Galley News

Neil Pardington
the clinic / te whare o rangiora
8 November - 3 December, 2005

Please join us and the artist for the opening of this exhibition at 5:30pm on Tuesday 8 November.

The interior spaces of hospitals ­ described by the artist as a stage for life and death ­ provide Wellington photographer Neil Pardington with the subject matter for his new exhibition. Medicine continues to provide inspiration for artists as it has over the centuries says Pardington. It is a subject that engenders strong reactions and emotions, because whatever happens, it is about life and death, and we know the stakes could not be higher.

The images - of operating theatres, postmortem rooms, a dissecting theatre and anatomy museum - seduce the viewer to project their own stories into the photographs. Unease, disease, ease: these images suggest an anxiety about the unknown ­ what is around the corner, what has happened or is about to happen?

The Clinic ­ Te Whare o Rangiora, which has been supported by Creative New Zealand, is an ongoing project by this talented photographer, designer and film-maker. Images from the series were selected for Public/Private-Tumatanui/Tumataiti: The 2nd Auckland Trienniale and Telecom Prospect 2004 at the City Gallery Wellington. A postmortem room image was purchased this year by leading British artist Damian Hurst for collection.

Introducing André Hemer
little/big/kinky/drip/splash/paint-mania! new paintings
8 November - 3 December, 2005

Adjacent to Neil Pardington we will be showing some new paintings by André Hemer, a young artist currently completing his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. Over the past two years he has exhibited throughout New Zealand and in Taiwan. In his new body of paintings little/big/kinky/drip/splash/paint-mania! pastel colours splash the canvas and he says, " twist, push, pull, and shine, in a neo-raunchy softcore painting process." Hemer's work embraces the physical conventions of modernist painting while parodying ideas of creative genius inherent in the tradition of painting. These paintings begin on the computer and explore the interface of computer drawing and painting. A review in the Listener in March this year described his painting as resulting in "a deliciously knowing and seductively gauche/naïve approximation of beautiful modernist abstracts."

We look forward to seeing you in the gallery over the coming month.

Best wishes,
Alison Bartley, Tim Nees and Julia Holderness

ENDS

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