Art and nature blend on Waiheke Island

13 Jan 2011
Headland Sculpture on the Gulf - Waiheke Island
28 January - 20 February, 2011

Art and nature will combine as leading New Zealand outdoor sculptors showcase their work in an iconic setting on the headlands of Waiheke Island, in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf this summer.

The biennial ‘headland Sculpture on the Gulf’ exhibition opens on the island - a short ferry ride from central Auckland - on 28 January, and 40 artists have been selected to show their work along the spectacular coastal walkway between Matiatia and Church Bay.

It’s the fifth time the exhibition has been staged on Waiheke, and the first year international artists have been selected to take part.

German artist Marcel Grosse, and Marcus Tatton, who was born in New Zealand and is now resident in Tasmania, will exhibit work alongside artists from throughout New Zealand.

Double artist submissions
The 2011 exhibition attracted double the number of artist submissions, and Headland 2011 director Juliet Monaghan says the popularity provides a major challenge for selectors.

Selectors Heather Galbraith, Trish Clark and James McCarthy - all with national experience and expertise - were charged with the task of choosing 40 special works as well as the sites best suited to display each piece.

The coastal exhibition walkway - with its dramatic backdrop of sea, sky and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf - is considered one of the most spectacular settings for contemporary sculpture.

Visitors can wander freely amongst the large scale artworks, and each sculpture is strategically placed to surprise viewers and encourage interaction.

Landscape connection
All works are chosen for their appropriateness to the site and connection with the landscape, and include interactive and kinetic works, soundscapes and installations.

"We are getting cutting-edge, innovative new work,'' says Monaghan. "The site is a very significant part of the event and the work is often site-specific ... some are even referencing a specific tree."

Japanese-born Kazu Nakagawa, who has lived on Waiheke Island for 20 years, says he walked the coastal track many times looking for ideas for the 2011 exhibition.

Nakagawa came up with the idea of 200 umbrellas, which will be carried by visitors at the exhibition, each with the word aendaenti from the phonetic form of the musical term andante [moderately slow].

Popular summer art event
The art event has rapidly increased in popularity since it first began in 2003.

An initiative of the Waiheke Community Art Gallery, the 'headland' exhibition was inspired by a desire to host a sculptural event outside gallery walls in a way that would "acknowledge embrace and enhance the coastal scenery of Waiheke Island".

It has now become a popular summer event for locals and tourists, attracting around 26,000 visitors and involving as many as 150 local volunteers.

Island day-trippers include the exhibition in their Waiheke Island experience as well as enjoying seaside cafés, beaches, vineyard restaurants and cellar doors, and exploring galleries and the art community.

New to ‘headland’ in 2011 is a series of forums where exhibiting artists discuss their work, and a bus that runs between the start of the walkway and the ferry terminal, with stops at two of the island's best vineyard restaurants, Mudbrick and Cable Bay.
Waiheke Island is famous for its creative culture, and of the 8000 permanent residents more than 100 are practising artists. Many open their studios to visitors.

2011 exhibiting artists:

Matt Akehurst, Diane Atkinson, Chris Bailey, Ali Bramwell, Julie-Anna Child and Peter Mrost, Chiara Corbelletto, Paul Cullen, Judy Darragh / Rachel Shearer, Scott Eady, John Edgar, Gina Ferguson, Stuart Forsyth, Marcel Grosse, Mia Hamilton, Verena Jonker / Bryony Matthew, Virginia King, Gregor Kregar, Peter Lange, Lgop (Warwick Bell, Isaac McCormick and Suza), David McCracken, Shane McGrath, Chris Meder, Kazu Nakagawa, Christian Nicholson, Brett Oakes, Denis O' Conor, Grant Palliser, Phil Price, Paul Radford, Christina Read, Timothy Sang, Duncan Sargent, A.D. Schierning, Marcus Tatton, Roger Thompson, Jeff Thomson, Leon van den Eijkel, Fletcher Vaughan, Ruth Watson / Carolyn Williams.

ENDS

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