While June’s poetry whispers of hardened dry leaves and rain-stripped stone from a scented damp earth of broken bough, the galleries are saying quite the opposite. Colour and substance are on the menu in Tāmaki Makaurau this month.
Studio One Toi Tu
Tupu Ma Ola
16 June – 14 July
Henderson Intermediate School
Tupu Ma Ola takes its name from the school motto of Henderson Intermediate, to “Flourish and Grow.” Students have collectively braided, woven and stitched together a visual display of alofa (love). This bright and vibrant exhibition invites you to immerse yourself in a sea of colour, amongst hundreds of ‘ula lei handmade by students. The ‘ula is symbolic of love, friendship, celebration, and honour. Also featured are a collection of gold carvings which celebrate and pay homage to students’ culture and identity.
1 Ponsonby Road, Grey Lynn
Instagram @studioone.toitu
Te Uru
Motutapu
11 June – 11 September
Benjamin Work and Brendan Kitto
Motutapu is a collaborative exhibition of new work by artist Benjamin Work and photographer Brendan Kitto. The show concludes a four-year journey by Work and Kitto looking at the shared history of motutapu (sacred islands) throughout Moana Oceania – including Tongatapu, Rarotonga and at the entrance to the Waitematā Harbour here in Tāmaki Makaurau.
420 Titirangi Road, Titirangi
Instagram @te_uru_gallery
Te Tuhi
Elsewhere and nowhere else
4 June – 30 July
Kah Bee Chow, Li-Ming Hu and Yuk King Tan. Curated by Vera Mey.
“What is here is elsewhere. What is not here is nowhere else.”
Taken from the 4th-century epic poem, Mahābhārata, this aphorism reminds us that despite differences in our cultural locales, there are aspects of the human experience we can connect to regardless of our personal subjectivities.
Elsewhere and nowhere else looks at three artists who are umbilically connected to Aotearoa but, for different reasons, live elsewhere. In this moment of opening back up to the world, this exhibition seeks to agitate notions that separate the local from the international, reminding us how multifarious our connections to the world are.
13 Reeves Road, Pakuranga
Instagram @tetuhiart
Fresh Gallery Otara
What is your VVAI?
4 June – 30 July
Jasmine Tuia and Ashleigh Taupaki
What is your VVAI? is an exhibition that explores the process and materials of the contemporary Pacific objects that both artists create. For once, the objects and the names of the objects are absent, and viewers are made to ponder the complexities of making itself.
5/46 Fair Mall, Ōtara
Instagram @freshgalleryotara
Facebook @FreshGalleryOtara
Turua Gallery
Joy
10 June – 23 June
Bec Robertson and Harriet Millar
Joy presents the work of two painters with vastly different styles. From detailed works on plywood of native birds and flora, to chunky painted surfaces of loose and expressively layered brushstrokes depicting flora, this show has been curated to delight and bring joy.
10A Turua Street, St Heliers
Instagram @turuagallery
Gow Langsford Gallery
So no one will see me walk to deny me grace
Virginia Leonard
Virginia Leonard works with clay, resin, and glaze to create abstracted and visceral ceramic sculptures. Her large vessel-like structures are inspired from domestic items such as vases, jugs, and urns, of which the artist abstracts with paint, resin and additional clay, creating dedicant, multi-coloured masses of magnificence.
Corner of Kitchener Street and Wellesley Street East, Auckland Central
Instagram @gowlangsfordgallery
