Old stables home for new stable of artists
Old stables home for new stable of artists
A bright red
neon artwork on a courtyard wall in Ghuznee Street
Wellington has been drawing attention to the transformation
of a historic little building into an exciting new
contemporary art gallery.
‘Red words on a grey
background’ is a new neon work by Mary-Louise Browne in
the inaugural exhibition at Bartley and Company Art –
Wellington’s newest art gallery. Like much of Browne’s
work ‘Red words’ has multiple references and readings
– it plays off abstract painting, conceptual art and
popular culture drawing from the Neil Young line –
‘purple words on a grey background’ in the song
‘Cowgirls in the sand’.
Glowing in the
courtyard between the street and galley, the work attracts
the attention of passers by and serves to draw them into the
gallery. Housed in a building originally built as a stables
in the late 19th century, the converted stables is now home
to a ‘stable’ of artists – the term used in the art
world for the artists represented by a gallery.
The
smart fit-out of the gallery has been designed by Allistar
Cox, well-known, in Wellington particularly, for his design
of the Matterhorn restaurant and Mojo cafes. Two key
features are dramatic gates and a new glass box front door,
which protrudes out from the old building.
Bartley
and Company Art joins several galleries in the area,
cementing the street firmly as the heart of the Wellington
art scene.
Future exhibitions
Feb 24 –
March 21
Andre
Hemer – The Bang-Bang Painting Collective
March24 –
April 18
Group
exhibition of recent Massey graduates
April 21 – May 13
Niki
Hastings-McFall
May 19 – June 13
Rachael
Rakena
June 16 – July 11
Roger
Mortimer
July 14 – August 8
Group
show Hard Tactics featuring Robyn Irwin glass
August 11
– September 5
Marcia
Lyons
September 8 – October 2
Group
exhibition New painters curated by Andre Hemer
October 6
–31
Brett
Graham
November 3 - 28
Anne
Noble
December 1
Group
exhibition
ends