ANDY LELEISI'UAO

Atmosphere People - Part I (2014)

acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1522 x 762 x 33 mm

Atmosphere People - Part II (2014) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1521 x 763 x 33 mm

Atmosphere People of Masina (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1015 x 760 x 36 mm

Atmosphere People of Lano (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1019 x 759 x 39 mm

Atmosphere People of La (2015)

acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1023 x 774 x 41 mm

Atmosphere People of Mauga (2015)

acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1017 x 760 x 34 mm

Atmosphere People of Fetuao (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1021 x 763 x 41 mm

Atmosphere People of Vao (2015) acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1015 x 761 x 33 mm

Atmosphere People of Moana (2015)

acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 1012 x 760 x 36 mm

The paintings of Atmosphere People of Moana show a rainbow world through which Andy Leleisi’uao continues to explore the structures of community. Dozens of stories are played out on each canvas as the “atmosphere people” play, work, and rest together. Each singular moment contributes to the meta-narrative of social cohesion and communality, which binds the paintings of this exhibition together and establishes their place within Leleisi’uao’s larger oeuvre.

The dynamics of communal existence has been a long-standing thematic strand underpinning Andy Leleisi’uao’s practice. The inhabitants of his canvases are working towards a superordinate goal, to which the viewer is not yet privy. Leleisi’uao embeds messages within each painting using a symbolic language of form and motif and he issues an invitation to decipher them but does not provide a Rosetta Stone to assist with this task. This results in an intimate relation between viewer and work, as each bone, hand, or hidden face takes on a personal signification. The viewer enters into a hidden contract with the artist and is complicit in the creation and re-creation of the work each time it is viewed.

Andy Leleisi’uao has always played with scale to disrupt visual conventions and his painted figures do not comply with standard ideas of depth; they may be simultaneously large and distant, or small and nearby. Reflecting concepts of embracing and respecting difference within social continuities, the individuals Leleisi’uao paints subvert traditional concepts of dominance or subordination. They operate within a holistic system on mutual

interdependence, irrespective of size or prominence. Like the chess or jigsaw pieces they juggle, each being has a place in the world.

The horizontal layering seen in many of Leleisi’uao’s earlier works has been modified in Atmosphere People of Moana; it operates in these works as a perspectival as well as a framing device. The angular mountain forms and suggested horizons create strong spatial boundaries that increase the depth of the picture plane. From the tree-line at the foot of the mountains a plain spills forth that serves as a stage upon which the activities of the people take place. The two-dimensionality of the mountains suggest the sliding set backdrops of the theatre, as do the giant origami bird-forms, whose geometries mimic those of the mountains behind, but whose struts and trusses reveal their deliberate construction. Flattened and shallow, the picture plane/plain reinforces the proximity of each individual to one another and the subtle relationships that knit them together.

The bold colours Leleisi’uao has chosen contribute to the theatricality and celebratory nature of the scenes. The contrast of hue, line and shape enhances the dynamic energy of each painting as the eye is drawn first to one scene and then another. The weightless jellyfish floating over and above the stage in Atmosphere People of Lano show how the artist deftly combines organic and geometric forms to build an internal narrative structure within each painting. Their trailing tentacles subtly direct the gaze to the clear blue of the central pool, which acts as a visual foil for the towering, rainbowtopped peaks beyond. Through this act of looking, the viewer is implicated in the communal ritual of the inhabitants as they gather on the shore.

Andy Leleisi’uao has created a theatre of community on his canvases and the Atmosphere People of Moana embodies notions of mutual respect, collective endeavour, and creative energy. Drawing upon a complex language of metaphor and sign, Andy Leleisi’uao’s paintings are rich with personalised narratives that are within reach of every individual who takes time to unravel them.

EXHIBITION PRICELIST

ANDY LELEISI’UAO

b. 1969, lives Auckland

AndyLeleisi’uao:Pa'ceaniaPart1-II(2011)

Drawing together threads from such disparate sources as Stone Age rock art, classical Greek vase painting, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Samoan siapa cloth, Andy Leleisi’uao speaks with a distinctive visual language.

His layered worlds suggest multiple mythologies and show a community populated by rainbow-headed people and Bosch-like beasts. More akin to a hive than a hierarchy, the industrious beings who people Leleisi’uao’s canvases are linked in an undefined common purpose: groups work together carrying and lifting, individuals sit in thought or prayer, or spring and soar with a sense of joy. The world they inhabit is ‘multi-storied’ in both the figurative and narrative sense.

Leleisi’uao often paints in series and seen together, the paintings may be viewed as an extended narrative; taken individually, each painting provides an intimate view of a world that is at once alien and very familiar. Recurring motifs throughout the works provide visual touchstones for viewers and remind us of the inherent humanity of his creatures, and the universality of their struggle and endeavour within a limited existence.

Andy Leleisi’uao lives in Auckland and in 2000 he was the first recipient of AUT School of Art and Design Pasifika Scholarship, gaining a Master of Fine Arts with Honours in 2002. Residencies within New Zealand include a Research Scholarship, at the University of Canterbury’s Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies and the McCahon House Artists’ Residency; international residencies have taken him to Rarotonga, Taiwan, and, most recently, Bridge Guard in Slovakia (2013).

Leleisi’uao has exhibited throughout New Zealand and has been involved in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Rarotonga, Germany, Taiwan, and the United States of America. His work is included in the permanent collections of Pataka Museum and Art Gallery, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the Auckland Art Gallery, the Chartwell Collection, and the James Wallace Arts Trust collection.

AndyLeleisi’uao2015CV

ANDY LELEISI’UAO

b. 1969, lives Auckland

EDUCATION

2002 MA in Art and Design, First Class Honours, AUT, Auckland

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015 Atmosphere People of Moana, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2014

Waking up to the Oculus People, milford galleries queenstown

The Crucifixion Series, Chambers 241 Gallery, Christchurch

2013 World of Trylapid, BCA Gallery, Rarotonga

Rainbow You, Rainbow Me, Ezstergom, Hungary

Rubik Sunflowers of Sturovo, The Bridge Guard Artist in Residence, Sturovo, Slovakia

The Choirs of Lupotea, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Le Tumau, Whitespace, Auckland

Episades of Pino'nati, Auckland Art Fair, Auckland

2012 The Quixotic Cruxifiction of Iesu, Whitespace, Auckland

Dandelion People, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Quasimodo Love, PaperGraphica, Christchurch

Polyneitus Spring, Milford Galleries Dunedin

Imaginary Park, Snowhite Gallery, Unitech, Auckland

Olaga People, Cosset Café, Auckland

Immigrant Mind, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland

2011 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

2010 Cryptid Illuminati, Whitespace, Auckland

Wandering Through Pandemonium Quiet, CoCA Gallery, Christchurch

Andy Leleisi’uao, Thistle Hall, Wellington

Carousel of Cryptid Abanimals, Whitespace, Auckland

Andy Leleisi'uao, McCahon House, Titirangi, Auckland

Andy Leleisi'uao, Taipei, Taiwan.

2009 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

2008 Andy Leleisi'uao, McCarthy Gallery, Auckland

Angipanis of the Abanimal People, Whitespace, Auckland

2007 Lost Kamoans of the Godly and Godless, Whitespace, Auckland

2006 The Ballad of a Cheeky Darkie, Te Tuhi, Pakuranga, Auckland

Catch a Sparkling Spirit, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

I Need to See Alien, Whitespace, Auckland

Empowered Wallflower, Whitespace, Auckland

2005 We're Not Black (with I. Nikalo), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

Cheeky Darkie, Whitespace, Auckland

2004 The Ballad of Tinou'amea and Pepe, Whitespace, Auckland

Dressed to Kill (with J.Ioane), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

2003 Tribute to W Samoa (with N.Lela'ulu), Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

The Umu Collection of Titles, Whitespace, Auckland

2002 Minoi, Minoi Mai, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

2001 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

2000 Polynesian Grotesques, Muka Studio, Ponsonby, Auckland

Crashed Presbyterian, Te Taumata Art Gallery, Auckland

1999 Patterns of My Lavalava, School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Christchurch

1998 Furious (with G. Hookey), Casula Powerhouse, Sydney, Australia

The Brownest Dawn, The Pumphouse, Takapuna, Auckland

1997 Selected Works, Pakuranga Cultural Centre, Manukau

Waking Up To My Polynesian Spine, Aotea Centre, Auckland

1996 Selected Works, Aotea Centre, Auckland

1995 Selected Works, Manurewa Nathan Homestead, Auckland

Selected Works, Papatoetoe Library, Manukau, Auckland

Early Escapades, Mangere Community Arts Centre, Manukau, Auckland

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014 The Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown

2013 The Review, milford galleries queenstown

New Works Group Show, Milford Galleries Dunedin

2012 Drawing the Line, Whitespace, Auckland

Not for Entertainment, Whitespace, Auckland

NZ Adam Portraiture Award and Exhibition

Chosen, milford galleries queenstown

2011 Tree House McCahon Residency, Titirangi, Auckland Wonderland, Chambers, Christchurch

Tenei a Wairoa, Uxbridge Centre, Auckland

Drawing Show, Papergraphica, Christchurch

Salon des Refuses, The Pah, Hillsborough, Auckland

CURRENT, October Gallery, London, England

Pacific Currents, Waiheke Community Art Gallery, Auckland

2010 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, Christchurch

Manuia, Native American Community House, New York, USA

TAV Air Group Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan

2009 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

2008 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, 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

2007 Date Line, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany

Scriptures from the West, Beachcomber Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Life According to Art, Waikato Museum, Hamilton

AndyLeleisi’uao2015CV

Le Foulaga, The Past Coming Forward, Auckland Museum, Auckland

2006 Relations Indigenous Dialogue Exhibition, IAIA Museum Santa Fe, New Mexico

Works on Paper, COCA, Christchurch, Christchurch

2004 Weird Names for Girls, Platform, Hamilton

2003 Another Day in Paradise, The Den, Auckland

Six Pacific Artists, Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

20/20 Sight Spacific, COCA, Christchurch, Christchurch

Pacific Notions, Whitespace, Auckland

2002 Pacific Notions, Rozelle, Sydney, Australia

Pacific Notions, Columbia, New York, USA

Cross Currents, Lane Gallery, Auckland

South Pacific, Waiheke Island, Auckland

2001 Out of the Blue, Hawkes Bay, Hastings

2000 Sway, MA Group Show, AUT, Auckland

Go Home You Deserve To Die Samoa, AUT, Auckland

Island Crossings, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia

1999 As Is/Where Is, Mangere Arts Centre, Mangere, Auckland

1998 A Sea Change, Olympic Arts Festival, Sydney, Australia

Fireworks, Aotea Centre, Auckland Central, Auckland

Testing Traditions, Aotea Centre, Auckland Central, Auckland

1997 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

1996 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

1995 Beyond the Mask, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Auckland

1985 Auckland Star Secondary Schools Exhibitions, Auckland

SELECTED AWARDS

2013 Artist in Residence, Bridge Guard, Slovakia

2012 Artist in Residence, Uni-tech, Auckland

2011 Funding from Creative New Zealand towards group exhibition in London, England Wallace Arts Trust funding towards solo exhibition, New York, USA

2010 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

2009 Artist in Residence, BCA, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

2008

Funding from Creative NZ 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, University of Canterbury

2006 Charles Southwell Award, NZ Association of Rationalists and Humanists (INC)

2004 Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Whitespace, Auckland

Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Whitespace, Auckland

2002 MA in Art and Design, First Class Honours, AUT, Auckland

2001 Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Salamander Gallery, Christchurch

2000

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 Art Museum, Wellington

First recipient of AUT School of Art and Design Pasifika Scholarship

1999 Artist in Residence, Macmillan Brown Centre, University of Canterbury

1998 First recipient of Martin Hughes Interior Architects Travel Grant

1997

1996

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

1995 Merit Award, Pumphouse Art Awards, Pumphouse Gallery, Auckland

Funding from Creative New Zealand towards solo exhibition at Mangere Arts Centre, Manukau

1994 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-andan-easygoing-vibegive-volta-a-positive-charge/?page=1>

2010 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

2009 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

2008 Submission in FIKA, Pasefika Writers Group, Christchurch

The New Zealand Herald May 01, 2008 - T. J. McNamara

2006 Coley, John. The Press, March 22, 2006

2005 Watson, Aron. ART ZONE, No.9, 2005

2004 Stevenson, Dr. Karen (Senior Lecturer in the School of Fine Arts). University of Canterbury No.1

2003 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

2002 (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

2001 Mallon, Sean. ART ASIA PACIFIC, Issue Number 31, 2001

AndyLeleisi’uao2015CV

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

Wong, Gilbert. The New Zealand Herald, February 19, 2001

1999 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

AndyLeleisi’uao:OpacityPeoplePartI&II(2014)