ANDY LELEISI'UAO

Andy Leleisi’uao

Polyneitus Spring

26 May - 20 June 2012

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Milford Galleries Dunedin 18 Dowling Street (03) 477 7727 info@milfordhouse.co.nz

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Polyneitus Spring Parts I - XV (2012) 15 works, acry

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ylic on canvas, stretchers: 505 x 405 x 35 mm each

1. Polyneitus Spring Part I (2012)

2. Polyneitus Spring Part II (2012)

3. Polyneitus Spring Part III (2012)

4. Polyneitus Spring Part IV (2012)

5. Polyneitus Spring Part V (2012)

6. Polyneitus Spring Part VI (2012)

7. Polyneitus Spring Part VII (2012)

8. Polyneitus Spring Part VIII (2012)

9. Polyneitus Spring Part IX (2012)

10. Polyneitus Spring Part X (2012)

11. Polyneitus Spring Part XI (2012)

12. Polyneitus Spring Part XII (2012)

13. Polyneitus Spring Part XIII (2012)

14. Polyneitus Spring Part XIV (2012)

15. Polyneitus Spring Part XV (2012)

Untitled Drawings (2012) 23 works, graphite & wa

atercolour on paper, sheets: 209 x 293 mm each

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

Polyneitus Spring Parts I – XV (2012) 2,500 each

Untitled Drawings (2012) unframed 300 each framed 425 each All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

‘Polyneitus Spring’ is a series of tales told in Andy Leleisi’uao’s distinctive visual language. Reminiscent of pre-literate civilisations that used glyphs and pictograms to portray their stories, Leleisi’uao creates a powerful and complex narrative stream for his own invented world.

Motifs of hands, bones and profiled faces are common threads that have run through Leleisi’uao’s oeuvre over the last 4-5 years. The recognisable, human nature of these motifs evokes a sense of community with his painted beings, who toil and play and live as we do. The repetition of the images over time contributes to the feeling of a chronological continuum within his works – layers of histories built upon one another, speaking of universal struggle and endeavour.

The ‘helping hands’ in ‘Polyneitus Spring Part XIII’ (2012) dispense blessings from on high, while the large figures below also seem to perform their own benedictions over a tiny entrapped individual. Are they rulers or gods or giants? The three central figures sit companionably, watching on from their bone-perch and other individuals continue with their allotted tasks, linked together in a mysterious common purpose.

Leleisi’uao’s use of black for his beings concentrates the gaze on their actions and the energy they possess; far from mindless toil, they move with volition to achieve a communal goal. The tiny beings floating and flying amongst rainbow spots further emphasise this energy. In the earth below lie unformed creatures whose stories are yet to be told and they remain dormant – for now.

On one level, the division of the canvas into three sections is a clear allusion to mythological tropes of the heavens, the world of men and the underworld, but Andy Leleisi’uao goes further than this by creating a world that ‘scrutinizes the humanscape of individuality in society through a stream of enigmatic imagery. It is Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights transplanted.’(1) His vision resonates with us by tapping into our own humanity and the histories that underlie it.

1. Yazmany Arboleda. The Huffington Post, 28 April 2010

ANDY LELEISI’UAO b. 1969, 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.

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

Andy Leleisi’uao 2012 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 2012 2011

2010

2009

2008 2007 2006

2004 2003 2002 2001

2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995

Polyneitus Spring, Milford Galleries Dunedin Op City, Whitespace, Auckland World of Lemeads, ROAR! Gallery, Wellington 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

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2012

2011

Drawing the Line, Whitespace, Auckland Not for Entertainment, Whitespace, Auckland NZ Adam Portraiture Award and Exhibition Tree House McCahon Residency, Titirangi, Auckland Wonderland, Chambers, Christchurch Tenei a Wairoa, Uxbridge Centre, Auckland

Andy Leleisi’uao 2012 CV P a g e |2

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006 2004 2003

2002

2001 2000

1999 1998

1997

Drawing Show, Papergraphica, Central Christchurch Salon des Refuses, The Pah, Hillsborough, Auckland 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 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 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 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 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 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

Andy Leleisi’uao 2012 CV P a g e |3

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

1996

1995 1985

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 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 2013 2012 2011 2010

2009

2008 2006 2004 2002 2001

2000 1999 1998

1997 1996 1995 1994

Artist in Residence, Bridge Guard, Slovakia Artist in Residence, Uni-tech, Auckland 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 Andy Leleisi’uao 2012 CV P a g e |4

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011

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‘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> 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 2012 CV P a g e |5

Milford Galleries Dunedin

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz