ANDY LELEISI'UAO

Andy Leleisi’uao CHARLOTTE HANDY

The World of Erodipolis heaphy’s garden 28th May - 22nd June 2011

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Milford Galleries Dunedin 18 Dowling Street

(03) 477 7727

info@milfordhouse.co.nz

ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Phe

elantis Parts I - V (2011)

1. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Phelantis Part I (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 405 x 33 mm

2. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Phelantis Part II (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 507 x 404 x 33 mm

3. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Phelantis Part III (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 33 mm

4. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Phelantis Part IV (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 33 mm

5. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Phelantis Part V (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 404 x 33 mm

ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Erod

dipolis Parts I - V (2011)

6. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Erodipolis Part I (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 403 x 33 mm

7. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Erodipolis Part II (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 504 x 403 x 33 mm

8. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Erodipolis Part III (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 403 x 33 mm

9. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Erodipolis Part IV (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 33 mm

10. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Erodipolis Part V (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 404 x 33 mm

ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Crem

morus Parts I - V (2011)

11. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Cremorus Part I (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 35 mm

12. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Cremorus Part II (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 404 x 35 mm

13. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Cremorus Part III (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 35 mm

14. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Cremorus Part IV (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 35 mm

15. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Cremorus Part V (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 403 x 35 mm

ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Oac

carus Parts I - V (2011)

16. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Oacarus Part I (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 403 x 35 mm

17. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Oacarus Part II (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 35 mm

18. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Oacarus Part III (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 506 x 404 x 35 mm

19. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Oacarus Part IV (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 404 x 35 mm

20. ANDY LELEISI'UAO, Oacarus Part V (2011) acrylic on canvas, stretcher (v x h x d): 505 x 404 x 35 mm

Andy Leleisi’uao is unmistakably one of the most distinctive voices emerging in NZ art. His works are masterfully choreographed, epic in scale and have a calligraphic quality that unites the primitive power of hieroglyphs with the ambiguous character and social narrative of contemporary cartoon.

A “vast number of references and readings” (1) abound in every work and yet for all of the structural and narrative complexity, the presentation of perpetual endeavour and humanistic dynamism, each work also attains visual simplicity and remarkable sophistication. Leleisi’uao is engaged in an interior monologue – dream, myth, metaphor, domestic circumstance – in which identity is revealed as being “both fragmented and sequential.” (2) How does one read or experience a Leleisi’uao painting? Some works (the “Oacarus” series) have a multi-linear narrative and sequential composition. Others (such as the “Erodipolis” series) establish vertically-sliced pictorial tableaux of mythic underwater life and environmental discourse. Cultural interplay, corrupt behaviour, silhouetted figures – half-human, half-animal – ghosts and spirits act out scenes of salvation or damnation.

Moral and spiritual conflict arise, limbs become aspirational symbols and the tools of drama (the “Cremorus” series). Amongst all of this, a plurality of character with overlays of illusion and allusion mix the messages up so that images of struggle emerge which are individual and internalised whilst also indisputably universal in theme.

Stylistically Leleisi’uao has mastered a striking tonal and spatial dualism, building a calligraphic quality by limiting his palette, eschewing volume completely and using the narrative power of silhouette as a fundamental device yet when introducing colour using this intuitively and suggestively and in this way bringing the viewer to witness the troubled world of a rainbow people.

The “Oacarus” series enters the domestic world of our homes and a parade of the mundane begins as a creation story. We are what we do and how we live. Leleisi’uao’s pictorial virtuosity is equally evident in the “Phelantis” series where the weighting of the composition is more fragmented and diagonal with abrupt alterations of scale reminiscent of rock cave drawings. The atavistic and bestial cohabitate yet these are about now and us. No painting by this remarkable artist can be limited by explanation or interpreted solely by feel or knowledge or experience. Yes the works are ultimately enigmatic but there are answers everywhere if one starts to ask questions and pays attention to the constancy of what is revealed in the process and how powerfully this is done.

1. Jamie Hanton, “Tension of Contrasts” Christchurch Press, August 6, 2010 2. David Khan, COCA Gallery, July 6, 2011

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

1-5

Phelantis Part I - V (2011)

2,500 each

6 - 10

Erodipolis Part I - V (2011)

2,500 each

11 - 15

Cremorus Part I - V (2011)

2,500 each

16 - 20

Oacarus Part I - V (2011)

2,500 each

All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

ANDY LELEISI’UAO lives Auckland

Pa'ceania Part 1 - II (2011)

“Leleisi’uao began his artistic career as a widely celebrated social commentator on Samoans living in New Zealand; his paintings controversially exploring issues associated the Samoan diaspora. As he has developed his style, he has begun to both internalize and universalize these themes, exploring fantastical worlds and opening his art to a global audience.”(1) “‘His work has always been confronting and controversial with a strong social concern to it providing a window to the realities of life for Pacific people and particularly Samoan living in New Zealand. They suffer the problems of the migrant worker and the social dislocation which creates social problems for many. But he also highlights the issues of family violence and the oppressive and destructive roles of the churches in Pacific communities. At times his work was raw and obvious, a screaming at injustices that he saw. In these more recent works though the voice is more moderated and rather than a Pacific voice the works have a more universal theme of social and moral dysfunction and alienation.” (2) “Leleisi'uao's extraordinary art, which collides with the realities of fa'a Samoa in the 21st century rather than dwelling among the lingering sundrenched images of Polynesia… deals head- on with these processes and effects but on a truly epic scale, with huge canvases which take us on a journey filled with confrontation, rich imagery and uncomfortable truths. What emerges from this Auckland-born artist's imagination is a potent reflection of a cultural interplay as restless and ever-changing as the Pacific Ocean itself.” (3) Andy Leleisi’uao lives in Auckland. In 2000 he was the first recipient of AUT School of Art and Design Pasifika Scholarship and gained a Master of Fine Arts with honours in 2002. He has received a number of residencies including the Research Scholarship, at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury in 2008, Artist in Residence, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands in 2009 and Artist in Residence, McCahon House, Titirangi, Auckland in 2010. He has exhibited throughout in New Zealand and has been involved in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Rarotonga, Germany, Taiwan, and the USA. His work is included in the permanent collections of Pataka Museum and Art Gallery, Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Chartwell Collection, and the Wallace Arts Trust collection.

1.

2.

3.

Kate Nicholson, ‘Art Rader Asia’, 2010 John Daly-Peoples, ‘National Business Review’, 2009 Christopher Moore, ‘The Press’, 2010

Andy Leleisi’uao 2011 CV P a g e |1

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

ANDY LELEISI’UAO lives Auckland EDUCATION 2002

MA in Art and Design, First Class Honours, AUT, Auckland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2011

2010

2009

2008 2007 2006

2004 2003 2002 2001

2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995

The World of Erodipolis, Milford Galleries Dunedin Arytipidal, Blue Oyster, Dunedin Ufological City, VOLTA, New York, USA Cryptid Illuminati, Whitespace, Auckland Wandering Through Pandemonium Quiet, COCA Gallery, Christchurch Andy Leleisi’uao, Thistle Hall, Wellington Carousel of Cryptid Abanimals, Whitespace, Auckland Asefeka of the Unmalosa, Kips Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA Areatures of the Arctaur People, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Le Onoeva - Misunderstood Aitu, Whitespace, Auckland Andy Leleisi'uao, McCarthy Gallery, Auckland Angipanis of the Abanimal People, Whitespace, Auckland Lost Kamoans of the Godly and Godless, Whitespace, Auckland The Ballad of a Cheeky Darkie, Te Tuhi - The Mark, Pakuranga, Auckland Catch a Sparkling Spirit, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch I Need to See Alien, Whitespace, Auckland Empowered Wallflower, Whitespace, Auckland We're Not Black (with I. Nikalo), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Cheeky Darkie, Whitespace, Auckland The Ballad of Tinou'amea and Pepe, Whitespace, Auckland Dressed to Kill (with J.Ioane), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Tribute to W Samoa (with N.Lela'ulu), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch The Umu Collection of Titles, Whitespace, Auckland Minoi, Minoi Mai, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch My Samoan Accent, Artstation Gallery, Ponsonby, Auckland The Brown Corner, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Seta Blue, Mangere People's Centre, Mangere, Manukau Tired of Silence, Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, Wellington Polynesian Grotesques, Muka Studio, Ponsonby, Auckland Crashed Presbyterian, Te Taumata Art Gallery, Auckland Patterns of My Lavalava, Ilam University, Christchurch Furious (with G. Hookey), Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia The Brownest Dawn, The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland Selected Works, Pakuranga Cultural Centre, Pakuranga, Manukau Waking Up To My Polynesian Spine, Aotea Centre, Auckland Selected Works, Aotea Centre, Auckland Central, Auckland Selected Works, Manurewa Nathan Homestead, Manukau Selected Works, Papatoetoe Library, Manukau Early Escapades, Mangere Community Arts Centre, Manukau

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2011 2010

CURRENT, October Gallery, London, England Pacific Currents, Waiheke Community Art Gallery, Auckland Team McMillan BMW Bonnet Awards, Newmarket, Auckland Living Doll, Quiqcorp, Central Christchurch Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art, COCA, Christchurch Aids Awareness, Bone and Art Gallery, Central Christchurch Manuia, Native American Community House, New York, USA TAV Air Group Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan

Andy Leleisi’uao 2011 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2009

2008

2007

2006 2005 2004 2003

2002

2001 2000

1999 1998

1997

1996

My True Love Gave To Me…, Whitespace, Ponsonby, Auckland ROAR! Mince Pies, ROAR! Gallery, Wellington Art Asia/Scope International Contemporary Art, Chelsea, New York, USA Travelling Exhibition, New Dowse Museum, Lower Hutt, Wellington James Wallace Awards Selected Finalists, BNZ Gallery, Aotea Square, Auckland Queer Takes, Quiqcorp Gallery, Central Christchurch Take 40, Fresh Gallery, Otara, Auckland Anon Drawings No 9 show, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Bethanien, Berlin, Germany Axis, Selected Works from MCC Art Collection, Manukau City Le Folauga 2, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan Bite Me!, Our City O-Tautahi, Central Christchurch Samoa Contemporary, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga James Wallace Awards Selected Finalists, Aotea Square, The Edge, Auckland Samoa Contemporary, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui The Works, Gallery De Novo, Dunedin Anthony Harper Award for Contemporary Art, COCA, Christchurch Artists for Save our Water, NG Gallery, Christchurch The Artist Room, Whitespace, Auckland Samoa Contemporary, Pataka, Museum of Arts and Cultures, Wellington Dateline Returns, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Palmerston North Political World, Whitespace, Auckland Los Angeles Art Show with Whitespace, Los Angeles, USA Date Line, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany Scriptures from the West, Beachcomber Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Life According to Art, Waikato Museum, Hamilton Le Foulaga, The Past Coming Forward, Auckland Museum, Auckland Relations Indigenous Dialogue Exhibition, IAIA Museum Santa Fe, New Mexico Works on Paper, COCA, Christchurch Central, Christchurch Inaugural Auckland Art Fair with Whitespace, Britomart Events Pavilion, Auckland Weird Names for Girls, Platform01, Hamilton Another Day in Paradise, The Den, Auckland Central, Auckland Six Pacific Artists, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch 20/20 Sight Spacific, COCA, Christchurch Central, Christchurch Pacific Notions, Whitespace, Auckland Tasina Studios, Whenuapai, Auckland Pacific Notions, Rozelle, Sydney, Australia Pacific Notions, Columbia, New York, USA Cross Currents, Lane Gallery, Auckland South Pacific, Waiheke Island, Auckland Out of the Blue, Hawkes Bay, Hastings Sway, MA Group Show, AUT, Auckland Go Home You Deserve To Die Samoa, AUT, Auckland Island Crossings, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia As Is/Where Is, Mangere Arts Centre, Mangere, Auckland A Sea Change, Olympic Arts Festival, Sydney, Australia Fireworks, Aotea Centre, Auckland Central, Auckland Testing Traditions, Aotea Centre, Auckland Central, Auckland Group Showing, Kamo Cafe, Auckland Central, Auckland Out of the Blue, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Tautai Exhibition, Outreach Centre, Howick, Manukau Romance of the Mask, Uxbridge Centre, Howick, Manukau Searching, The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland From Here to There, Manukau City Chambers, Manukau Dots on the Blue, Pakuranga Cultural Centre, Auckland Tokoroa Art Awards, Tokoroa, Waikato The Seventh Pacific Festival of Arts, Apia, Samoa Mangere Bridge Art Exhibition, Mangere Bridge, Auckland

Andy Leleisi’uao 2011 CV P a g e |3

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1995 1985

The Pumphouse Art Awards, Takapuna, Auckland.

Pacific Dragons, Uxbridge Centre, Howick, Manukau Pasifika with Tautai Trust, Western Springs, Auckland Beyond the Mask, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland The Pumphouse Awards, Takapuna, Auckland Auckland Star Secondary Schools Exhibitions, Auckland

SELECTED AWARDS 2012 2011 2010

2009

2008 2006 2004 2002 2001

2000 1999 1998

1997 1996 1995 1994

Artist in Residence, Bridge Guard, Slovakia Funding from Creative New Zealand towards group exhibition in London, England Wallace Arts Trust funding towards solo exhibition, New York, USA Artist in Residence, McCahon House, Titirangi, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand to travel within Taiwan and to Hong Kong.

Artist in Residence, Taipei Artist Village, Taiwan Artist in Residence, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Kips Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA Funding from Creative New Zealand towards Le Onoeva - Misunderstood Aitu catalogue Research Scholarship, Macmillan Brown Centre, Ilam University, Canterbury Charles Southwell Award, NZ Association of Rationalists and Humanists (INC) Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Whitespace, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Whitespace, Auckland MA in Art and Design, First Class Honours, AUT, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Salamander Gallery, Christchurch Powhiri opening for Seta Blue and mural, Mangere People's Centre, Manukau Recipient of the James Wallace Postgraduate Exhibiting Scholarship Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Dowse Museum, Wellington First recipient of AUT School of Art and Design Pasifika Scholarship Artist in Residence, Macmillan Brown Centre, Ilam University, Canterbury First recipient of Martin Hughes Interior Architects Travel Grant Artist in Residence, Casula Powerhouse, Liverpool, Sydney Australia Funding from the Australian Arts Council for a Residency in Sydney Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Pumphouse Gallery, Auckland Certificate of Appreciation from Mayor of Manukau for supporting local arts Funding from Creative New Zealand to travel to the Sixth Festival of Arts in Samoa Merit Award, Pumphouse Art Awards, Pumphouse Gallery, Auckland Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Mangere Arts Centre, Manukau Artist in Residence, Mangere Community Arts Centre, Mangere

COLLECTIONS Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tamaki Collection Auckland University Collection Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia Chartwell Trust Collection Leo Benenson Collection Museum of Ethnography, Frankfurt, Germany Ilam University Collection, Canterbury James Wallace Trust Collection Manukau City Collection Pacific Business Trust, Otahuhu, Auckland Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, Wellington Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011

‘Offbeat Discoveries and an Easygoing Vibe Give Volta a Positive Charge.’, www.artinfo.com, 2011 <https://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37153/offbeat-discoveries-andaneasygoing-vibe-give-volta-a-positive-charge/?page=1>

Andy Leleisi’uao 2011 CV P a g e |4

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2010

2009

2008 2006 2005 2004 2003

2002

2001 1999

Moore, Christopher. The Press, July 17, 2010 Khan, David. COCA Galley, July 6, 2010 Arboleda, Yazmany. The Huffington Post, April 28, 2010 Nicholson, Kate. Art Rader Asia, April 12, 2010 Daly Peoples, John. National Business Review, April 12, 2010 The Malo Conversations. Blackmail Press, Number 26, New Zealand Poets Online Mine, Kamoan with K. Higgins. Space Between Journal, Hawai’i Leleisi’uao, Andy, Captain Kirk in the South Pacific. Art News, Summer, pg 72 Brownson, Ron and Dr. P. Zeplin. Andy Leleisi’uao, Essays, Whitespace, Auckland Akersten, Matt. Gaynewzealand.com, May 22, 2009 McNamara, T.J. The New Zealand Herald, April 11, 2009 Daly Peoples, John. National Business Review, 3 April, 2009 Submission in FIKA, Pasefika Writers Group, Christchurch The New Zealand Herald May 01, 2008 - T. J. McNamara: Coley, John. The Press, March 22, 2006 Watson, Aron. ART ZONE, No.9, 2005 Stevenson, Dr. Karen (Senior Lecturer in the School of Fine Arts). University of Canterbury No.1, Dunn, Michael. New Zealand Painting, A Concise History, 2003 ISBN 1869402979, 9781869402976 Brownson, Ron. Pacific Art Association Conference, Against the Grain: Counter-Images of Urban Pacific Identity, 2003 Caroline Vercoe (MA, Auckland University Senior Lecturer). Pacific Art Association Conference, Against the Grain: Counter-Images of Urban Pacific Identity (edited version), 2003 (ed.) Sean Mallon and Pandora Fulimalo Pereira, Pacific Art Niu Sila, The Pacific Dimension of Contemporary New Zealand Arts, 2002 Mellon, Sean. Samoan Art and Artists, O Measina a Samoa, 2002 Fitzgerald, Michael. TIME, April 8, 2002 Hynes, Victoria. The Sydney Morning Herald, March 22, 2002 Mallon, Sean. ART ASIA PACIFIC, Issue Number 31, 2001 Wong, Gilbert. The New Zealand Herald, February 19, 2001 The Chronicle, Thursday August 19, 1999 The Press, August 18, 1999 Johnstone, Jocelyn. The Christchurch Star, June 30, 1999 Community Arts Express, New South Wales, December, 1998 Brownson, Ron. Art New Zealand, Number 87, Winter, 1998 A Sea Change, The Sydney Morning Herald,1998 Gregg, Stacy. Sunday Star Times, July 5, 1998 Hansby, Bill. Manukau Courier, April 2, 1998 Carroll, Penelope. The New Zealand Herald, September 29, 1997 Manukau Courier, September 25, 1997 Page, Maud. ART ASIA PACIFIC, Issue Number 14, 1997 Rae, Bernadette, The New Zealand Herald, June 14, 1995

Erodipolis Part 1 – V (2011)

Andy Leleisi’uao 2011 CV P a g e |5

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz