FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TWO NEW EXHIBITIONS AT THE PHYSICS ROOM
If I was a river
Hamish Palmer
29 October–22 November 2008
Opening preview: Tuesday 28 October 2008, 5.30pm
Working to refashion familiar rhetorics of display to sketch out the connections and counterweights within an ecosystem
of sorts, Hamish Palmer’s installation If I was a river takes a notably patient and accumulative approach.
Investing in the reliance and resilience of the ‘natural’ through the amalgamation and representation of certain totems
such as taxidermied specimens from New Zealand’s avian archives and a well researched collation of local twigs, Palmer’s
project can be seen to privilege even the most humble of naturally derived materials.
Remaining part of Palmer’s continued exploration into everyday aesthetic manifestations of relationships between nature
and culture If I was a river drifts subtly away from the strongly anthropomorphised practice he has been noted for in recent years.
Following on from his installation Twig which appeared earlier this year in The Kiosk, If I was a river similarly seeks to draw a sense of familiarity and openness from the purposefully amiable stages and formally structured
display spaces that exist within contemporary culture.
Hamish Palmer received a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Auckland in 2004 and currently lives and works in
Christchurch. Recent exhibitions include: Moss, Whangarei Art Museum (2007); Foresteraunt and as far as I know, HSP, Christchurch (2007); Mary Abacus and the Mystery of the Kumara Sutra, Vavasour Godkin Gallery, Auckland (2006); Birds-The Art of New Zealand Birdlife, Pataka (2006) and Pacific Rim Inaugural Emergency Shelter Triennale, Enjoy, Wellington (2006).
The Physics Room receives major funding from Creative New Zealand/Toi Aotearoa.
Yellow Grotto
Richard Maloy
29 October–22 November 2008
Opening preview: Tuesday 28 October 2008, 5.30pm
The Physics Room is pleased to present Richard Maloy’s latest video work made during his recent residency at Artspace,
Sydney. Yellow Grotto starts with the artist’s weight of butter placed in a 70kg pile on the studio floor and follows Maloy pushing the
familiar yellow blocks into one large mass. Throughout the sequence, a direct relationship between the physical nature
of the material, the artist’s body, and the physical act of art-making is played out as the butter slowly warms, melds
together and is flipped and flopped into different sculptural forms.
Maloy is an Auckland based artist who works in a range of media including photography, sculpture, video and
installation. His video works generally have a strong performance element and act as a type of private action made
public, which often feature a singular figure taking part in the creative process.
Richard Maloy graduated in 2001 with a Masters in Fine Arts from The University of Auckland and has exhibited widely in
New Zealand at museums, public art galleries, artist run spaces and dealer galleries such as the Auckland Art Gallery
Toi o Tāmaki, Waikato Museum, Wellington City Gallery, Sue Crockford Gallery and rm103. Yellow Grotto was made possible with the help of a Creative New Zealand Professional Practice Grant and was first shown as part of
Maloy’s solo show at Sue Crockford Gallery in Auckland earlier this year. Other recent projects include: Accommodate, St. Paul St, Auckland (2006); Summer Days, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2006); World Famous in New Zealand, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Australia (2005); Remember New Zealand, Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil (2005) and The Future of Auckland, ARTSPACE, Auckland (2002). Maloy is represented by Sue Crockford Gallery and a number of his works are held in many
private and public collections in Australasia, such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki collection, the James
Wallace Arts Trust and the Ergas Collection, Canberra.
The Physics Room receives major funding from Creative New Zealand/Toi Aotearoa.
ENDS