Humour at the heart of ‘Tricksters’ exhibition

Humour at the heart of ‘Tricksters’ exhibition

Fakes, fends and playful misdirection bring humour to an exhibition which is also the culmination of Christchurch Art Gallery’s Rolling Maul series.

Tricksters features sculptural works by three Canterbury-based artists – Matt Akehurst, Robert Hood and Wayne Youle. The exhibition runs from Saturday 22 December to 27 January in the Gallery’s temporary exhibition space above NG on Madras Street.

Curator Felicity Milburn says that objects in the exhibition share an interest in “gently disrupting our expectations about how art, artists and viewers should behave”.

“In very different ways, these artists poke fun at the conventions and traditions of the ‘serious’ art experience. In styles ranging from the subversive to the slapstick, they float the audacious proposition that an art gallery might actually be a place to have some fun.”

Caption: Robert Hood Brick in a Box 2012. Courtesy of the artist and Jonathan Smart Gallery

Wayne Youle’s super-sized, beautifully finished wooden version of a traditional ‘coin zigzag’ machine, as once seen in New Zealand fish and chip shops, invites visitors to ‘play the game’ by dropping a ball into the top of the work and watching it roll down a series of angled wooden shelves. A set of entertainment units have been repurposed by Robert Hood to reveal absurdly makeshift ‘secret’ doors, while his modified bricks – those familiar and ubiquitous emblems of the Christchurch rebuild – are definitely not all they appear to be. Matt Akehurst’s sculptures, positioned in discreet locations throughout the gallery space, turn the audience’s scrutiny back onto itself.

Gallery director Jenny Harper says that the ninth and final exhibition in the Rolling Maul programme marks a milestone in the Gallery’s achievements in the post-earthquake environment.

“Seventeen artists have participated in the series and more than twenty new works have been created. With the support of Creative New Zealand, this has been an important way to support local artists and define post-quake Christchurch as a place where significant new work is made. Being able to site the Rolling Maul series in the NG building while the Gallery remains closed has meant that we have been able to offer a dynamic and engaging Central City presence for art, and we have been greatly heartened by the extremely positive response we have received from the arts community.”
At the close of the Rolling Maul series the NG space will be used for several further presentations by Christchurch Art Gallery, the first of which will be an exhibition featuring works by Bill Hammond, Tony de Lautour and Jason Greig.
For more information visit www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz .

-ENDS-

Fact file
• Wayne Youle is a well known NZ artist who has just completed a residency at Artspace in Sydney and created the hugely popular mural in Sydenham I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour.
• Matt Akehurst is a University of Canterbury graduate whose signpost sculpture You are here was first exhibited at the Sculpture on the Gulf event on Waiheke Island and now graces the forecourt of Christchurch Art Gallery. Akehurst previously set up GalleryGallery, a portable exhibition space that travelled around Christchurch for a series of temporary, often one-night-only exhibitions. He was also one of the founders of the short-lived but significant ABC project space in Addington.
• Robert Hood is currently completing his MA at the University of Canterbury. He was the Olivia Spencer Bower Fellow in 2007.

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