CoCA Toi Moroki Presents Major Exhibition by Peter Robinson
CoCA Toi Moroki Presents Major Solo Exhibition by Peter Robinson
CoCA’s spacious Mair Gallery
will be treated in a surprising way by Peter Robinson, one
of Aotearoa’s most respected artists, in upcoming solo
exhibition Fieldwork (Saturday 3 March – Sunday 13
May).
Delicate and gentle forms will occupy the space
which usually holds large and immersive installations, in
what is to be a pivotal exhibition for Robinson.
For
this exhibition, Robinson has developed a new body of work
that will sprawl through CoCA's galleries. Delicate
sculptural forms made of everyday artist studio materials
– including wood, wire, paper, metal, nails and magnets
– contribute to a visual language that will unfold and
repeat throughout the space.
The intricate scale of
the materials will also highlight the nature of CoCA’s
‘Christchurch Style’ Brutalist architecture. The
exhibition coincides with the 50th anniversary of CoCA’s
striking 66 Gloucester Street building, which was designed
by Minson, Henning Hansen and Dines and purpose built in
1968.
Fieldwork will demonstrate an extension
of Robinson’s ever-changing practice. His more recent
works reference the trajectory of modern sculpture, and this
exhibition will see the introduction of materials which are
relatively new within his practice such as aluminum, metal
rods, pipes, magnets, and wire which has been manipulated
into various shapes.
The installation is one to be
viewed as a whole, though the intricacy of the sum of its
parts is worth exploring. It will include a mixture of found
and specially sourced materials. Responding to the
architecture, whilst experimenting with scale and form.
Audiences will be met with a navigation challenge; they will
need to move around the delicate suspended grids, and works
placed on floor wall and ceiling. This unusual perspective
and movement through the space will give viewers a new
experience of gallery.
Fieldwork continues the
collaboration between CoCA and Paemanu Ngāi Tahu
Contemporary Visual Arts that began in 2017 with Paemanu:
Nohoaka Toi – Ngāi Tahu Artists in Residence.
The
exhibition will be accompanied by a series of community
focussed workshops and events. Beginning with Robinson
presenting an artist talk on Saturday 3 March, 1pm, the
programme will include a series of youth creative writing
workshops hosted by Faultline Poetry Collective,
children’s workshops with local artist Janna van Hasselt,
a performance and movement workshop by dancer Julia Harvie,
and a collaboration with Ōtautahi Creative
Spaces.
Exhibition opens Saturday 3 March. Admission
Free. Visit coca.org.nz for further information.
ENDS