The Aotearoa Art Fair is scheduled to be back from 2-6 March though at the time of writing, the red traffic light may mean a pause. With nearly a year of planning underway, almost half of the participating galleries are from out of town – including Bergman Gallery from Rarotonga and several Australian galleries.
JENNY WATSON, GIRL WITH A BLACK CAT, 2021.
COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND ROBERT HEALD GALLERY
TIM BUČKOVIĆ, LIST CHAIN, 2019.
COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND FUTURES
Even if the fair can’t open in March, the artists will have made all the artworks, and their galleries will have it for sale. So, whether you’re looking for quirky ceramics, an outdoor sculpture, or a stunning painting to hang on the wall get in touch with the galleries to find out more! Here are some of Verve picks…
Cheryl Lucas’ softly angular ceramics will look fabulous alongside paintings by Christina Pataialli on the McLeavey Gallery (Wellington) stand, and from Hamilton Laree Payne Gallery, will be pairing Laura Williams bright and clever paintings with ceramics by Taranaki-based Paul Maseyk.
If you are looking for a sculpture for the garden or a patio, we love Sēmisi Fetokai Potauaine’s VAKA ‘A HINA (meaning in English ‘Vessel of Hina’). Ancient Tongan and Moana Oceania (Pacific) folklore provide the background story – Hina is a Tongan goddess who lives on the moon above the langi (sky) in vāvā (outer space) and travels frequently back and forth to maama (Earth). VAKA ‘A HINA can be imagined as the vessel or receptacle she uses as transportation on these intergalactic trips – it’s her waka (canoe) – thus evoking ideas of travel, motion and movement. VAKA ‘A HINA at the Art Fair is a new version of the work of the same name which was shown at SCAPE in Christchurch in 2019 – but the one at the fair is 2.4m high, not 16m!
Leading Australian artist, Jenny Watson will be showing a solo presentation of new paintings made for the Auckland Art Fair – including this one – with Robert Heald Gallery (Wellington). Deliberately naïve in style, her paintings are acerbic in their emotional detail, inspired by both punk and feminism, and combine both autobiographical and fictional features.
The Misadventures of Te Kuri, a standout installation by Tawhai Rickard (Ngāti Uepohatu, Ngāti Porou) on the PAULNACHE (Gisborne) stand, will incorporate whakairoa (sculpture), and painting from antique assemblages and carved wooden objects adapting two Māori superheroes derived from 1960s American pop culture. Rickard‘s Batman figure (Te Kuri) and Robin (Pipiwharauroa) navigate their way through historical and contemporary landscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand, often in the face of adversity and antagonism.
Our one to watch comes from the new Melbourne Gallery, FUTURES, who will be sending a selection of paintings by emerging Australian artist Tim Bučković. Trained in Melbourne and Frankfurt, Bučković’s paintings have been described as “both abstract and figurative, specific yet universal, cubist and quasi digital”.
The Aotearoa Art Fair returns to The Cloud on Auckland’s waterfront, 2-6 March 2022. Tickets are on sale now from artfair.co.nz. Any changes to plans for a live Art Fair in March will be announced on artfair.co.nz and @aotearoaartfair on Instagram and Facebook.
HEADER IMAGE: CHERYL LUCAS, UNVAXXED, BLOOMING & BUGMANTI, 2020. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND MCLEAVEY GALLERY
