ARTS & CULTURE

Artwork featured in 'Urban Exposure' titled 'Let's Grab A Drink'

RACHEL RUSH @ LIMN GALLERY

From 15 to 30 October Limn Gallery will present ‘Urban Exposure’, a series of mixed media works by Kiwi artist, ‘RUSH’ (Rachel Rush). ‘Urban Exposure’ aims to expose the rawness of graffiti, a suggestion of the grittiness of the street, and is aimed to disturb the correctness of city and society.

In the lead-up to Rush's upcoming solo show at Limn Gallery (119 Ponsonby Road) we sat down with Rachel to chat about the art, her inspiration, and plans for the future.

Can you describe the process of creating your work? It all starts with the development of a freestyle abstract colour creation with spray cans, then assigning them a personality and layering up the stencils. Once that process is complete, they move to a separate studio and have all the ‘sass’ added to them, then a layer of clear resin to make it all pop!

What is your inspiration behind your work? I have always been obsessed with the electric colour and vibe from street art around the world. I recently revisited DeGraves Street in Melbourne, and it’s that kind of space that I find absolutely captivating. I love using spray cans for their finish, coverage, colour and speed at being able to work my ideas out from my imagination. RUSH is all about capturing a segment of what you might imagine to be full scale mural on the street into a piece of art that you can have in your home, but maintaining the grit and energy from the street.

Artwork featured in 'Urban Exposure' titled 'Getting Up to Shady Shit'

Can you talk about any exciting components of your upcoming show? Between Limn Gallery and myself, we have come up with some pretty exciting elements that I’m super excited about getting my spray cans on! There will be several of these items unveiled during the show, and I’ll keep them a secret for now, but suffice to say I really want one myself! Working with Limn Gallery is just fantastic; they are as passionate about art as I am and have such a massive amount of energy and endless array of ideas.

What exciting plans do you have for the future of your work? Now that the world has opened up again, it’s time for us to take up the international opportunities that have been sitting on ice for the past two and a half years. We have been accepted into art fairs in Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore and Hong Kong, and I’m also very keen to get to Europe and New York. It’s time to fly again!

Located in the heart of Ponsonby Road, Limn Gallery is New Zealand’s largest and foremost urban and contemporary art gallery featuring close to 180 works by over 70 artists from Aotearoa and around the world. In between quarterly solo shows, ‘Sip & Spray’ workshops, and private events, Limn Gallery hosts ‘SKETCH’ - an evening that allows members of the public to sit alongside artists and draw, chat, and enjoy the food and beverages provided by gallery sponsors; BurgerFuel, Urbanaut Brewing Co, and JOIY Wine.

‘RUSH - Urban Exposure’ opens on Saturday 15 October.

LIMN GALLERY, 119 Ponsonby Road, contact@limngallery.co.nz, www.limngallery.co.nz

ARTS + CULTURE @ BERGMAN GALLERY

Raymond Sagapolutele Aua e te fefe / Don’t be afraid 24 September – 22 October

Timeless, reflective and futuristic, Raymond Sagapolutele’s new exhibition Aua e te fefe / Don't be afraid, delivers a powerful statement of identity and resilience within a confronting global circumstance. Sagapolutele’s skull / ancestor motifs take on a multidimensional purpose, preserving, revaluing and reformatting past knowledge and relationships with advances in photographic style and post production. They are sign posts, markers that link diasporic generations of Pacific Islanders to more informed notions of past and future.

Raymond Sagapolutele, Changes II, giclee matte print laminated and mounted on dibond aluminium, 420mm x 594mm, edition of 3 + 2 AP, 2022

Sylvia Marsters E Moemoea Naku, A Dream of Mine 29 October – 26 November

Opening Saturday 29 October @2pm, all welcome.

Sylvia Marsters - E Moemoea Naku, A Dream of Mine, brings the artist’s practice full circle as lush tropical hibiscus paintings are presented alongside her iconic gardenia canvases. For much of her youth, the artist was thrilled with tales of her father’s island in the Pacific, stories that ultimately became represented by the flora that she paints. Elements of realism blend with concepts of romanticism and perceptions of Pacific fantasy in these new compositions, structuring a sense of serenity and compelling attraction.

Instagram and Facebook @bergmangallery

BERGMAN GALLERY, 3/582 Karangahape Road (Entrance via 2 Newton Road), T: 021 024 614, E: benny@bergmangallery.com Open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5:30pm, www.bergmangallery.com

Brighter Days Radio Waves

MARILYN MURPHY @ OREXART

8 October – 29 October 2022

There is a peculiar logic in Murphy’s conjunction, one based on visual punning, a knowing exploitation of mid-century advertising for its sense of glamour, hope, and nostalgia.

The perfect antidote for these times, they are exquisitely drawn as to be almost photographic. Her dreamscapes play with the idyllic notions of an advertiser’s view of fashion, weather and domesticity. Thus, there remains ambiguity: Are they to be read as symbolically or literally present?

Marilyn Murphy lives in Whangarei and Nashville, where she taught as a professor of art at Vanderbilt University for 37 years. She has been awarded multiple grants and residencies and her work is in many public and private collections including the Kemper Collection, Huntsville Museum of Art, the Boston Museum School, and the Prudential and Bridgestone Collections. This is her first New Zealand show.  PN

OREXART, 221 Ponsonby Road, E: rex@orexart.co.nz www.orexart.co.nz

DRAMA PROGRAMMES TO IGNITE YOUR CHILD’S CREATIVITY!

Hit the Stage! these school holidays

Tim Bray Youth Theatre is offering their Hit the Stage! A five day holiday programme for children aged 7-9 at TAPAC in Western Springs 10-14 October (alternative North Shore programme is at The Rose Centre, Belmont, 3-7 October, ages 7-9 and 10-12).

During these five exciting days, under the direction of Tim Bray Youth Theatre creative team, young actors will devise, rehearse and perform their own unique theatrical creation, ready to ‘Hit the Stage!’ at the end of the week (5.30pm Friday - free performance).

Extraordinarily Creative drama classes at Te Oro in Glen Innes are for autistic and neurodivergent children and teens and allow students to grow and shine in their own time and space.

“It is such a wonderful opportunity for my grandson to experience drama in an inclusive, safe and fun way. He is so enjoying his time with the group at Extraordinarily Creative and just loves going every week. This is exactly what we've been searching for!” - C.S., grandparent of EC student, June 2022.

Weekly Drama Classes Term 4 for ages 5-16 begin the week starting 17 October at TAPAC. Enrolments are open now. Classes are also offered on the North Shore at three venues. These classes engage students’creativity, self-confidence and self-expression within a fun and supportive environment.

For more information: E: youth.theatre@timbray.org.nz timbray.org.nz/youth-theatre T: 09 486-2261

DRAMADRAMA WeeklyWeekly TIM BRAY

YOUTH THEATRE

Western Springs, Takapuna, Browns Bay 5–16 years Our tutors fire young imaginations and ignite the creative minds of tomorrow Western Springs A 5-day creative escape for ages 7-9 10-14 October

Glen Innes and North Shore 5–16yrs For autistic and neurodivergent youth to find their own voice and place

ART HOUSE TOUR

Purchase Art in some of the city’s most stunning locations; Art House Tour 2022 returns bigger and better.

Saturday 26 November sees the return of the biennial Auckland Grammar School Foundation Trust Art House Tour. This unique event offers visitors the opportunity to tour eight of Auckland’s finest homes and gardens within the Grammar zone while at the same time viewing a wide selection of art for sale.

The Art House Tour, in association with Barfoot & Thompson, is set to delight audiences with a number of award-winning local and international artists exhibiting alongside emerging young artists from Auckland Grammar School.

The event launches on the evening of Friday 25 November, with the opportunity to attend the student art exhibition in the Heritage Room of the School’s Library. The main event, the Auckland Grammar School Foundation Trust Art House Tour, takes place between 10am-4pm on Saturday 26 November.

The Art House Tour provides attendees with a gallery viewing experience in some of Auckland’s most beautiful homes. Each home will be carefully curated to display a number of works from five to eight individual artists, with each piece of work available to purchase on the day. Funds raised go towards the Auckland Grammar School Foundation Trust Academic Endowment Fund to assist the school to recruit, reward and retain the very best teachers.

Tickets for both events are limited and are available to purchase at www.arthousetour.co.nz Tickets for the Art House Tour on Saturday 26 November are $80 per person and include free entry to the Friday night exhibition.

The tour includes “The Gallery” a dedicated art shop open on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 November. The Gallery will be open to both tour goers and the general public and will be located at the school in the Old Boys’ Pavilion (accessed via Gate 4 on Mountain Road) and offers a range of smaller artworks and gifts for sale.

Visit www.arthousetour.co.nz between now and the Art House Tour to see regular updates on each of the participating artists and the works that will be on sale, as well as other relevant information about the tour and details on this year’s houses.

Ngā Pūtaiao toko whitu, Seven Scientists Anton Forde

THE UNSUNG HEROES IN CONCERT

The Unsung Heroes concert includes Chris Priestley, Cameron Bennett, Sonia Wilson, Nigel Gavin and Peter Elliott telling stories from New Zealand’s settler past in finely crafted theatre, music and song with newspaper clippings, articles and poems that deftly introduce each song’s central character.

A photographic slideshow of historic images as accompaniment, with gorgeously evocative music and words and Elliott’s old style radio diction, sharp timing and dry humour all predictive of ways we have come to see ourselves.

Concerts throughout Auckland and a recent (world tour) of the South Island have all been sellouts performing in such iconic places as the Vulcan Hotel, St Bathans, the Hokonui Moonshine Museum in Gore and Donovan’s Store in Okorito.

The songs are mostly originals – about actual people and events that occurred in our colonial past. Rogues, rebels, explorers, villains and heroes are rediscovered and illuminated visually, with spoken word and song - NZ Musician magazine described this as ‘a truly valuable exercise, bringing all this history together in music’.

Chris Priestley is the show’s originator and writer; he is a gifted singer, songwriter and a New Zealand history buff. Unsung Heroes is Chris’s original creation.

Cameron Bennett is another storyteller. Music is his lifeblood, as a singer- songwriter, guitarist, and lap steel player he delivers his own stories of our past that shaped who we are today.

Nigel Gavin is a multi award-winning musician from Long Island, New York, now resident in Auckland. Nigel’s own creation is a group called The Gitbox Rebellion and he himself is a guitarist with remarkable versatility who is respected globally.

Sonia Wilson is a human Womad festival. Her music has taken her from the streets of Paris, across the Kenyan savannah to remote Himalayan villages, and to her home now, New Zealand.

Peter Elliott is an award winning actor and presenter. He is passionate about New Zealand stories and history, and he narrates the show for each character. He also plays cajon.

The show includes many of Auckland’s most colourful characters including Captain Lorraine, an army balloonist from Parnell who turned showman as well as Don Buck, who ran a camp for the homeless and for whom the Auckland road was named, Tiger Lil, a woman of dubious repute who taunted tricks and sometimes turned savage, Kimble Bent, a deserter who changed sides and learnt pacifism, Von Tempsky, a soldier, painter and musician killed in battle at Te Ngutu o te Manu, and Darling Jennie, a 20 year old magicienne who thrilled many and died young, explorers like Captain Moonlight and Joshua Morgan, along with many others.

The show also includes those whose exploits saved others, like Huria Matenga and still others for whom human life was worthless, like the Burgess Gang. Then there are ghosts and murderers too. All this and singalong tunes and toe tapping ballads.

As our border opens up, our artists can again take their work to the world. Face-to-face business is a warm welcome after three years of Zoom calls and emails.

Across the ditch, Sydney Contemporary held its first exhibition at Carriageworks since 2019, with New Zealand galleries Gow Langsford, Paul Nache, Michael Lett, Starkwhite and Fox Jensen McCrory presenting New Zealand artists to an international audience of 35,000.

Relaxed travel also provided the opportunity to revisit the companies making the materials artists use. I traveled to Germany to visit Schmincke Artist Colours in Dusseldorf and da Vinci Artist Brushes in Nurnberg, who in 2021 had made me one of six Brand Ambassadors.

Both these reputable manufacturers were introduced to New Zealand by my father through Studio Art Supplies over 30 years ago, and we developed close relationships with these families who have been making artist materials for generations. Schmincke paints and da Vinci brushes are now a firm favourite of many New Zealand painters, combining family traditions with German technical know-how, and available nationwide through Gordon Harris stores.

I’ve been working with these companies to promote their products and to help develop new materials for artists for many years, and so it was an honour to be appointed Brand Ambassador. In both cities we shot videos to show how different materials influence art making techniques, and at Schmincke we unveiled our latest collaboration - the Horadam Watercolour Ultimate Mixing Set.

Paint sets contain pre-selected colours that offer a good but predictable set for mixing. I wanted to showcase more exciting colours that would offer an unusual but still practical palette so more confident painters could explore colour possibilities they wouldn’t otherwise take.

In Schmincke’s lab, I was able to discuss new colour discoveries and got to play with advance samples. Talk about a kid in the candy store! And of course, these insights return to Aotearoa with me to enrich our artists’ experience of their materials.

The Ultimate Mixing Set will be available in December at Studio Art Supplies and Gordon Harris, and represents the special relationship between our motu and the wider world.

EVAN WOODRUFFE, Studio Art Supplies www.studioart.co.nz In the Colour Room at Schmincke

Evan getting his hands dirty

Evan tries the new watercolour set

ARTS + CULTURE ELGAR AND THE ANTIPODES @ ST MATTHEW’S CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Sunday 16 October @ 2.30pm Conductor: David Kay Soloist: Catherine Kwak

Catherine Kwak plays with freshness and spontaneity underpinned by her technical competence. “Her” Elgar Cello Concerto is fabulous.

Cello lessons began at the age of seven and she gained ABRSM Grade 8 with the High Achievers’ Cup at the age of nine. She has made numerous performances around New Zealand, USA, the UK, and Europe as soloist and chamber musician and has a string of competition successes to her credit.

At the end of 2021, Catherine graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Auckland. Despite this, she maintains a busy performance schedule with soloist engagements.

David Kay – Conductor David Kay is an up-and-coming New Zealand conductor who made his conducting debut with the APO in 2009. Since then he has featured regularly as a guest conductor of various educational and outreach programs. David is one of the cofounders of North Shore Youth Music, a community music program combining three orchestras and three choirs.

St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra is an accomplished orchestra performing a wide repertoire of music and is dedicated to providing performance opportunities for New Zealand musicians, composers and conductors.

TICKETS Eventfinda or door sales. EFTPOS or cash.

Adults $30, concessions $25, children under 12 free, student rush on the day $15.

N.B. Attendees will need to comply with any Covid-19 protocols in place at the time of the concert.

ST MATTHEW-IN-THE-CITY corner Wellesley & Hobson Streets, www.smco.org.nz

Sun 16 October

at 2.30pm

PROGRAMME Ritchie, A Albatross In Flight Louise Webster Stretching the Space Elgar Cello Concerto Op 85 in E minor Elgar Enigma Variations Op 36 SOLOIST Catherine Kwak CONDUCTOR David Kay

ST MATTHEW-IN-THE-CITY

Cnr of Wellesley & Hobson Street, Auckland City

The Covert Theatre in Mackelvie Street, Ponsonby is NZ’s home of improvised comedy. With workshops and shows every night of the week there is something for everyone.

Be sure to check out www.coverttheatre.com

Miss Lonely Hearts

@ {SUITE} GALLERY

Roger Boyce - 'House of Games' – runs to 15 October.

Rendered in two-dimensions, though determined to contrive a third, figurative art has been turning its hand to trickery since the 5th century when the Greek painter Zeuxis depicted grapes convincing enough to bamboozle birds. Representation is a game: of chance, sleight-of-hand and stage-magic, of seduction, debauchery, and religious pageantry, performed by way of mimicry and duplicity.

Roger Boyce’s latest exhibition, 'House of Games', explores the many facets of this elaborate performance; a visual guide to the illimitable meanings, mythos, and metaphors imbued in the art of deception.

His paintings are games of chance which resemble artfully scaled-down simulations, facsimiles of life’s daily pas de deux with destiny. Bets are on, the roulette wheel spins, and players strive to prevail against odds that will never be in their favour. The house always wins, after all.