Crouching Kiwi, Hidden Taniwha

Thistle Hall is a vibrant community centre in the heart of New Zealand's cultural capital. We provide a community hall, meeting room and Wellington's only community gallery showcasing a range of artists and crafts people, from the established to the emerging. Thistle Hall is located on the corner of Cuba and Arthur streets. The shows on at Thistle Hall Community Gallery are run by the artists who hire it.

On Now
23 - 29 MAY 2011
CROUCHING KIWI, HIDDEN TANIWHA: SAM RAWLINGS.

OPENING: 5.30 - 7.30pm Monday 23 May.
OPEN: 10.00am - 6.00pm Monday - Sunday.

"With a Chinese mother and a Pakeha father, I had quite a multicultural upbringing... well, sort of. I always identified with being "white", but the Chinese part of me always seemed to be tacked on, like an afterthought. Being Chinese was just a costume that I sometimes wore, a cuisine I sometimes ate, or a special occasion to attend. I viewed my culture as an outsider looking in."

With heavy influences from the pop art movement, and a dash of surrealism, 'Crouching Kiwi, Hidden Taniwha' is light-hearted critique of culture from an outsider's perspective. From this view, people and objects find their trans-cultural counterparts, peculiarities become similarities, and everyone is invited to broaden their circle and find common ground in the human condition.

This will be the first solo exhibition by Sam Rawlings, a recent medical graduate who has boldly taken a year out to satisfy a creative calling. Over the years his paintings, drawings, sculptures, and designs have been seen scattered through group exhibitions and a handful of galleries, but this is his first cohesive body of work, culminating in a solo show.

Come and see an exhibition that aims to impress with intricate realism, refresh with its diversity, and relate to you whatever your race, culture, or background.

www.facebook.com/sam.rawlings.artist

Up Next
30 MAY - 5 JUNE 2011
BULLS ON PARADE: KELLY SPENCER.

OPENING: 5.00 - 8.00pm Monday 30 May.
OPEN: 10.00am - 6.00pm Tuesday - Sunday.

Emerging local talent Kelly Spencer is back from her recent sell-out show with a whole new collection of works in watercolour and graphite. Bulls on Parade uses the iconography of war to examine our treatment of animals. Far from being preachy or aggressive, however, the show is a tender and peaceful meditation on the beauty of the creatures we share our islands with, and our responsibility towards them. These portraits are beautiful and engaging, while the symbolism creates a subtly unsettling undercurrent.

Her decision to follow art as her full-time passion has been rewarding for Kelly, with this being the second exhibition to be produced from her Mt. Cook studio this year. In addition to these shows, Kelly's distinctive style is starting to appear in all sorts of areas from apparel and merchandise to poster design. This most recent production maintains its imaginative innocence with brightly coloured and uncluttered figures, while hinting at a more intellectual approach to creating art.

www.kellyspencer.co.nz
www.facebook.com/kelly.spencer.artist

ENDS

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