yonel watene
PAULNACHE
yonel watene Five Years This show, Five Years, is named after a David Bowie song, also called Five Years. It’s all to do with closing the curtains on the last five years and ushering in the next. It’s a cycle, a beginning and an end. Saying goodbye is the hardest thing to do, but everything must come to an end. Everything. That’s life. That’s Five Years Pushing News had News guy Cried so
through the market square, so many mothers sighing just come over, we had five years left to cry in wept and told us, earth was really dying much his face was wet, then I knew he was not lying
– Lyrical excerpt from ‘Five Years’ by David Bowie
List of works Large works: «Untitled Wild Style painting (Five Years)», 2018, Treated denim, approx. 370 × 370cm, $9000 «Untitled Wild Style painting (Llover) Series», 2018, Treated denim, 120 × 160cm ea, $5500 «Untitled Wild Style painting (Lágrimas) Series», 2018, Treated denim, 120 × 160cm ea, $5500 Photography: «San Pedro La Laguna Portfolio», 2013, printed 2018, 35mm photographs, silver halide print on metallic paper, 30.4 × 45.7cm (12 × 18”) unframed, 40 × 50cm framed, edition of 3 + 2 AP, Photographs taken in San Pedro La Laguna on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, $3500 (set of 6) «Not yet titled», 2018, photographed and printed unique, 35mm photograph, silver halide print on metallic paper, 152.4 × 76.2cm (60 × 30”) unframed, 170 × 95cm framed, $1800 «POOL» (diptych), 2017, printed 2018, 35mm photographs, silver halide prints on metallic paper, 33.8 × 50.8cm ea. (13.3 × 20”) unframed, 45.6 × 60.8cm ea. framed, edition of 5, no AP, Photographs taken in Finca Las Margaritas, Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico, $1200 (pair) Video: «Llaves a Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead Yves (telekinetic Skype)», 2017, HD video, sound colour, 7 minutes 17 seconds, edition of 3 + 2 AP, Filmed in Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico, on Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), November 1, 2017, $550
Biography Yonel Watene was born 1989 in Auckland, New Zealand, of Māori (Ngati Maru (Hauraki)) and Greek descent. Watene studied fine art and economics at Auckland University of Technology, graduating in 2010. Watene works across a range of mediums and is primarily known for his paintings although he is becoming increasingly well known for his film photography, sculpture and installation projects. Since 2016, by working through a variety of new media that grew to include photography and object-making, Watene created a diverse oeuvre that, while being inherently complex, is strategically invested in modern cultures, art historic traditions and autobiographic material, all of which are important to the artist. His investment into cultural commodities helps consolidate a diverse visual vocabulary that is equally prolific as it is strategic. Watene has work in the Wallace Arts Trust Collection, Hocken Collection, Jan Warburton Trust, and various private collections throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, Spain, USA, Mexico, Australia, China and England. Recent exhibitions include ‘Five Years’ (solo), PAULNACHE, Gisborne, June 2018; ‘How to say something in fewer words: Object without Object’ (group), play_station, Wellington, June 2018; ‘For a moment, maybe six weeks or so, no one knew how to make a painting’ (solo), Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville, ft. Olga Krause (performance), April 2018; ‘The Spirit’ (solo), PAULNACHE, Gisborne, December 2017; ‘rugby ball’ (solo), Casa Lu, Mexico City, Mexico, October 2017; ‘Anything Could Happen’ (group), Yu Gallery, Yu Yuan Garden, Shanghai, China, September 2017. Recent upcoming exhibitions include ‘Watene Ah Firstdraft in Sydney, Australia in August 2018. Yonel Watene is represented by PAULNACHE.
Um’
which
opens
at
PAULNACHE Upstairs 89 Grey Street Gisborne 4010 New Zealand now@paulnache.com +64 6 867 9721 Matthew Nache Director +64 27 473 6245
Five Years PAULNACHE http://www.paulnache.com Yonel Watene https://www.yonelwatene.com
Acknowledgements Text: © the artist Design: Matt Nache Print: LIVE Creative (100% recycled stock) Photography: Thomas Teutenberg Project: Five Years @PAULNACHE Cover & back: «POOL» (diptych) Spread: «Untitled Wild Style painting (Llover) Series» and «Untitled Wild Style painting (Lágrimas) Series»