Emerging Artists Kicks Off Depot’s Gallery Programme For 2023

Becks Ireland and Caitlyn Manning join forces in ‘Palpable Layers’ reconfirming Depot Artspace’s commitment to supporting artists at all stages of their careers.

Devonport, Auckland – ‘Palpable Layers’, an arresting exhibition combines the emerging practices of painters Becks Ireland and Caitlyn Manning, both painters whose work vibrates with bold colour and the contrast of linear constructions with fluid movement and rhythm.

Both artists recently completed their Master of Visual Arts at AUT.

Experiences of joy and imaginative play inform Ireland’s work. Her paintings are a visual amalgamation of board games, video games, and early 2000s nostalgia. For ‘Palpable Layers’, Ireland presents ‘Girlboss: Undercover’, a series of abstract paintings that document the imposter syndrome that comes with getting a corporate job after art school. Taking an almost “day in the life” approach to documentation, common in the “entrepreneurial grindset” internet sphere, the daily antics of an artist undercover are recorded through a daily painting practice. The works are a humorous exploration of the shared common ground between artists and corporates which consists mostly of stationery and office supplies.

Manning works in an intuitive way, pushing and testing her relationship with painting while spending time to allow for qualities to emerge, take hold, and reshape any mulling ideas into a new light. She encourages the viewer to slow down and participate in an unchartered journey with each painting in an attempt to digest and reform their complex surfaces; offering possibility for new aesthetic experiences, but also affectual experiences to occur. For ‘Palpable Layers’ she presents a new suite of acrylic abstract paintings on paper and canvas that embody juxtapositions, pulsating colours, and rhythmic gestures. C

“Crossing the threshold between painting and the everyday, ‘Palpable Layers’ reminds us that colour and gesture are at the core of how we encounter the world as beings,” says Depot Artspace curator Nina Dyer.

Opening Event: ‘Palpable Layers’ opens on Sat 21st Jan from 2-4PM at Depot Artspace, 28 Clarence St, Devonport. All Welcome. The exhibition runs until 31st Jan.

About Depot Artspace:

Based in Devonport since 1996, Depot is a unique arts organisation and ecosystem founded on the belief that nurturing creativity is essential to all of our lives and the future. Our goal is to ensure that art and creativity make a vital contribution to our culture, our communities and our economy. We support independent artists and arts organisations to connect, converse, collaborate, grow, learn and succeed. Depot Artspace now runs a curated gallery programme, with a call for proposals going out once a year.

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