Spring is here! A vibrant symphony of life and possibility. Let’s embrace this glorious season of renewal, where the fresh and new stretch upwards in a radiant dance towards the sunshine and rain. Nurture brilliance by visiting one (or some) of this month’s selected exhibitions…
ARTSPACE AOTEAROA
This is the house that jack built
Andy Butler, Kerry Deane, Sara Gómez, Ming Ranginui, Ashleigh Taupaki, X&Y
On until – 5 October
What do you think of rich people?
What do you think of poor people?
These are the polarising questions asked by collaborative artist duo X&Y on the streets of Manhattan in their video work Rich Poor from 1977. Artspace Aotearoa presents their yearly group exhibition, This is the house that jack built. This exhibition brings together a 50-year arc of artworks from local and international artists across practices and generations to answer our timely annual question “do I need territory?”
Through film, sculpture, and site-specific drawings each of the artists confronts audiences with perceptions of value, class, labour and ownership in present-day late capitalism.
292 Karangahape Road, Tāmaki Makaurau
MELANIE ROGER GALLERY
Fitts, Hurley & Poppelwell
Emma Fitts, Gavin Hurley, Martin Poppelwell
28 August – 14 September
New explorative works by artists Emma Fitts, Gavin Hurley, and Martin Poppelwell, offer diverse interpretations of contemporary painting. Emma Fitts explores saturation, scribbling, and splashing of paint, engaging with materials like rope and mesh. Her work reflects themes of queer art histories and Modernist textiles. Gavin Hurley continues his playful exploration of portraiture, blending composite characters with birds inspired by Fernand Léger and floral interruptions that obscure faces, drawing from influences like Ben Shahn and Louise Henderson. Martin Poppelwell creates dynamic networks within his work, referencing Samuel Beckett’s narratives. His varying scales and long titles reflect a temporal and cartesian narrative space.
444 Karangahape Road, Newton
FÖENANDER GALLERIES
In Love but Lazy
Nick Herd
12 September – 1 October
Known for his impasto technique, Herd has developed a distinctive style with a sophisticated palette and artistic restraint. His thick, textured strokes capture movement and life, exploring the performative nature of painting and the discharge of energy and anxiety. Herd’s recent still life series, both in paint and sculpted form, features radically layered textures and bold strokes, creating flowers that seem to move across the canvas. The evolving floral arrangements inspire dynamic paintings full of play and motion.
1 Faraday Street, Parnell
TRISH CLARK GALLERY
Floor Paintings
Amanda Gruenwald
14 September – 11 October
Amanda Gruenwald’s recent paintings explore a bold new direction, inspired by the accidental marks on her studio drop cloths. Her work navigates the space between intention and chance, using floor-based, unstretched canvases. Drawing from diverse art histories, her paintings develop a unique visual grammar, emphasising the connection between body, material, and mark-making. Gruenwald reinterprets aspects of her earlier work, incorporating techniques like pouring and aerosol application, creating new forms that open a fresh dimension in her practice. She lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau.
142 Great North Road, Grey Lynn
ANNA MILES GALLERY
Quadraphonic Coats
Vita Cochran
On until – 14 September
Described as multi-generational gatherings, Quadraphonic Coats takes us on a direct route to the wonder of the ordinary that resides in our wardrobes: the punctuation mark-like silhouettes of collars, cuffs and facings; the unexpected architecture of checked shirt sleeves. The DNA of these works is in the simplest most expedient forms of make-do quilting that retain the unaltered shapes of garment pieces.
10/30 Upper Queen Street
