Artist Studio Open Day – Ruth Buchanan

PRESS RELEASE

Released: 4 February 2013

Artist Studio Open Day – Ruth Buchanan

McCahon House Trust is pleased to announce the Artist Studio Open Day at ‘Parehuia’ the McCahon House Residency in Otitori Bay Road, French Bay, on Saturday 16 February Midday to 4pm. This is an opportunity to experience work in progress in the presence of artist Ruth Buchanan as she nears the conclusion of her three-month residency.

Buchanan arrived in the residency in November last year from her current home in Berlin. Buchanan has developed a new body of work that investigates the way in which interior spaces shape our perception and understanding of cultural production, consisting primarily of drawings, watercolours and photography. While on the residency she has explored a series of renovations and additions that took place at the Auckland Art Gallery (AGG) from 1952-1959, notably the commissioning and installing of a large-scale hand woven curtain between the City and McKelvie Galleries. Buchanan forges an intimate relationship with these environments through a sensitive exploration of their physical presence and historical significance.

During the Open Day Buchanan will present a selection of research material and new photographs that compel the visitor to consider this narrative. This is chance to see how Ruth Buchanan progressively interprets and distils the essence of these interior spaces into a thought provoking installation of visual material and sculptural forms.

As a result of the close working relationship generated during this research Buchanan will install an artists project in the vitrine located at entrance to the E H McCormack Library at the AGG. The vitrine display is timed to coincide with the open studio and also serendipitously the 125 year anniversary of the gallery. The display is on show from 15th February to 15th March.
With warm thanks to the E H McCormick Research Library, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.

Ruth Buchanan (b. 1980, Te Ati Awa/Taranaki) graduated from Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts in 2002 and gained her MA (Fine Art) from Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam in 2007. She currently has a solo show On or within a scenario at Hopkinson Cundy, Auckland. Other recent exhibitions include: Put a curve, an arch, right through it, Krome Gallery, Berlin (2012); Contact: Artists from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, (2012), A wavy line is drawn across the original plans, Koelnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, (2012), Prospect: New Zealand Art Now, City Gallery, Wellington (2011), A Wayward Punctuation, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz (2011); Madame Realism, Marres, Maastricht, (2011). Buchanan released a new artists book with Sternberg Press, The weather, a building in late 2012.

The McCahon House residency programme began in late 2006 with inaugural artist

Judy Millar. To date,16 artists residencies have been awarded to an outstanding selection of artists including: Andrew McLeod; James Robinson; Gavin Hipkins; Rohan Wealleans; Richard Lewer; Luise Fong; Eve Armstrong; Lisa Reihana; Ava Seymour; Martin Basher; Andy Leleisi’uao; Liyen Chong; Jim Speers; Glen Hayward, Ben Cauchi, Regan Gentry and Kathy Barry. The aim of the programme is to support professional artists who are committed to contributing to the growth of contemporary art.

Next to the Residency house and studio is the restored house where Colin McCahon and his family lived in the 1950s. The house is open to the public on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 3pm and for group and educational bookings on request. The McCahon House Museum and Residency project is the initiative of the McCahon House Trust. The Trust has received significant support from the former Waitakere City Council, who gifted the McCahon cottage to the Trust, Sky City Community Trust, ASB Community Trust and Portage Licensing and receives ongoing support from Auckland Council and Creative New Zealand.

What: Studio Open Day

Where: 67 Otitori Bay Rd,

French Bay, Titirangi

When: Saturday 16 February, Midday – 4pm

Artist: Ruth Buchanan

Admission: Free

ENDS

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