The Art of March

Mt Eden
Until 9 March 2021

Inflection | Belinda Griffiths

This latest body of work consists of plein air paintings of blackbirds from her garden. Small and immediate the creation of this series helped the artist maintain a semblance of routine as well as becoming a form of meditation during the 2020 lockdown. “A daily return to the natural world became more than just a quaint idea, but an essential way for me to spend time and connect with something concrete that extended beyond the challenges of lockdown, a way to connect to something bigger than myself.”

More info at foenandergalleries.co.nz

Upper Queen Street
Until 13 March 2021

Commonalities II | Wendy Fairclough

Commonalities II follows on from Fairclough’s Tylee Cottage residency exhibition at The Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui, Common Ground. Commonalities II presents the largest portion of Common Ground alongside additional works by the artist.

More info at masterworksgallery.co.nz

Upper Queen Street
Until 13 March 2021

Light Breaks | Gretchen Albrecht

Light Breaks features new paintings made during the 2020 lockdown during which the artist also returned to working at a monumental scale. Confined to painting in her home studio, isolation afforded Albrecht an extended period of research, reflection and space to work to her own rhythm, finding the experience liberating and immensely productive. While her familiar, celebrated hemispherical forms reappear, their potential meanings are also recast in observance of the great silence of isolation and the many who have passed away. 

More info at tworooms.co.nz

Ponsonby
Opens 2 March until 13 March 2021

Losing My Religion: Part 1 – Control | Phil Richards

Losing My Religion: Part 1 – Control studies the correlation between religion and technology. From early religious concepts and ingrained doctrines that revolve around the always watching ‘God’ to its suggested contemporary equal of media, metadata and algorithmic manipulation. Could new technology take hold of the masses in succession to the role religion traditionally plays in society? Is it the beginning of a new world of Control? These are some of the complex questions the Richards contemplates in this latest body of work. 

More info at thegreyplace.nz

Devonport
Until 14 March 2021

Pre-Loved Re-Loved | Group Show

Pre-loved Re-loved is group show created by art owners who are looking to rehouse their once-loved fine art and objects. The exhibition includes a range of art works from painting, ceramics, and photography to sculpture and more.

More info at depotartspace.co.nz

Newmarket
Until 21 March 2021

Sweet and Sour | Kate van der Drift

Sweet and Sour explores the fragile ecology of the Hauraki Plains. Due to industrialisation, the Hauraki Plains have been entirely transformed from forested low-lying wetland to a drained landscape with an uncertain future. This series capture the physical makeup of the land and water by burying unexposed film into the Piako River allowing the algae, bacteria, pollution and sediment in the water to react with the film. The end result is a camera-less photograph of emotive and brilliantly coloured abstract surfaces. 

More info at sanderson.co.nz

On the cnr of East Street + Karangahape Road
Until 20 August 2021

Manawa i te Kāniwha | Abigail Aroha Jensen + Georgina Watson

Manawa i te Kāniwha is an outdoor mural project that reflects the dynamism and flamboyance of its location at the top of East Street, just off Karangahape Road. The artists’ use paint and kōkōwai to explore symbology linked to imperial power, proprietorship, and the divide between common good and privatised stakeholders. Embedded and imbued with its own agency and responsibility to Te Ao Māori, the mural brings to light that the ornate and decorative may not be as innocent as it may first seem.

More info at artspace-aotearoa.nz