In winter’s grasp, art awakens, capturing the season’s hues of cool blue and warm gold. Charcoal trees in silhouette, their branches, lines in black and grey, compose a scene for shadows to play.
ARTSPACE AOTEAROA
This is the house that jack built
Andy Butler, Sara Gomez, Ming Ranginui, X & Y
27 July – 5 October
This exhibition spans multiple generations and contexts and continues the exploration of our 2024 question “do I need territory?” by honing in on the complex interdependencies between labour, home, and ownership in late capitalism. Through film, sculpture, and site specific drawings each artist throws open expectations around becoming a ‘legible economic subject’. In drawing attention to many of the standards used to measure value in society, the artists invite us to consider the limits of these standards and what it would take to expand how we relate to one another.
292 Karangahape Road, Newton
artspace-aotearoa.nz
MELANIE ROGER GALLERY
Ellwood, Ford, McLaren
Matt Ellwood, James R Ford & Cameron James McLaren
4 – 27 July
Matt Ellwood, James R. Ford and Cameron James McLaren will each present new work in an exhibition bringing together three artists whose work – although stylistically diverse – all question and explore the act itself of making. Ellwood’s new work juxtaposes realist charcoal drawings of advertisements from international art magazines with sculptures aiding blind contour drawings. This installation explores the constraints on drawing and the broader mechanisms shaping the art world. Ford’s Finitude Drawings feature lines and marks by a modified robotic vacuum cleaner, highlighting human finitude and life’s cyclical struggles. Named after genes related to ageing, these works symbolise the natural limits of human life. Ford’s adaptation of the vacuum turns it into a “modified readymade”, producing tactile, physical art.
James McLaren’s Fourth Estate series sources imagery from newspapers, transforming documentary photos into abstract reproductions on newsprint. These works engage with themes like climate, health, and politics, framed in handmade steel reminiscent of old newspaper stands. McLaren’s rephotographing process critiques the global information crisis, merging editorial photography with advertising to reflect contemporary social issues.
444 Karangahape Road, Newton
melanierogergallery.com
GOW LANGSFORD ONEHUNGA
Yafeng Duan
Yafeng Duan
20 July – 17 August
Yafeng Duan works in abstract painting, combining gestural mark making with multi-layered paint washes. Her paintings are richly colourful and expressive, drawing on influences from both traditional Chinese ink painting and contemporary Western abstract art.
4 Princes St, Onehunga
gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz
BERGMAN GALLERY
Where the Wild Roses Grow
Sione Monū
4 – 27 Jul
Where The Wild Roses Grow meets artist Sione Monū in the latest iterations of their cloud-making practice. An extension of a series of experimental works based in nimamea’a tuikakala (the Tongan fine art of flower designing using the form of kahoa, or Tongan garlands), Monū’s clouds tie traditional practice with contemporary materials of the diaspora. Shifting away from wearable adornment, their works act as symbols that reference the evolution of the kahoa and of Tongan life in Aotearoa.
First conceived in 2020, Monū’s cloud practice has evolved through various forms. Each crafted from plastic flowers and beading, their clouds also embrace interplay between the ephemeral and the eternal, and the natural and the manufactured while directly engaging with the Pacific diaspora.
2 Newton Road, Grey Lynn
bergmangallery.com
MASTERWORKS GALLERY
Raukatauri
Thomas Carroll
On until 13 July
Raukatauri is a new series of wood carvings by Thomas Carroll. Thomas is planning two performances during his exhibition where he will share the beauty of the Pūtōrino, with other ngā taonga pūoro. Contact the gallery to register your interest in coming along – they will be sharing these performance dates on their website and Instagram, so keep an eye out. The final performance will be on the final Saturday (13 July) of the exhibition.
Thomas Carroll (Ngāti Muru, Hauraki) Thomas is a skilled nga taonga pūoro maker and player and has focused this exhibition on his favourite form, the pūtōrino.
71 Upper Queen Street, Eden Terrace
masterworksgallery.co.nz
