Five new exhibitions on at gallery
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
The Forrester Gallery is buzzing with five new exhibitions.
These include Redefining Space in the main gallery with nine exciting new kā mahi works following a bequest to the Forrester from the late Margery Uttley.
They expose "shared experiences" that will relate to the diverse Waitaki community, gallery curator Anna McLean said.
Elsewhere in the gallery, Floral Ecologies celebrates the therapeutic nature of flowers and the way people interact through time in garden settings.
The exhibition includes paintings from the Forrester Gallery Collection, local archival imagery and even a vase all the way from Czechoslovakia.
Tia Barrett's He Pounamu Ko Āu presents stunning visual imagery from our ātaahua Waitaki awa and also introduces Tia to local audiences as we await her upcoming mahi toi for the gallery's extension in 2026.
Ms McLean said in the community gallery, Ngā Momo Wai — Types of Water, developed by kā kaiako educators Elizabeth King and Lisa Potaka-Ross, explores the cultural properties of wai.
Lastly Hononga Rohe — Regional Ties is on in the Forrester's upstairs gallery, featuring some contemporary favourites collected over the past 60 years, including those of Ann Shelton, Robin White, Ralph Hotere, Marilynn Webb and Colin McCahon.
The exhibitions will be showing until 25 May before making way for the annual Burns Memorial exhibition.
— APL
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Otago Daily Times
10-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Exhibition made possible by bequest
Forrester Gallery visual arts curator Anna McLean with artist Telly Tuita's work that is part of the ''Redefining Space'' collection purchased with funds from the Margery Uttley bequest. PHOTO: JULES CHIN Forrester Gallery has an exhibit of new and contemporary works that reflect the "wider diversity" of the Waitaki District, thanks to a bequest. Former deputy principal of Waitaki Girls' High School and Forrester Gallery volunteer Margery Uttley, who died last year made a bequest that has financed a collection of "modern works" in a new exhibition titled "Redefining Space". Visual arts curator Anna McLean said Ms Uttley had allowed for nine new contemporary works from eight artists — Bev Moon, Ana Teofilo, Victoria McIntosh, Jess Nicholson, Turumeke Harrington, Telly Tuita, Jasmine Tuia and Ayesha Green — that benefit the Waitaki community. A celebration was held last month to celebrate Ms Uttley's bequest alongside her friends and family, past volunteers and former gallery director Warwick Smith. "It was nice to go through the works and celebrate Margery, and what really came out, is she was just so supportive of the gallery in every aspect, " Ms McLean said. Ms McLean worked alongside gallery director Chloe Searle to use the bequest as an opportunity to purchase contemporary art that "tells stories of today" rather than "historical art". Ms Uttley's bequest was an opportunity for us to be free-range in our thinking and that was "immense" for us, she said. Ms McLean said the works represented "rich and diverse cultural histories" and the wider diversity of the region. "There are so many ethnicities here, there is the agricultural aspects, there is the freezing works, there is other industry. "I think in 50 years, we'll look at these and say they reflect the true diversity of the region." They chose a selection of emerging artists rather than purchase one artwork. "As [Ms] Uttley was a teacher, I think she could see that kind of value in supporting early to mid-career artists," Ms McLean said. Redefining Spaces is on at Forrester Gallery until May 25.
Otago Daily Times
03-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Five new exhibitions on at gallery
PHOTO: SUPPLIED The Forrester Gallery is buzzing with five new exhibitions. These include Redefining Space in the main gallery with nine exciting new kā mahi works following a bequest to the Forrester from the late Margery Uttley. They expose "shared experiences" that will relate to the diverse Waitaki community, gallery curator Anna McLean said. Elsewhere in the gallery, Floral Ecologies celebrates the therapeutic nature of flowers and the way people interact through time in garden settings. The exhibition includes paintings from the Forrester Gallery Collection, local archival imagery and even a vase all the way from Czechoslovakia. Tia Barrett's He Pounamu Ko Āu presents stunning visual imagery from our ātaahua Waitaki awa and also introduces Tia to local audiences as we await her upcoming mahi toi for the gallery's extension in 2026. Ms McLean said in the community gallery, Ngā Momo Wai — Types of Water, developed by kā kaiako educators Elizabeth King and Lisa Potaka-Ross, explores the cultural properties of wai. Lastly Hononga Rohe — Regional Ties is on in the Forrester's upstairs gallery, featuring some contemporary favourites collected over the past 60 years, including those of Ann Shelton, Robin White, Ralph Hotere, Marilynn Webb and Colin McCahon. The exhibitions will be showing until 25 May before making way for the annual Burns Memorial exhibition. — APL
Otago Daily Times
26-04-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Residency ‘perfect' for photographer
Forrester Gallery director Chloe Searle and Friends of Forrester artist residency co-ordinator Brian Robinson outside the cottage to house the artist residency, at Kakanui. PHOTO: JULES CHIN The Forrester Gallery's first artist residency will begin in Kakanui next week. The chosen artist, King Country photographer Sara McIntyre, has a familial link to a Kakanui name. She will take up residence from Tuesday at a seaside cottage owned by Chris Barnes who has generously offered it for the Forrester residency. Forrester Gallery director Chloe Searle said McIntyre was a "fabulous artist" and they were thrilled to have her. "We're really excited to see what she might bring into this landscape... her photographs are a lot about people and place," Ms Searle said. McIntyre, a lifelong photographer, said the residency was "incredibly generous" and a "huge privilege". Photographer Sara McIntyre. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A former district nurse, her 2020 book of photographs Observations of A Rural Nurse has been described as "warm and beautiful" in capturing rural New Zealand perfectly. Ms Searle said the Forrester residency had been years in the making, an initiative supported by former director Warwick Smith. "So when Chris came along with the offer of a gorgeous cottage at Kakanui, we got together and had a few chats." Last year Friends of Forrester received a grant from the John Westwood Christie Trust to aid the residency. The Forrester will also provide exhibition space for works produced during the residency, Ms Searle said. McIntyre spent childhood holidays in Otago and has done many South Island road trips in her converted van. She said the timing for the two-month residency at Kakanui was perfect. "I've been taking photographs in Otago for quite a long time and not even quite knowing what to do with them, so this is sort of perfect for me because I can just bring it together." McIntyre was particularly looking forward to getting a "feel for the place", with Kakanui having a particular personal appeal. "My great-great-grandfather William Best was the captain of the SS Kakanui, a steamship that went missing at sea in 1891." The ship and its crew of 19 set off in a storm for Macquarie Island on a rescue mission for sealers who had run out of provisions. They were never heard of again, McIntyre said. After securing the residency she did a bit of "fossicking" and found the book on Kakanui Divided by a River, by Dorothy De Main. "One of the first pages that I turned to, there was a photograph of the Kakanui boat at the Kakanui wharf, and standing on the wharf is my great-great grandfather."
