Architecture for the Nation

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
29 May 2008

Architecture for the Nation
New Artists Show 2008

Richard Frater
Rangituhia Hollis
Ash Kilmartin
Simon Lawrence
Alexandra Savtchenko
Tuafale Tanoa’i (Linda T.)

Exhibition dates: 14 June – 19 July 2008
Opening reception: Friday 13 June 6pm

ARTSPACE is pleased to announce Architecture for the Nation, the new artists exhibition for 2008. Six artists have been invited to develop new work as part of the cutting edge exhibition programme at ARTSPACE. This exhibition highlights new and vital art practice and aims to reflect the momentum of contemporary art in New Zealand. The new artists exhibition has become an annual event that offers a space for experimentation for some of our best and brightest.

The new artists exhibition, is also the first opportunity for the 2008 Curatorial Intern Kate Brettkelly-Chalmers to co-curate an exhibition with ARTSPACE Director Brian Butler. Architecture for the Nation takes as a starting point the way these artists challenge boundaries and systems of ordering. Both a broad conception of architecture and the notion of the nation state are inherently artificial systems that order our lives.

“What interests me is the astute and perceptive way in which these artists negotiate the paths and positions of what is considered contemporary. This show offers an exciting snapshot of art practices in this moment in time,” says Kate Brettkelly-Chalmers.

In keeping with the concept of the exhibition, emerging graphic designers Tiga Seagar and Sarah Gladwell will design an online catalogue to be launched at the exhibition opening. Six new New Zealand writers; Martyn Reynolds, Kai Korero, Sam Rountree-Williams, John Ward-Knox, Hamish Win and Anna-Marie White will contribute to the online catalogue.

Richard Frater works across several disciplines in his art practice, engaging drawing as a guiding principal. He is interested in ephemeral architecture and experiential sculpture, framing an exchange between the activation of materials and the viewer. He is a founding member of the Auckland artist-run space A Centre for Art. In 2007 Richard completed significant projects at ST PAUL ST and Blue Oyster Gallery and will be participating in an exhibition at Enjoy Public Art Gallery in June. Richard graduated with a Post-Graduate Diploma of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland in 2006.

Rangituhia Hollis’s work considers how we inhabit and engage with social and architectural spaces. He is concerned with how “we make meaning through our banal activities in real spaces”. His moving-image works develop from the combination of gaming, architecture, home video and animation formats. In April 2008 he took part in a new international project entitled Cityscapers: By theThroat at Edinburgh University thanks to a British Council scholarship. Rangituhia is currently completing a Post-Graduate Diploma of Fine Arts at Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland.

Ash Kilmartin’s drawing-based practice is concerned with the way the values and structures of institutions are made visible, how statements are made through the design of buildings. She was a finalist in the 2007 Tunbridge Scholarship watercolour competition, and her work has been shown at the Engine Room, Wellington and at rm103 in Auckland. She is also the Onsite Curator and writer for Window, at the University of Auckland and is the visual arts reporter for 95bFM. Ash is currently completing a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours at the Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland.

Simon Lawrence creates low-tech sculptures and time-based works exploring the imaginative potential of simple material fabrications. Both the wit and the artifice of mystical tricks and paranormal setups play a prominent part in his practice. Simon has exhibited in solo and group shows around New Zealand including Break: Construct, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (2006); Telecom Prospect, Wellington (2007); Path of the Path, The Physics Room, Christchurch (2007); and Another Destination, Christchurch Art Gallery (2007/08). He holds a BFA from Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury.

Alexandra Savtchenko works across a range of disciplines, primarily installation and photography, to articulate the possibility of space without time and a language of abstraction. Alexandra is on the board of the artist-run Newcall Gallery, and is working on exhibiting in Auckland. Recent shows include This Much is Certain at George Fraser Gallery and Blue as Silver as Gold at Newcall Gallery. Sasha Completed her BFA at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in 2007.

Tuafale Tanoa’i is also known as Linda T. Her practice is motivated by a desire to share narratives, to entertain, and to draw attention to issues that concern the communities who occupy her installation spaces. An avid collector of media, she creates environments and refashions the viewing and producing of media through intercepting the interview, documentary and live performance forms. She has been selected to attend and exhibit at the 10th South Pacific Arts Festival, Pago Pago, American Samoa in July 2008. Linda T. is currently completing a Master of Art and Design in Visual Arts at AUT.

ENDS

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