Art seen: June 5
"Eden in Dunedin"
(Toitū Otago Settlers Museum)
"Eden in Dunedin" displays many of the finest articles of women's clothing and accessories from the Eden Hore Central Otago fashion collection.
Hore's remarkable and unique collection, assembled during the 1970s and 1980s and now owned by the Central Otago District Council, focuses primarily on the fine fashion of the era in which it was collected. From lush evening gowns to quirky daywear, we are transported into an era bookended by hippiedom and grunge styles, while also heavily influenced by earlier eras.
The display showcases items from many top New Zealand designers, and ranges in style from Rosalie Gwilliam's heavily sequinned evening gown to James Jaye Leather's stark but sexy leather trouser-suit. June Mercer's award-winning crocheted outfit stands alongside Beverley Horne's startling merino and lurex gown and hot pants. Accessories range from Vinka Lucas's stunning flapper-inspired cloche hat to chunky but stylish leather shoulder-bags.
Every item is thoroughly documented with interactive displays of text and photographs of the pieces being modelled. The exhibition is completed by video and photographic installations which provide not only further information about the overall collection but also a taste of its location and the process by which Eden Hore acquired the pieces.
"Civil Twilight", Nicola Jackson
(Brett McDowell Gallery)
Brett McDowell Gallery is gaudily strewn with over 50 works by artist Nicola Jackson.
The darkness of the artist's macabre humorous works is counterbalanced by the freshness and brightness of the colours of the pieces, giving the gallery a Dia del Muerte feel. With the works chosen at least partly to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Otago Medical School, many of the pieces focus on matters medical, with anatomies, maladies and remedies being front and centre.
Whereas a few of the pieces are large, notably an impressive cotton quilt and a vibrantly pink jar, many of the works are small, icon-like pieces, with tiny images centred within equally artistic frames.
There are strong elements of the surreal in the works and in the exhibition overall, the small paintings placed against guacamole-green walls and seemingly guarded by an array of gleefully grinning skulls.
Two intriguing installations bookend the exhibition, both cabinets of curiosities. One is a vibrant collection of "Symptoms and medicaments", with shelves of happy, friendly viruses interspersed with tablets and capsules.
The other, in extreme contrast, is an austere black and white, the jars of remedies adding their unnerving whimsy by virtue of their names.
All are real medieval panaceas, with contents ranging from "milk and soot" to "knee dirt".
"Inge Doesburg"
(The Artist's Room)
Inge Doesburg delights with her soft, misty landscapes at The Artist's Room.
In a series of works which includes acrylic paintings, intaglio, dry-point and etching, the artist has captured the emptiness and airiness of the south. More experimental works, such as the meditative solar-etched tree of Soliloquy suggest that the artist is continuing to add strings to an already impressive artistic bow. Plaster is used to create texture in stark landscapes — or more correctly skyscapes — of Waipiata and the Wairarapa, turning the acrylic surfaces into gently toned gesso. There is a freedom to the mark-making in works such as Flagstaff Walk which are also an extension of Doesburg's previous work and an indication of her confidence in her style.
In the current exhibition, Doesburg has extended her linking of art with poetry, drawing inspiration from the words of writers ranging from James K. Baxter to Goethe. Inspiration is also clearly taken from New Zealand art, with nods to Doesburg's antecedents in the McCahon-esque hills of From Flagstaff and Hotere-like style and composition of the Goethe-annotated Untitled .
It is the artist's own hallmark style which takes centre stage, however, with works such as the rain-drenched Listening to the Mountain couplet, and Karitane , jutting like rusted roof-iron into a sleepy, milky Pacific.
By James Dignan
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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Art seen: June 5
"Eden in Dunedin" (Toitū Otago Settlers Museum) "Eden in Dunedin" displays many of the finest articles of women's clothing and accessories from the Eden Hore Central Otago fashion collection. Hore's remarkable and unique collection, assembled during the 1970s and 1980s and now owned by the Central Otago District Council, focuses primarily on the fine fashion of the era in which it was collected. From lush evening gowns to quirky daywear, we are transported into an era bookended by hippiedom and grunge styles, while also heavily influenced by earlier eras. The display showcases items from many top New Zealand designers, and ranges in style from Rosalie Gwilliam's heavily sequinned evening gown to James Jaye Leather's stark but sexy leather trouser-suit. June Mercer's award-winning crocheted outfit stands alongside Beverley Horne's startling merino and lurex gown and hot pants. Accessories range from Vinka Lucas's stunning flapper-inspired cloche hat to chunky but stylish leather shoulder-bags. Every item is thoroughly documented with interactive displays of text and photographs of the pieces being modelled. The exhibition is completed by video and photographic installations which provide not only further information about the overall collection but also a taste of its location and the process by which Eden Hore acquired the pieces. "Civil Twilight", Nicola Jackson (Brett McDowell Gallery) Brett McDowell Gallery is gaudily strewn with over 50 works by artist Nicola Jackson. The darkness of the artist's macabre humorous works is counterbalanced by the freshness and brightness of the colours of the pieces, giving the gallery a Dia del Muerte feel. With the works chosen at least partly to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Otago Medical School, many of the pieces focus on matters medical, with anatomies, maladies and remedies being front and centre. Whereas a few of the pieces are large, notably an impressive cotton quilt and a vibrantly pink jar, many of the works are small, icon-like pieces, with tiny images centred within equally artistic frames. There are strong elements of the surreal in the works and in the exhibition overall, the small paintings placed against guacamole-green walls and seemingly guarded by an array of gleefully grinning skulls. Two intriguing installations bookend the exhibition, both cabinets of curiosities. One is a vibrant collection of "Symptoms and medicaments", with shelves of happy, friendly viruses interspersed with tablets and capsules. The other, in extreme contrast, is an austere black and white, the jars of remedies adding their unnerving whimsy by virtue of their names. All are real medieval panaceas, with contents ranging from "milk and soot" to "knee dirt". "Inge Doesburg" (The Artist's Room) Inge Doesburg delights with her soft, misty landscapes at The Artist's Room. In a series of works which includes acrylic paintings, intaglio, dry-point and etching, the artist has captured the emptiness and airiness of the south. More experimental works, such as the meditative solar-etched tree of Soliloquy suggest that the artist is continuing to add strings to an already impressive artistic bow. Plaster is used to create texture in stark landscapes — or more correctly skyscapes — of Waipiata and the Wairarapa, turning the acrylic surfaces into gently toned gesso. There is a freedom to the mark-making in works such as Flagstaff Walk which are also an extension of Doesburg's previous work and an indication of her confidence in her style. In the current exhibition, Doesburg has extended her linking of art with poetry, drawing inspiration from the words of writers ranging from James K. Baxter to Goethe. Inspiration is also clearly taken from New Zealand art, with nods to Doesburg's antecedents in the McCahon-esque hills of From Flagstaff and Hotere-like style and composition of the Goethe-annotated Untitled . It is the artist's own hallmark style which takes centre stage, however, with works such as the rain-drenched Listening to the Mountain couplet, and Karitane , jutting like rusted roof-iron into a sleepy, milky Pacific. By James Dignan
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Art seen: May 22
"The Splendour of Ukiyo-e", various artists Brett McDowell Gallery The rise in appreciation for Japanese Ukiyo-e art since its time of creation is nothing short of remarkable. Originally viewed in much the same way that we today might regard photographs on calendars or mass-produced posters, the rise of interest in asian art in Europe in the final years of the 19th century began a rise in the perceived worth of the art, to the point where it is now seen as a high-point in Japanese creative culture. The low-art origins are a reason why good quality prints are often something of a rarity. Brett McDowell Gallery has made an annual ritual of its exhibitions of Japanese prints, and this year's collection is a fine one, featuring several better-known artists, most notably the Utagawa school's Kunisada. Many of the pieces are single frame images, displaying scenes in the real or imagined daily life of high society — the "floating world" which gives Ukiyo-e art its name. The current display also includes several impressive multiple-panel pieces, perhaps the most remarkable of which is the three-piece Natural Flowers cooling off on the Sumidagawa by Nobukazu, its effectively composed night river scene aglow with rich blues and reds. "Glass Harbour", Russell Moses (Milford Gallery) The rich colours of rippling water are also much to the fore in an exhibition of Russell Moses' impressionistic arrays at Milford Gallery. Moses' art has long concentrated on the play of light on the surfaces of plants and water, creating multiple windows on the world through his grids of small geometric forms. In his latest exhibition, the artist concentrates on the rippling waters of Otago Harbour, as seen from his Port Chalmers home. His work has changed subtly for his previous series, incorporating here highly reflective paint rather than his former pearlescent surfaces. Ripples are deliberately featured in this series, created by ridges in the painted surface and the resultant effect is works in which the light shimmers and shifts as the viewer moves around them. The use of multiple colours within specific works is also a departure, allowing the pieces to suggest both the water and reflections of the land beyond. In a couple of the works, a mirror black surface is used to suggest night waters, also a nod to the art of Moses' late friend Ralph Hotere. The artist's deliberate association of the painted surface with the geometries of music comes to the fore in several pieces where ovals of flat white become visual chords on the surface of the waters. "Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award 2023", various artists (Tūhura Otago Museum) With this year's Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Awards drawing towards their conclusion, Tūhura Otago Museum is displaying finalists from the 2023 awards, allowing an opportunity to see the standards and styles the competition engenders. The competition's aim is simple: Emerging Māori artists are encouraged to create works honouring their tūpuna, playing out the line of their whakapapa to their ancestors. Despite the modern media used, this is perhaps the most traditional of Māori art subjects, the honouring of those that went before. The award is a fitting legacy for Te Kiingi. The works are appropriately being displayed in the Tangata Whenua Gallery, where they are interspersed with the permanent displays of Māori history. Pieces range from the purely representational to the more abstract or expressionistic; photorealistic paintings are presented alongside the symbolism of a broom and a three-panel poem. The winning work by Stevei Houkāmau (Ngāto Porou, Te Whanau-a-Apanui) uses a necklace as an inspiration, with each of its stones a memory-trace leading back to the artist's ancestor. Many fine and imaginative pieces are present, with highlights including paintings by Robert Pritchard-Blunt, Marie Kyle and Jody Tupara, the aforementioned poem by Trinity Thompson-Browne, an impressive carved work by Tukiri Tini, and a clever group sports photograph by Bodie Friend. By James Dignan
Otago Daily Times
19-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Construction of off-road cycle link set to begin
ODT GRAPHIC Construction is due to begin on another connection to Central Otago's trail network with an off-road cycle link from Kāmoanahaehae — Riverside Park to the Linger and Die Reserve in Alexandra. A Central Otago District Council spokesperson said the trail link would take people off Rivers St and along the toe of the bank of Manuherikia River, as indicated on the map. The project is funded by Wairoa Manuherikia, a project of the Manuherikia Catchment Group and the Ministry for the Environment. Manuherikia Catchment Group general manager Clare Hadley said the Waiora Manuherikia project was about connecting the community with their awa, so the whole community could appreciate the Manuherikia River and the recreational, cultural and economic connections many have to it. "It's exciting to see this part of the project come to life," Ms Hadley said. The recreational users' group was enthusiastic in its support for the trail, Ms Hadley said. Construction of the trail at this stage would cost $120,000. Once construction of the trail was completed, native plants would be planted along the riverbank to replace the willows that were removed late last year. — APL
