Archives: Exhibitions

We are pleased to invite you to view Peter Hackett’s 2020 exhibition.

Venue: Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art, 20 Brandon Street, Wellington

enquiries: ron@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz

Phone 04 499 6356 or Ron 021 062 2072

“From a very young age I pursued a career in the fine arts, specialising in drawing and painting in every school I attended during my formative years.”

After leaving the compulsory constraints of high school art classes I travelled to Paris, France earning a scholarship in sculpture, painting, printmaking and life drawing whilst studying under some of the most respected names in the Parisian art world such as Camillo Otero and Susanne Runacher. The sweet taste of student life in a liberal art school like The Paris American Academy became the catalyst to the unrestrained experimentation evident in my work for the next ten years.

From 1990 to the turn of the century the experimentation gave way to a recognisable style and a preoccupation with extending my technical range instead of pursuing a narrative. I seek to establish a dominant theme to my work, concentrating my efforts on maturing the subject matter and technique without surrendering to the influences of social trends.

“I have been a finalist in several major art awards including the Air New Zealand Art Award, The Nola Holmwood Memorial Portrait Prize, The Eider Este Art Award and have also received a silver medal in the Duke of Edinburgh Award. My predominantly large works have been exhibited in France, America, Australia, and New Zealand with consistent public interest and I have been rewarded with a faithful customer base.”

Portraits and Landscapes

John Badcock is a well recognised name in New Zealand Art. He is from an extremely artistic family, and first began painting with his father, Douglas Badcock, in Queenstown over 45 years ago. He has been working as a professional artist for more than 30 years and has had numerous public and dealer gallery exhibitions.

His works are held in major public collections including The Hocken Library, Dunedin, Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington, Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru and Andersons Park, Invercargill. He also has work in the Sackman Corporation collection in New York.

John’s artwork is identifiable by his heavily applied and beautifully sculptured use of rich oil paint on board. These rich textural paintings illustrate the skill of John’s ability to form fields of grasses and seeding flowers, stunning portraiture or the bold form of intricate Victorian architecture from paint that is almost “falling off the canvas”.

John has numerous awards to his name from throughout New Zealand and in 2007 he was selected for the Archibald Salon des Refuses exhibition in Sydney, Australia.

Early in 2015 John was included in the top 10 Great Artists from New Zealand list, compiled by theculturetrip.com and joins the other great artists such as Bill Hammond, Jason Greig and Kushana Bush

Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art, 20 Brandon Street, Wellington

Enquiries: ron@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz or Phone 04 499 6356

Tony O’Keefe: ‘The Life of Normals’

Selected work still on show

Exhibitions Gallery, 20A Brandon Street, Wellington CBD

enquiries: ron@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz

Phone (04) 499 6356 or Ron 021 0622072

Tony O’Keefe’s latest series is essentially a study of the perpendicular. The Life of Normals looks at the values, forms and rituals that derive from the special distinction of being upright.
Presented as a set of evocative vertical tableaux the collection balances figurative and abstract elements to portray apparently familiar events. Knowing that the viewer will inevitably see themselves in these scenes
O’Keefe introduces ambiguous and disruptive volumes which challenge us to rethink this perception. Is every tower necessarily an abode? Is that really just a briefcase?

In the course of the design and creation of each artwork O’Keefe simultaneously develops a complex milieu of ideas, symbols and references. This narrative is continuously drawn back into the sculpture influencing its final expression. “I regard the completed sculpture and its syndetic story as the same piece of art,” says O’Keefe. His art frequently alludes to Christian tradition, historical events, social and ideological commentary.

Working from his zero waste studio on an organic estate near Queenstown, O’Keefe enjoys both the company of farm animals and the intensely private world of arc welding. Describing his medium of steel as
obstinate’ he wrests remarkable character from the material. The apparent conformity of his population hides the fact that each figure is unique. Created individually at the artist’s hand by the violent and random
forces of high voltage and molten steel.

Insisting that art is a mutual, multi-sensory experience O’Keefe invites people to enjoy the tactile dimensions to his sculpture and says that, unlike most exhibitions, the message here is: “Please Touch the Art”.

Artists in Lockdown – The Exhibition

Due to the immense interest and response to the ‘Artists in Lockdown’ social media series, we are excited to follow up with an exhibition born from this unprecedented period of our lives. The exhibition includes supporting material alongside the artworks and a full catalogue.

The artwork and the artist’s feelings, reflected that of many of us, and the resulting body of work is a celebration of the resilience and fortitude of the ‘team of 5 million’. In the end, an endearing optimism echoes the underlying strength that permeates our collective Kiwi psyche.

Exhibitions Gallery, 20 Brandon Street, Wellington

Phone 04 499 6356 or Ron 021 0622072

enquiries: ron@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz

We are pleased to invite you and your guests to view Alicja Gear’s inaugural Auckland exhibition, ‘The Farm Series’

Enquiries: auckland@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz 

Venue: Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art.

Exhibition available to view from Wednesday 2nd Sept 10.30 am

Address: 19A Osborne Street, Newmarket, Auckland

phone Ngaire (09) 5235560

This body of work is a translation of my emotional response to that particular landscape. Visually I’m captured by the changing light and atmosphere over the hills and through the trees, but there is also a calm quality to this particular area I’m drawn to. I feel good when I walk this track and hills in a way that is unique to this spot. It may be just that it draws on my memories as a child of the property I grew up on. I remember lying in bed looking through the window watching the Manuka sway and wondering how someone could possibly paint it, it’s a little surreal to be back at that point, looking at the trees and wondering how I can paint them.

An important part of my painting of these landscapes is recognising our duty of care as humans. We are the ones who need to restore this earth to a sustainable level. This message is not overt but by painting aesthetically perhaps others may feel some of what I feel towards our Earth and Mother and take a little more care.

58 Years of the art of JK Reed DFA.

Venue: Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art, 19A Osborne Street, Newmarket, Auckland
Ph (09) 523 5560 or Ngaire on 021 415 449
auckland@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz

A retrospective is a major event for an artist, a chance for the artist to reflect on a lifetime of work to contemplate and reassess then share their story for all to view. In fact most artists never have the opportunity.A few decades ago this was an honour typically accorded to a deceased Old Master.

Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art is proud to be part of this major event and would like to thank Keith for providing all the wonderful material and salute him for having hidden gems from his early childhood through to his current work. We also appreciate the release of early work from his private collection which is normally unavailable to purchase. – Ron Epskamp (Exhibitions Gallery)

John (Keith) Reed. Born (1944) in England, he arrived in Dunedin in 1954 and studied at the University of Canterbury from 1963 – 1968. Considered one of New Zealand’s leading landscape watercolorists and achieving phenomenal success in this difficult medium. Keith also paints in oil. Although his style over the years has been predominantly expressionist in viewing his art school years you can see the strong influence of abstraction and cubism. An influence that since retiring from teaching has returned with considerable success.

A 16 page booklet detailing Keith’s journey will be available at the exhibition.

We are pleased to invite you to view Ben Ho and Mary Mai’s current exhibition ‘Finding A Juncture’ .

Venue: Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art,  20 Brandon Street, Wellington

ron@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz
or phone 04 4996356

Ben Ho

“Ben’s ability to paint in oil and watercolour, impressionist or realist, with the same depth of quality and skill is remarkable. Where artists are often gifted or acclaimed in a singular subject, Ben’s art covers landscapes, wildlife, nudes, and still life, all rendered with equal skill and exquisite outcomes. Ben’s art has traditionally been faithful to the old arts. In recent times, however, he has reached out to the contemporary abstract realm; fusing his experiments with traditional art conventions.

Ben was born in Canton, China. Study art since he was 7 years old. After high school, he studied at the Canton Fine Art School. He immigrated to New Zealand in 1988 and settled in Auckland for twenty years. He is now living in Queenstown with his wife Mary Mai and their son since 2008.

Since 1991, Ben has exhibited his art widely throughout New Zealand. He has won numerous Art Awards including the Otago Regional Award, KG Frazer Award and the Gold Medal Award at the Royal Easter Show. He has also been featured internationally; being one of Five artists that represented New Zealand Art at the ‘Worldwide Millennium Painting Competition’ in London, England. He has also been featured article in some Australia popular art magazines and given tutorials at the Mitchell School Of Arts (Charles Sturt University) NSW in Australia.

Ben has been giving tutorial both watercolours and oil thought out NZ and judged several art competitions across NZ. His most recent exhibition, ‘Surrounding Visions’, was in the New Zealand The National Portrait Gallery, Wellington.”

Mary Mai

Born in Guangzhou 1964, Mary at the age of 14, was encouraged to pursue a career in fine art.

Mary has won several New Zealand fine art awards, including the professional category at the Royal Easter Shows in 1995 and 1996.

The drama and movement of the brushwork compliments the beautiful light that Mary always achieves in her paintings,  Mary’s paintings are the result of the many emotions felt while observing, the excitement and energy of the colours and the unsettling ever-changing landscape capturing the spirit of the place.

Ron Hall Exhibition – Bee Waggle

20 A Brandon Street, Wellington 6011, Phone 04 499 6356 or Ron 021 062 2072

enquiries: ron@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz

Artist Statement

My recycled beehive work is a reference to our NZ landscape.

The beehives have been in a specific NZ locality and climate and this has altered the painted surface. I quite often see this weathered surface in an abstract, poetical, musical way. The wooden hives, to me, are not simply a home of the bees but evoke various memories.  These memories are triggered by the wonderful honey smell, arrangement of the wooden pieces and of course the textures of the weathered painted surfaces.

The woods include macrocarpa, the traditional shelter tree with its strong smell;   the historic native wetland tree the kahikatia and the ubiquitous pine. All these types of woods add a cultural layer to my art work. The industry of beekeeping and the vital lives of our bees, also add another significant layer.

What really floats my waka is the wonderful textures of the painted, weathered, and repainted surfaces that challenge our idea of what painting is. How is it that such random painting carried out by apiary workers produce such unexpected beauty? – Ron Hall

A generous selection of Kates work is still on show!

Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art,  19A Osborne Street, Newmarket, Auckland

auckland@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz 

phone 09 523 5560 or Ngaire 021 415 449

Kate has worked with the subject matter of NZ birds and flora since her studies back at the School of Fine Arts. She graduated in 2014 with a major in painting.
Kate has explored this subject matter and it has evolved to this 2019-2020 collection. Kate describes her works as painted portraits of NZ birds within a wallpaper-esque background. These portraits are
a depicted interpretation of the individual birds’ personality and characteristics.
Colour harmony and colour saturation is a great interest of Kates and she uses this in the way to exaggerate certain physical characteristics of the birds. She also plays with the colour harmony between the depicted bird and wallpaper-esque backdrop which unifies the work and creates an inviting aesthetic.
The flora patterning effect is layered in a way that Kate pushes some of the pattern into the background by painting over the image; some is painted into the mid-ground and then painted in more detail bringing it into the fore-ground. This gives a visual push pull effect which creates a complimentary yet uncanny environment in which the NZ bird/birds are posed.

Brent Redding exhibition now showing

There is ample room in the gallery to view the exhibition while maintaining appropriate social distancing.

Although we are not having our usual exhibtion opening evenings at the moment, we are more than happy to be available for groups of 10 or less, wishing to view the work outside of our normal trading hours.

To make a booking email: ron@exhibitionsgallery.co.nz

or phone Ron (021) 062 207

Venue: Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art,  20 Brandon Street, Wellington 6011

I have always painted in more than one style, reflecting a broad set of reasons for picking up the brush. These vary from a desire to capture the colour and light of the world around me, to interests in pattern and design, sequences, capturing movement, and occasionally making social comment. This variety of objectives, combined with variation of medium and technique, has created quite an eclectic body of work. I also teach painting, and years of analysing and solving painting problems of students seems to have extended my own interests and capabilities, further encouraging this eclecticism.