(Un)conditional V at the Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru

(Un)conditional V is a continuation of The Physics Room's itinerant 2018 programme where we are partnering with a number of public galleries across Te Waipounamu, the South Island to create collaborative exhibitions. This exhibition is a partnership between the Aigantighe Art Gallery and The Physics Room.

Earlier this year, we invited artists Ana Iti, Clara Wells, Kerry Ann Lee, Miranda Parkes, and Tim McLaughlin to participate in the project by presenting two exhibitions, one in Ōtautahi Christchurch and one in Timaru at the Aigantighe Art Gallery. The first exhibition at The Physics Room, (Un)conditional I, initiated the process of exchange that characterises our (Un)conditional exhibition series and sets the stage for the new work which will be presented now in (Un)conditional V.

Working outside of Ōtautahi Christchurch has led to opportunities to develop new relationships and learn from the expertise of the staff at The Suter Art Gallery (Nelson), Ashburton Art Gallery, and the Aigantighe. The importance of place and location is underscored by the current situation at the Aigantighe Art Gallery which has seen the historic house gallery closed to the public since March 2017. Each (Un)conditional exhibition requires us to approach the unique character of each place, as well as the local audiences. (Un)conditional V responds to these spatial practicalities as provocations by inviting each artist to create work for the Aigantighe’s sculpture garden as well as the gallery space in Timaru.

The Timaru District Council website outlines a brief programme and history of the gallery and finishes with the line, “the sculpture garden and grounds are always open”. Presenting newly commissioned works in the garden creates the opportunity to use a space that is always 'open' (in the technical sense of the word) to connect the public with the collection and the other works on display within the building. Embedded within this gallery/garden connection is a nod to the garden as an open and public space, simultaneously beyond and within the gallery where experiences of a different nature can be conceived of, facilitated, or generated.

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Ana Iti (Te Rarawa) is an artist based in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara. Often employing sculpture, video and text, the artist’s recent work explores the practice of history making through shared and personal narratives, attempting to open up space for more subjective experiences and feeling. Iti graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts with a BFA in 2012 and is currently studying towards a MFA at Massey University Wellington. Recent exhibitions include The Old and The New, (2017) SCAPE Public Art Season, Christchurch (group), All the way to Te Rerenga Wairua, Mason’s Screen, Wellington (solo), Is the past a foreign country? (2016) North Projects, Christchurch (solo) and Heavy to Hold, Blue Oyster Art Project Space, Dunedin (solo).

Clara Wells is a Christchurch-based artist working primarily with motion-based mediums. Since graduating from the University of Canterbury with an MFA she has continued with her experimental, method-heavy practice in the form of hand drawn animation and installation art. The work combines traditional animation techniques with the contemporary dif culties of digital media and human nature. In recent years, Clara has had two works selected for the National Contemporary Art Award (Monochronic, 2016, Flux, 2017) and two more have received merit awards at the Parkin Drawing Prize (Swarm Frequency, 2015, Parramatta Automatic, 2017).

Kerry Ann Lee is a visual artist, designer and educator from Wellington, New Zealand. With a background in graphic art, Lee uses both traditional and digital media to create installation, print, and image-based works that are expressive and socially engaged. Her art meditates on themes of home, difference, and hybridity through a range of media and locations. Kerry Ann Lee works as a senior lecturer in Design and researcher at Massey University College of Creative Arts in Wellington, New Zealand. Her artwork can be found in print, online, in galleries, public spaces and private collections throughout New Zealand, Australia, Europe, USA, Mexico, China and Taiwan. Recent exhibitions include Fruits in the Backwater at Pataka Art +Museum, Porirua (2017), In Praise of Weird Wonders, Bartley + Company Art, Wellington (2017), and Foreign Correspondence, Whitespace Contemporary (2017).

Miranda Parkes has been practicing as a professional artist since graduating with a MFA (Distinction) in painting from the University of Canterbury in 2005. Her diverse practice includes painting, large-scale installation, video and work in public space. Recent exhibitions include the merrier, Hocken Collections, Dunedin (2017), Pocket Star at State of Princes, Dunedin (2015), Stargazer at Yuill/Crowley, Sydney (2015). Parkes’ work is held in public collections throughout New Zealand and in private collections in New Zealand, Australia, the U.K and U.S.A. Parkes was the Frances Hodgkins Fellow (2016), Olivia Spencer Bower Foundation Art Awardee (2013), Tylee Cottage Fellow, Whanganui (2009) and the William Hodges Fellow, Southland (2007).

Tim McLaughlin is a Christchurch-based artist who completed a BFA in sculpture from the University of Canterbury in 2016. Through his practice, he experiments with objects and and materials which mimic the feelings of bodily sensations and play off the desire to touch. His works utilise movements between textures – soft and hard, glossy and matte – to draw on the colours and textures of natural and physical source material

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