, Cockatoo Island Studios to Balmain, Sydney, 2010. Selected exhibitions (group): Social Networking, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2012; Primavera 2011: Young Australian Artists, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2011; Trama, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, 2011; Designated Drivers, The Block Museum of Contemporary Art, Evanston, Illinois, 2011; The Right to The City (SquatSpace), Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney, 2011.

'Tropical Thunder ... investigates the commercialisation of traditional practices...’

Anna Davis, Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

Tropical Thunder

2013
Fresh Gallery Otara

plastic tablecloths, fans, bottled soft drink, risograph printed maps
dimensions variable
courtesy of the artist


Venue
Aereile Jackson, Tent City, Los Angeles

Aereile Jackson, Tent City, Los Angeles

Apple harvest Betuwe

Apple harvest Betuwe

Donlim factory worker, Shenzhen

Donlim factory worker, Shenzhen

Born 1932, San Francisco, United States of America

Lives and works in United States of America and Paris, France

Noël Burch has been publishing books since the 1960s and these include Theory of Film Practice (1973) and To the Distant Observer: Form and Meaning in Japanese Cinema (1979), which remains the seminal history of Japanese cinema. While he is primarily known as a writer, Burch is also a filmmaker and has directed over 20 films, most of which are documentaries. Burch is the co-founder and director of the Institut de Formation Cinèmatographique, an alternative film school connecting theory and practice.

‘Sekula and Burch’s film asks us to consider those critical spaces between the local and the global...’

Alex Davidson, Curatorial Assistant, Artspace, Auckland

The Forgotten Space

2010
The Film Archive

film essay / feature documentary, English subtitles
110:00min
producers: Frank van Reemst, Joost Verheij
co-producers: Vincent Lucassen, Ebba Sinzinger
courtesy of DOC.EYE Film


Venue
Just in time for too late, (2013)

Just in time for too late, (2013)

Just in time for too late, (2013)

Just in time for too late, (2013)

Born 1943, Grand Rapids, United States of America
Lives and works in San Francisco, United States of America

Emory Douglas created the visual identity for the Black Panther Party and his iconic images came to symbolise the struggles of the movement. As Minister of Culture for the "Black Panther Party" from 1967 until the 1980s, Douglas’ work, described as ‘Militant Chic’, featured in most issues of the newspaper The Black Panther. His work is characterised by strong graphic images of young African American men, women and children. He used the newspaper’s popularity to spur people to action, portraying the poor with empathy and as being unapologetic and ready for a fight.

http://www.emorydouglasart.com/

Selected exhibitions (solo):

Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas, Urbis, Manchester, 2008–9; Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas, MOCA Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, 2007–8. Selected exhibitions (group): 16th Biennale of Sydney, 2008; The Black Panther Rank and File, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, 2006.

‘The values of equality, racial economic justice and fairness are just as relevant today as they ever were.’

Nigel Borell, Kaiwhakahaere, Toi o Manukau, Auckland Council

Untitled

2013
Fresh Gallery Otara

Emory Douglas, Rigo 23, Wayne Youle
painted mural
2940 x 11300
Courtesy of the artists


Venue
Automóvel (Automobile) 2012 (still)

Automóvel (Automobile) 2012 (still)

Automóvel (Automobile) 2012 (still)

Automóvel (Automobile) 2012 (still)

Born 1974, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Lives and works in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Cinthia Marcelle’s video and photography deals with interventions in urban spaces or landscapes and frequently incorporates carefully choreographed, repetitive actions and elements of chaos. These works contain a sense of irony, where the absurd is presented with the appearance of certainty. Paradox is one of the concepts most linked to the performance method used by the artist, along with photography and video.

Marcelle’s videos are often shot from one camera angle and depict actions that appear to be happenstances but which become aesthetic occurrences. Her actions create situations that challenge our notions of conventional behaviour by introducing humorous coincidences and connections.

Selected exhibitions (solo):

Zona Temporária, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, 2013; See for been seen, Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, 2011; This Same World Over, Foyer Gallery, Camberwell College of Arts, London, 2009; Bolsa Pampulha: Cinthia Marcelle, Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, 2004. Selected exhibitions (group): Sharjah Biennial 11, Arabic Emirates, 2013; 2nd New Museum Triennial, New York, 2012; Tate Level 2 Gallery, London, 2012; Dundee Contemporary Art, 2012; 29th São Paulo Biennial, 2010; 9th Lyon Biennale, 2007; 9th Havana Biennial, 2006.

‘Marcelle seems to be making a call to a different kind of mobility... that not only looks forward, but also sideways and back.’

Luisa Duarte, writer and curator, Belo Horizonte

Automóvel (Automobile)

2012
Artspace

video projection
7:16min
courtesy of the artist, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo and Sprovieri Gallery, London


Venue
Nanshi Tou (South Stone), 2011

Nanshi Tou (South Stone), 2011

Nanshi Tou (South Stone), 2011

Nanshi Tou (South Stone), 2011

Born 1976, Changsha, China
Lives and works in Guangzhou, China

Zhou Tao’s work reflects on the activities and elements of everyday life. His subtle and humorous videos record interactions between people, things, and situations – touching on questions about the multiple trajectories of reality. In the performance piece Time, 2010 in New York Zhou attached a ball of string to his body as means of recording his movements throughout the day. For Zhou, the decision to use video was not a deliberate choice of artistic language or medium; instead, the operation of the camera is a way of being that blends itself with everyday life.

http://listart.mit.edu/node/509

Selected exhibitions (solo):

Zhou Tao: The Training, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, 2013; Open Studio: Seek for Geothermal Heat, Times Museum, Guangzhou, 2012; The Man Who Plants Scenarios, Queens Nails Projects, San Francisco, 2011; Zhou Tao, Location One, New York, 2010; 1234–, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, 2009. Selected exhibitions and screenings (group): 6th Curitiba Biennial, 2011; Non-Aligned, Marina Abramovic Institute West, San Francisco, 2010; 7th Shanghai Biennale, 2008; China Power Station Part II, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, 2007; Accumulation-Canton Express Next Stop, Tang

‘... Zhou Tao’s practice alchemises ordinary surroundings into a theatre...’

Xiaoyu Weng, curator and writer, San Francisco

Nanshi Tou (South Stone)

2011
Auckland Art Gallery

single-channel HD video, 36 inkjet prints
25:22min, 279.4 mm x 215.9 mm (each)
courtesy of artist and Kadist Art Foundation


Venue
Under Discussion, 2005 (video still)

Under Discussion, 2005 (video still)

Returning a Sound, 2004 (video still)

Returning a Sound, 2004 (video still)

(formed 1995) Live and work Puerto Rico

Jennifer Allora
Born 1974, Philadelphia, United States of America
James Calzadilla
Born 1971, Havana, Cuba

Collaborating since 1995, Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla have produced an experimental and interdisciplinary body of work, combining performance, sculpture, video and sound. Their Land Mark, 2001–ongoing, project focuses on what the artists describe as the ‘transitional geography’ of Vieques, an inhabited island municipality of Puerto Rico used by the U.S Navy as a weapons-testing range from 1941 to 2003.

http://www.lissongallery.com/#/artists/allora-and-calzadilla/

Interested in questions of social justice the artists set into motion a series of structural couples – inscription and erasure, presence and absence, appearance and disappearance – which link processes of mark-making with counter-memorial claims for rights and justice vis-à-vis specific sites.

Selected exhibitions (solo):

Stop, Repair, Prepare, MoMA, New York, 2010, and Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2008; Allora & Calzadilla, National Museum of Art, Oslo, 2009; Compass & How to Appear Invisible, Temporare Kunsthalle, Berlin, 2009; Never Mind That Noise you Heard, Stedekijk Museum, Amsterdam; Allora & Calzadilla, Kunsthalle Zürich, 2007; Clamor, Serpentine Gallery, London, 2007; Wake Up, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, 2007. Selected exhibition (group): 54th Venice Biennale, 2011.

Half Mast\Full Mast

2010
Auckland Art Gallery

dual-channel HD colour video projection
21:11min
courtesy of the artists and Lisson Gallery


Venue
The Forgotten Space 2010 (still)

The Forgotten Space 2010 (still)

Born 1951, Erie, United States of America
Died 10 August 2013, Los Angeles, United States of America

Allan Sekula (1951–2013) was a photographer, filmmaker and writer engaged with issues of social reality and globalisation. The Forgotten Space, 2010 is a filmic sequel to his book Fish Story, 1995 which explores the historic use and representation of the maritime space and the radical modern-day shifts and transformations. In recent work Sekula explored the uneasy relationship in maritime space between anti-authoritarianism or imaginative freedom and instruments of economic, military and political power. As an intellectual and practitioner, he was mainly engaged with socio-political critique of what he described as ‘the imaginary and material geographies of the advanced capitalist world’.

http://www.theforgottenspace.net/

Selected exhibitions:

Polonia and Other Fables, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, 2010; Polonia and Other Fables, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2009; dOCUMENTA (12), Kassel, 2007; Shipwreck and Workers, STUK Kunstcentrum, Leuven, 2005; Titanic’s Wake, Harn Museum of Art, Florida, 2004; Prayer for the Americans, Galerie Michel Rein, Paris, 2004; Sekula, Performance under Working Conditions, Generali Foundation, Vienna, 2003; dOCUMENTA (11), Kassel, 2002.

‘Sekula and Burch’s film asks us to consider those critical spaces between the local and the global...’

Alex Davidson, Curatorial Assistant, Artspace, Auckland

The Forgotten Space

2010
The Film Archive

The Film Archive
Screening times for The Forgotten Space at The Film Archive:

Weekdays - 11am, 1pm and 3pm

Saturday - 11am, 1pm

film essay / feature documentary, English subtitles
110:00min
producers: Frank van Reemst, Joost Verheij
co-producers: Vincent Lucassen, Ebba Sinzinger
courtesy of DOC.EYE Film


Studio Mumbai (Bijoy Jain)

Copper House II, Chondi, Maharashtra, India, 2010

Copper House II, Chondi, Maharashtra, India, 2010

Palmyra House, Nangaon, Maharashtra, India, 2007

Palmyra House, Nangaon, Maharashtra, India, 2007

Palmyra House, Nangaon, Maharashtra, India, 2007

Palmyra House, Nangaon, Maharashtra, India, 2007

Born 1965, Mumbai, India
Lives and works in Mumbai, India

 

Bijoy Jain is an architect and founder of Studio Mumbai, a contemporary and award-winning architectural practice drawing on the traditional skills and expertise of India’s craftspeople. Creating a studio where skilled stonemasons, wood workers and other traditional trades do not simply execute his projects but are regarded as advisors and collaborators, Jain has enabled a rediscovery of traditional knowledge and the sustainable use of local resources.

Drawing upon the Indian landscape and regarding it as a resource, Studio Mumbai have created buildings as diverse as private residences, public spaces, research centres and rural retreats formed by local climatic conditions, materials and technologies.

‘An architectural practice almost unique in the world, Studio Mumbai redefines the construction process...’

Andrew Barrie


Venue
San Diego’s urban waste is recycled

San Diego’s urban waste is recycled

Lace presentation

Lace presentation

Public Space as socio-economic

Public Space as socio-economic

Born 1962, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Lives and works in San Diego, United States of America

Teddy Cruz is best known for his socially responsible and artistically motivated architecture on the border between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico. As a research-based practice, Estudio Teddy Cruz has amplified urban conflict as a productive zone of controversy, leading to constructive dialogue and new modes of intervention into established politics and economics of development in marginal neighborhoods which become sites of artistic experimentation.

In 2008 Cruz represented the United States in the Venice Architecture Biennial and in 2010 was part of the exhibition Small Scale: Big Change New Architects of Social Engagement at the Museum of Modern Art.

‘... Cruz asks, ‘Who gets to live where .... with what kind of political representation and economic power?’

Kathy Waghorn, artist, designer and Lecturer

Whau River Mapping, Legal and Illegal Storm Water

2013
Auckland Art Gallery

Whau River Mapping, Legal and Illegal
Storm Water 2013
images courtesy of Kathy Waghorn