This month artists who capture the enigmatic or offer a glimpse of something a little less tangible gets us back out to galleries. From milky surfaces to hypnotic blotches, a meditation on life and disrupted ecologies, October’s exhibitions extend the opportunity to loose ourselves in mysterious surfaces and rich narratives. These artworks are not just escapism but also offer a way to gain perspective and connect with something larger.
6 October – 7 November
Starkwhite
starkwhite.co.nz
Gemma Smith
Thin Air
Presenting new work from her ongoing Threshold series, the Australian artist’s near-monochrome paintings offer an airy, purified world. At first glance the paintings appear pearly white and devoid of any hue, but closer looking reveals they are ever so gently tinted by soft and ambiguous shifts in tone. Against these pale backgrounds a suggestion of colour emerges, a mesmerising hint of soft petal-pink, wispy green, or pale straw. The works are so subtle that “it takes time and physical proximity to see them properly” Gemma Smith explains. A welcome antidote to a world growing tired of digitally mediated encounters so get up close.
Henrietta Harris, Untitled (Burn for the Moon). Courtesy of the artist and Melanie Roger Gallery.14 October – 7 November
Melanie Roger Gallery
melanierogergallery.com
Henrietta Harris
Burn for the Moon
Henrietta Harris makes beautiful paintings underpinned by psychological intensity. This latest body of work explores her interest in extended adolescence, youth and mortality through a series of portraits of enigmatic characters. Captured as if caught in a fleeting moment, each painting offers little backstory but instead engages and encourages the viewer to construct their own narrative – a Bildungsroman of sorts – and imagine the psychological and moral growth of a group of characters, from his or her youth to adulthood. Look deeply at Harris’ use of light and shade as well as her skill at portraying smatterings of captivating freckles.
Until 22 November
Te Uru
teuru.org.nz
Joyce Campbell
On the Last Afternoon: Disrupted Ecologies and the Work of Joyce Campbell
Joyce Campbell’s striking exhibition brings together nearly three decades of her practice. Drawing on 19th century photography techniques and analogue processes her images have extraordinary detail, richness, and texture, allowing them move from simply images to mediums able to capture the depth and emotion of biological and metaphysical forces. Shifting scale from the microscopic to the global, this body of work across photography and video gives visible form to the beauty, complexity and sheer perseverance of life under threat.
Kiran McKinnon, Floodlines (detail) 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Northart.Artist conversation 1pm, 18 October
6 October – 1 November
Northart
northart.co.nz
Kiran McKinnon
Floodlines
Given our bodies are up to 60% water it seems a fascination with, and deep connection to, water is an intrinsic part of being human. Water as both medium and subject are important aspects of Kiran McKinnon’s work. Standing in front of her large canvases can be an immersive and beguiling experience, her painterly surfaces dappled, blotched and weathered from the application of watercolour, acrylic, and quantities of water from natural sources throughout New Zealand. This body of work engages with experience and memory, particularly of the sensations of the natural world, to produce paintings that mimic ephemeral processes.
10 – 18 October
Artweek Auckland
This annual, week-long festival celebrating the visual arts of Auckland returns with a great lineup of exhibitions, events, tours, and workshops right across Auckland and catering for every age and taste. Join a walking or cycling tour of different art precincts, enjoy an evening out with other culture lovers while galleries are open late, or take part in ‘Death Drawing’, a drawing experience like no other, at Highwic, Auckland’s favourite gothic mansion. Most activities free, check website.
