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Love is in the air
AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL
MEDIA RELEASE
5 March 2007
Love is in the air
Local Polynesian photographers and graffiti artists will exhibit together in Love Me Tender at the Artstation Gallery from 16 to 31 March as part of Celebrate Pasifika 2007.
Love Me Tender brings together a group of emerging and established contemporary Pacific artists in an exhibition which aims to challenge and demystify exotic notions of the Pacific.
“The show comes from the perspective of Pacific life in urban New Zealand. The exhibitors do not use traditional Pacific forms but seek to find new ways to explore and represent their Pacific-New Zealand culture,” says artist and exhibition curator Eimi Tamua.
This exhibition is a follow-up to MsTamua’spopular exhibition, This Is Not A Love Song, held at Artstation last year. This year she will be displaying Love Me Tender, a curious photograph of a miniature butcher’s shop, taken at a toy museum in London.
Graffiti artist Ben Work (aka Dyle) is also part of the exhibition. Dyle paints with The Most Dangerous (TMD) - a graffiti art crew that won the world Graff Art Championships in Berlin in 2006. His work is word based and he likens his text focused graffiti art to the oral traditions in Polynesian language. Rather than representing his Tongan ancestry through pacific motifs, Dyle searches for clean lines and new language.
Rimoni Sagapolutele has previously been known for photographing famous New Zealand rappers, but forLove Me Tender he also exhibits portraits of German Shepherd dogs. The unusual canine portraits have a sincere yet humorous tone.
Photographer Evotia Tamua-Thompson’s images capture Polynesian people in their everyday environments. The documentary style photographs reflect Ms Tamua-Thompson’s view of photography as a record of history and values. She has also exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally and has created new work for Love Me Tender.
Artist Edward Jackson uses a range of mediums including photography and painting to create a new installation reflecting the urban environment.
Love Me Tender is part of Celebrate Pasifika 2007, a regional programme of arts and events which aims to showcase the extraordinary achievements of Auckland's pacific peoples and provide opportunities for Aucklanders and visitors alike to engage with Auckland's pacific cultures.
Please visit www.celebratepasifika.co.nz for the full Celebrate Pasifika programme.
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