Pablo Helguera....

.... never let's you down.

Holy

Holes left in the wall of the Peter McLeavey Gallery after the dealer's attempts to find a stud under the plaster wall.
"I never found one" - Peter McLeavey

Warhol zip

Images: Top, front and back of album cover with real zip on front. Bottom, zip open to reveal commercially sensitive undies and Warhol signature stamp.

An OTN alphabet

If you’re going to start an art alphabet (and we are) what other word can you kick it off with? We did consider Attic. Even though we all love the idea of Damien and Jeff and Richard and Olaf being awash in cash, there's still a sneaking belief out there that a little hardship goes a long way in art production. A is for Animal art was another favourite, but after the embarrassment of the fake painting snail, no thanks. Go for A is for Assistant and you’re right back in the awash-with-cash bin. A is for The Agony and the Ecstasy was a front runner until we realised that Lust for Life is the best art movie ever made, and that starts with an L. So A is for Art.

Illustration: Pippin Barr.

If an artist were ever to wash up on a cartoon desert island complete with an iconic single palm tree, chances are his (always his) head would be shaded from the sun by an equally iconic beret. Like the easel, the palette and the smock, the beret has often stood in for the creative spirit. Originally headgear in the Basque country (although Rembrandt did paint a self portrait wearing a version of one back in 1630) the beret was cemented as an art icon in the twentieth century by Picasso, who probably popped it on his head as a symbol of rebellion. Since then the beret has been worn by countless artists, and many, many actors wanting a quick symbol to turn them into one.

Illustration: Pippin Barr

Art’s paper trail the CV feeds off production and display. The format rarely changes: biography, solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, collections and biography (me, me, we, we, and me again). Sometimes, as careers grow, more is seen as less and embarrassing lists of small town shows are collapsed into the more opaque ‘selected exhibitions’. Conceptual artist Julian Dashper wouldn’t have a bar of it. His work CV grew like a watered weed, every detail of his career noted, one under the other, page after page. More recently the academic world has jumped the CV shark. Now art school CVs spawn their own exhibitions targeted at university cash wranglers and grading masters. Publish and be in demand.
Illustration: Pippin Barr

We probably should have given this one to the letter G now that many art dealers, finding the word ‘dealer’ kinda offensive, have moved over to the more toney ‘gallerist’. The other reason for the drift was possibly because in the über good-times cutting a great deal was not a skill that needed flourishing. The selling proposition moved from Duveen’s “You’re not ready for that yet” to “We’ll put you in the queue, but no promises.” And yet, although the auction houses are jostling hard, it is the art dealers who largely set the pace and the prices. All this in an opaque world centred on the iconic question, “What’s it worth?”
Illustration: Pippin Barr

Bernard Berenson had one. Michael Jackson didn’t. A good eye has always been connoisseurship’s black box, the cunning apparatus that could sort the visually beautiful sheep from the tawdry, badly-drawn goats. Good-eyes can spot great art works in the shabby surroundings of junk shops, household auctions and estate sales, seeming to be instantly attracted by the glint of diamond in the dirt. A good good-eye can elevate its owner to giddy levels of expertise through the ability to eye ball art and successfully separate the culturally significant wheat from the populist chaff. Its choices are always authentic and important and superior, unless heaven forbid, they are fake.

Illustration: Pippin Barr

Frames help tell us that paintings are art. As Frank Zappa put it, without one “You can’t tell where the art stops and the real world begins.” The F in frame also stands for fashion. In the seventies stripping frames off old paintings became a museum passion. Modernism’s love of simplicity and objection to decoration helped, as did formal abstraction’s appreciation of the edges of the canvas and the authenticity of paintings as objects. Frames didn’t have a chance. The best they could hope for was standing in for past glories as a thin sliver of aluminium as for a time no frame was the best frame. In New Zealand Colin McCahon caught the fever, famously declaring, “ I’m finished with frames and all they imply.” Museum storerooms took on the look of local mints with gold frames stacked in piles. Times change. Now, once again, lavish gold frames are crafted specially to highlight the works in museum and private collections. Noland, Kelly and Ryman are probably safe for the twenty-first century but in the world of framing, the gold standard never really goes away. “If I spit, they will take my spit and frame it as great art.” - Picasso

Illustration: Pippin Barr

Green walls come and go, red paint is rolled on and painted over, but in the world of art white walls rule. This powerful context was identified by Brian O’Doherty in his 1976 essay in which the white cube gives as much meaning to the art as the artworks themselves. For a while in the late 1980s there was an attempt to argue this context was in fact neutral, but it was always a lost cause. In New Zealand dealer galleries often started as reflections of the artist’s studio, the front room at home without the fireplace. Then came the two-room gallery that has evolved over the years and now can run to polished concrete floors, dockways and loft-like spaces. There’s a nice rhythm to it all. The shows go up, the shows come down and the walls are patched and rolled out white ready for the next one.

Illustration: Pippin Barr

Hang on. Most art makes physical connections and most of those are with the human body. Physically lifting a painting or moving a sculpture tells you a lot about its place in the world. As curators and artists are firmly ushered out of the exhibition design, hanging and installation process, many exhibition hangs have more to do with abstract design concepts than with the effect of one artwork physically relating to another.

Hang it all. Another effect of curators being separated from the physical side of hanging is the everything-that-will-fit-on-the-wall exhibition. Removed from the physical reality of hanging, curators end up pulling together as many works as they can find on their theme and passing them over to technicians and designers to fit them into the space allocated by management.

Hang ‘em high. See above. Welcome back Academy hang.

Hang about. And whatever happened to our ability to hang things straight? In some cities that knowledge is being lost like the language of a threatened tribe. The professional installer holds the knowledge like a witch doctor, the last person left in the village who can make the paintings in private collections hang in a straight line.

Well hung. Don’t go there. 

Illustration: Pippin Barr

There’s a story in the biography of Lord Duveen – the fabled Edwardian art dealer – that has him guiding a collector down a red velvet lined hall to the furthest recesses of his gallery. As they passed a door slightly ajar they saw, bathed in light, a jewel-like painting by Fra Angelico. The collector is entranced and begs to have a closer look. Duveen laid his arm across the collector’s shoulder and cooed, “No, no. You’re not ready for that yet.”

Welcome to the world of the inner sanctum. Every dealer has one, the place where all the good stuff is stored and deals are done. Even at art fairs, where desks and databases are in full view, secret white on white doors open into tiny sanctums just big enough for a couple of collectors with room to close the door and the deal.

And then of course there is the inner-inner sanctum.

Illustration: Pippin Barr

In the analogue world artists had to schlep their slides around dealers if they wanted to pitch for a show or a place in the line-up. Was there ever anything more dispiriting than a dealer holding up a sheet of slides in one hand and turning to talk to someone more interesting at the same time? Slides sold art history and played their clickety-clack music on the carousel projector. But no longer: enter the JPEG. Blessed with an acronym that sounds like an institutional curatorial selection team (Joint Photographic Experts Group), the JPEG saves artists from full-frontal humiliation. Sure the dealer or the curator might be reading amusing extracts from Jacques Derrida at the same time as mousing through the images, but who’s to know? The dark side of JPEGs is their assault on copyright and loss of control. While this skirmish is still in its infancy, over-exposure or inappropriate use via JPEGs is still a luxury problem.

Illustration: Pippin Barr (step back to view)

No one seems to have a very clear idea about what the Karangahape in Karangahape Road means. There is some suggestion that it refers to ‘a winding ridge of human activity’ and that sounds about right, but others claim that the name refers to Hape, a Maori chief who lived in the area. To most people K Road has always been synonymous with being propositioned, revealing all, drunkenness and getting screwed. More recently it has become the contemporary art centre of Auckland so in that respect, not much has changed (just kidding).

Illustration: Pippin Barr 

If French philosophers were want to scrap among themselves, you’d never have known it in mid-1980s New Zealand where they were lined up like collegial lead soldiers to marshal deconstructive arguments into order. The French connection also brought with it bemusing language that, far away from France, prompted essays headlined by pithy titles like Further toward a deconstruction of phallic univocality: deferrals, without so much as a hint of irony. So, a thought for Jean-Francois Lyotard who (ironically) had a particular aversion to generalities. And while we’re at it, a moment please for Jean Baudrillard, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault who, through no fault of their own, helped make New Zealand art writing almost impenetrable for around 20 years or so.

Illustration: Pippin Barr 

SOLD! (… maybe.)

Illustration: Pippin Barr

N is for Nationalism

The argument has died on the vine along along with a lot of other art theoretical sour grapes, but there was a time where art about New Zealand and art about the world were at loggerheads. It really should have stopped in 1968 at the moment Jasper Johns painted his global local redux American flag. As it was, our stags locked horns (it was mostly stags) in the eighties fighting it out under the harsh New Zealand light, abstract butting against pictorial, United States hard up against united regionalists. All gone now, and through it all our flag remained unchanged. Salut.

Illustration by Pippin Barr

 O is for Opening

The best guess date for the invention of cheese is somewhere around 6,000 years ago in what is now Iran and wine too had its origins nearby at about the same time. That means we can probably nail the first wine and cheese event to around 3900BC, or thereabouts. Not that you see much cheese at art openings these days but the wine thing is still going strong. Back in the day the wine usually came from a cask or (at upmarket events) from a bottle via a cask but now, like the shoes curators wear, the quality has gone way up.

Apart from the quality of the wine though, you do have to ask why openings have stayed so…er… the same for so long. Since the first director had the brainwave of asking four or five notables to get up and thank everyone within reach while those invited to the opening stand around waiting to see what they actually came for (the art), things haven’t changed much. TV has conquered nightlife, the internet has changed our lives, man has landed on the moon and one of those satellite things has headed off to Mars, but we still listen to directors thank their staff for doing the jobs they were paid to do (most often by us via our rates and taxes). One day perhaps a museum will hold an opening that tells us a bit about what we are about to see and then lets us in to see it. Got to take 10 minutes max.

Illustration by Pippin Barr

Designed to raise statues up from the common people, the plinth got a bit of a battering in the twentieth century as sculptors came down to earth. The plinth did still have a life in museums where even ground-based work is raised up to stop it being kicked or scuffed. If there is one unquestionable twentieth century museum icon, it is the white plinth topped with a Perspex box. And the rest is just puns like, “someday my plinth will come”.

Illustration by Pippin Barr

Q is for qualification

The MSc asks “how?” The MPhil asks “why?”, The MFA asks “tap or bottled?” An oldie but still a goodie.
Illustration: Pippin Barr

R is for Review

They say those who can do and those who can’t teach but in fact they probably review the work of those who can. Peter McLeavey once said that it didn’t matter what anyone said about art as long as they spelt the artist’s name correctly and it is true that a good review can put a few more bums through the door. Most artists claim to not read the reviews and if they do are unaffected by them, but it is probably in the same way that everyone else says they don’t watch reality television. The trick is to remember that even when the reviewer who’s opinion is worth less than an ant at a picnic gives a good review, it is the same ant talking. But even when the review is good, as Dustin Hoffman once said, “it’s just a stay of execution.”

Illustration: Pippin Barr 

 S is for the Stendhal Syndrome

Visitors are often overcome in museums (ok not always by the exhibits), but pity poor Marie-Henri Beyle (better known as French writer Stendhal) who, when exposed to too much art, couldn’t pop into the gallery café for a quick macchiato or quietly browse in the bookshop. Instead, overwhelmed by the beauty of Venice, Stendhal was pole-axed by fainting spells and hallucinations.

“Absorbed in the contemplation of sublime beauty… I reached the point where one encounters celestial sensations… Everything spoke so vividly to my soul. Ah, if I could only forget. I had palpitations of the heart, what in Berlin they call ‘nerves.’ Life was drained from me. I walked with the fear of falling.”

Illustration: Pippin Barr

T is for Tape measure

“Gather near the fire, my children. The darkness closes in and it grows cold.”

“Tell us a story great-grandfather, a story from the way back.”

“Very well… back then, long, long ago …before the times of much money, our people would take their art and hang it on their walls by themselves.”

“Straight, great-grandfather…. They would hang it straight?”

“That is so. Every painting, every print, every bas-relief we would hang on the wall absolutely parallel to the ground. It was always so in my family and in all the families of our village. Until, one day, that knowledge was lost.”

“How great-grandfather, how did it go?”

“The Straightening Man. He came from nowhere with his measure tape and his laser beam. Before long the Straightening Man hung all our pictures and all our prints, for by that time we had stopped buying bas-reliefs. Carefree we forgot the old ways until one day no one could remember how to hang a painting.

“The knowledge had vanished from our family, our tribe and, I fear, from all the world.”

Illustration: Pippin Barr

  

U is for underbidder

Woulda, coulda, shoulda

Illustration: Pippin Barr

V is for visitor

As theatres opted for bums on seats, art museums have gone with feet through the door as a measure of success. (click, click) Not that turning up has anything to do with experience, but what’s a poor museum to do? (click) One NZ institution reached out to sparrows. (click, click, click) The Dowse once discovered its high number of visitors was being complemented, well almost doubled, by birds flying in and out of the main door. (click, click, click, click) Local council officials turned over the director’s office looking for kilo packs of birdseed but it turned out the birds were just in it for the art. (click) Besides, unlike the birds, not all museum visitors are voluntary. (click) Kids marshalled in by schools, old people packed into vans, back in the day they were accounted separately in annual totes, but nowadays whatever your motive or intentions, if you're through the door, you're part of the score. (click, click)
Illustration: Pippin Barr 

W is for watercolour

John Singer Sargent remarked that painting in watercolour was ‘making the best of an emergency.’ That probably rings true for anyone who has given it a go. Being able to knock up a good watercolour was once an essential skill for any educated traveler but, like portrait painting, it was elbowed out of the image bank by photography. Still, as they say, even paisley ties will come back one day and watercolours seem to be having quite a resurgence after long years in the shadows. Any quick tour of dealer galleries will turn up at least one exhibition of impressionistic works on paper created with pigment and wash. As David Hockney once mysteriously said, “Watercolours are wet colours in water.” Er…right.

Illustration: Pippin Barr

X is for don't touch

Museum exhibits live in the space between protect and present. The art is almost always there to see and not touch and that's tough lines for sculpture, touch’s front line in the art category. The principle is that an object may be ok with one touch but with many it risks the death of a thousand cuts. And so the barriers, stanchions, taped lines, light beams, skied paintings and, yes, do not touch signs sprinkled round the galleries like measles. And that’s not to mention guards, staff and docents most of whom apply gentle persuasion and stop short of the direct approach taken by Kah Mun Rah in the museum flick Night at the museum: battle of the Smithsonian, “How dare you! If you touch that again I shall kill you right now.”

Illustration: Pippin Barr

Y is for Ying and Yang

In the art game, as in everything else, it is best to be kind to those you meet on the way up for you will be meeting them again on the way down.
Illustration: Pippin Barr

 Z is for zombie editions

They say you can’t take it with you and so most of us have to leave our stuff behind to be sent to the Salvation Army by our kids. Artists though can live beyond their natural span thanks to zombie editions – the works of art that are made on an artist’s behalf after their demise by helpful supporters.

And so new works to the market are created by casting from old molds, giving a lick of paint to rejected works left in the studio, and - in the purest form - newly born out of sketches and concepts left in notebooks and on scraps of paper.

Zombie editions: giving new meaning to the expression ‘the shock of the new.’
Illustration: Pippin Barr

Tasteful

Hancock bequest

James Nairn Petone Foreshore 1894
LW Wilson Lake Wakatipu from the 25 Mile Peak 1894
LW Wilson Lake Wanaka, Otago 1898
John Weeks Parisian Facades 1926
Doris Lusk (Roses - still life) Flowers 1945
Agnes Wood Salome II 1983
Robert Warren (Still life - pottery and fruit)
Dennis Knight-Turner (Nude)
Pablo Picasso The Bull
Charles Blomfield Maori Canoe
Kumio Nakazyo Indian Corn
Lindsay McLeod 3 Nuns
Frances Hodgkins Stall Holders
Garth Tapper The Club
Patrick Hanly Pacific Hope
Allen Maddox Flower Piece
Nigel Brown Suburban Clothes Line
Melvin Day Bull
Thomas Arthur McCormack Lillies
Thomas Arthur McCormack Apples 1911
Brent Wong Clouds, Islands, Dunes 1991
Tosswill Woollaston Makara 1972
Patrick Hanly Ginko Garden 1985
Dorothy Kate Richmond Smoke Haze over Nelson

City Collection

This is a draft list of the Wellington City collection which was primarily purchased as a furnishing collection. Exceptions are some commissions like the Culbert work at the City Gallery, the Mattchit in the Library and the Gordon Crook banners in the Town Hall.

Of the 340 works listed 124 are prints (a number of them commercial reproductions), 58 photographs of varying importance and 23 portraits of mayors and other dignitories.

You can request a print out of the catalogue with more detail (including small images) from the Wellington City Council.

Artist: Accarisi, L
Title: Portrait of John Duthie, Mayor
Media: Oil on canvas

Artist: Barraud, Charles Decimus
Title: Portrait of Te Puni

Artist: Barraud, Charles Decimus
Title: Portrait of Sir George Grey
Media: Oil on canvas

Artist: Beetham, William
Title: Portrait of Edward Jerningham Wakefield

Artist: Butler, George
Title: Portrait of Francis Henry Dillon Bell, Mayor

Artist: Colley, F.W.
Title: Portrait of Thomas William Hislop, Mayor

Artist: Dargie, William
Title: Portrait of Sir Charles Norwood, Mayor

Artist: Ellis, Frederick V.
Title: Portrait of Sir William Appleton, Mayor

Artist: Fanning, Joan
Title: Portrait of Pat Lawlor

Artist: Kac, Juliet
Title: Portrait of Ian Lawrence, Mayor

Artist: Lynch, Julia B.
Title: Portrait of Sir Francis Kitts, Mayor

Artist: McIntyre, Peter
Title: Portrait of Lord Freyberg of Wellington

Artist: McIntyre, Peter
Title: Portrait of T.C.A. Hislop, Mayor

Registration:ART00014
Artist: McMaster, James
Title: Portrait of John Plimmer

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: Portrait of Thomas George Macarthy

Artist: Markham, Philip
Title: Portrait of Sir James Belich, Mayor

Artist: Nairn, James
Title: Portrait of Alfred de Bathe Brandon, Mayor

Artist: Nicoll, Archibald
Title: Portrait of Sir Robert Macalister, Mayor

Artist: Otterson, Henry
Title: Portrait of Sir George Maurice O'Rorke

Artist: Otterson, Henry
Title: Portrait of Judge H S Chapman

Artist: Sutton, W.A. (Bill)
Title: Portrait of Sir Michael Fowler, Mayor

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: [unknown Victorian gentleman]

Artist: Noble, Anne
Title: Antarctica (Fuji Antarctica Museum, Nagoya, Japan)

Artist: Noble, Anne
Title: Iceberg Garden, Antarctica

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: Portrait of Samuel Brown, Mayor

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: Upper Cuba Street

Artist: Worth, H.V.
Title: Portrait of Edward Gibbon Wakefield

Artist: Worth, H.V.
Title: Dr. Isaac Earl Featherston

Artist: Elliott, Robinson
Title: Portrait of His Grace the Duke of Wellington K.T.

Artist: Noble, Anne
Title: Wilhelmina Bay, Antarctica

Artist: Lucas, Alfred
Title: Field Marshall His Grace the Duke of Wellington Reviewing the Troops in Hyde Park

Artist: Lucas, John
Title: Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

Artist: Noble, Anne
Title: Antarctica (1) (Discovery Museum, Dundee)

Artist: Greatbuck, William
Title: The Duke of Wellington's Last Banquet

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: His Grace, the first Duke of Wellington

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: God Save the Queen: the Celebration of the Diamond Jubilee

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: Taputeranga Island

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Corner of Lambton Quay and Stout Street; State Insurance building and Public Trust building
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Wellington Chinese Masonic Society Building, Frederick Street
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Harbour Board Office, Customhouse Quay
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: MLC Building, Lambton Quay
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Odlins Building and Film Centre, Cable Street and Jervois Quay
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Herd Street Post Office Building
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Wellington Free Ambulance Building, Cable Street
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: AMP building, Featherston Street
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Stewart Dawson's Building, Willis Street and Manners Street opposite Te Aro Park
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Taranaki Street
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: John Chambers & Son building, cnr Jervois Quay and Cable Street
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Wellington Returned Services Association building
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Old Interisland Ferry Building
Media: Paper

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Hotel St George and Hotel Waterloo
Media: Paper

Artist: Atkinson, Leslie
Title: At the Foot of Mount Tongariro

Artist: Noble, Anne
Title: Antarctica (11) (Discovery Museum, Dundee)

Artist: Cleveland, Les
Title: Coffee House Girl

Artist: Cleveland, Les
Title: Morning sun outside a pakapoo den in Taranaki Street, Wellington

Artist: Binney, Don
Title: Over Oaxaca

Artist: Binney, Don
Title: Pacific Frigate Bird

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, View looking down Hawkestone Street, Wellington, with Mr Brees' cottage. [1845?]

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, View looking down Hawkestone Street, Wellington, with Mr Brees' cottage. [1845?]

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, Barrett's Hotel and Lambton Quay, Wellington ca 1843

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, Barrett's Hotel and Lambton Quay, Wellington ca 1843

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, Makaenuku Pa

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, Makaenuku Pa

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, The Aglionby Arms (Burchams)

Artist: Cotton, Shane
Title: Nineteen Ninety Three

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: Stairs, Cuba Street

Artist: Dickie, Colin
Title: Wellington Harbour - Looking towards Somes Island from Karaka Bay
Media: Oil on board

Artist: Ellis, Robert
Title: Motorway/City No.1

Artist: Ellis, Robert
Title: Motorway/City No. 2

Artist: Ellis, Robert
Title: Motorways

Artist: McIntyre Wilson, Matthew
Title: Kete

Artist: Thomson, Elizabeth
Title: Site

Artist: Hanly, Patrick
Title: Inside the Garden
Media: Paper

Artist: Harrison, Rodger
Title: The Old Farmhouse, Sanson

Artist: Hullmandel, Charles Joseph
Title: Lithograph of 'View of Nelsons Haven, in Tasman's Gulf, by Charles Heaphy' 1841

Artist: Taratoa, Kelcy
Title: Episode 0021

Artist: Lucas, Courtney
Title: Trampoline

Artist: Government Printer
Title: Print of:' Lambton Harbour and Wellington, April 1841', by Charles Heaphy

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Birdseye view of Port Nicholson in New Zealand, by Charles Heaphy - Print

Artist: Illingworth, Michael
Title: Tawera

Artist: Jennings, C
Title: Hills and Harbour

Artist: Levy, Keith
Title: Sea and Landscape No. 6

Artist: Levy, Keith
Title: Sea and Landscape no.12

Artist: McCahon, Colin
Title: North Otago Landscape

Artist: Rotman, Jono
Title: South Wing, Mt Eden Men's Remand Prison

Artist: McIntyre, Peter
Title: Willis Street

Artist: Masters, Wendy
Title: The Harbour Fountain

Artist: Merrett, Thomas Edward
Title: Wellington Harbour

Artist: Merrett, Thomas Edward
Title: Wellington Harbour

Artist: Merrett, Thomas Edward
Title: View from Flagstaff Hill

Artist: Lucas, Courtney
Title: Cave

Artist: Morris, S
Title: Patterns

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: Print of: Luke Nattrass sketch City of Wellington, New Zealand 1841

Artist: Neilson, Don
Title: Wellington Harbour

Artist: Neilson, Don
Title: Lake Pukaki District

Artist: Ngan, Guy
Title: Wellington City

Artist: Palmer, Stanley
Title: Looking North, Western Viaduct

Artist: Cauchi, Ben
Title: New Zealand Playing Cards

Artist: Cauchi, Ben
Title: Axe

Artist: Cauchi, Ben
Title: Loaded Palm

Artist: Cauchi, Ben
Title: Tiki

Artist: Reeves, B
Title: [Cityscape]

Artist: Smither, Michael
Title: Wave Invading Rock Pool

Artist: Lucas, Courtney
Title: Rope

Artist: Steven, A. M
Title: Horizon

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: Bodega and Company, Willis St

Artist: Smith, Bronwyn
Title: Armada

Artist: Van Hout, Ronnie
Title: Untitled (Four Days in Nelson and Canterbury)

Artist: Wilde, Fran
Title: Wellington Harbour

Artist: Woollaston, Tosswill
Title: Mts. Owen, Arthur and Campbell from Motueka

Artist: Baillie, John
Title: Evening Shadows

Artist: Proudfoot, D
Title: [Mobil Street Race]

Artist: Mitchell, J. Campbell
Title: The Firth of Forth

Artist: Percy, Sidney R.
Title: [Romantic Landscape with Two Figures]

Artist: Crook, Gordon
Title: Untitled [Wall hangings]

Artist: Crook, Gordon
Title: Banners

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Untitled

Artist: Nairn, James
Title: Petone Foreshore

Artist: Brown, Nigel
Title: Peace Rider

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: The Murray Roberts Building

Artist: Conly, T H
Title: The First Charter Parade, 22nd Battery, RNZ Artillery. 11 December 1981
Media: Oil on board

Artist: Hotere, Ralph
Title: Red on Black

Artist: Lall, Durga
Title: Woman

Artist: Mair, Eleanor Kate
Title: The Fisher Boy
Media: Oil on canvas

Artist: Manuku North School
Title: Tukutuku panel

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: Rintoul Street

Artist: Mrkusich, Milan
Title: Passive Element

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: Athletic Park

Artist: Reynolds, John
Title: Valley of Dry Bones

Artist: Ritchie, Ross
Title: Three

Artist: Tuffery, Michel
Title: Tolu fa’atoluse i kalu alia

Artist: Tuffery, Michel
Title: Untitled [spear form]

Artist: Tuffery, Michel
Title: Untitled [spear form]

Artist: Tuffery, Michel
Title: Mo'o Mo'oga mo le lumana’i

Artist: Tuffery, Michel
Title: Fale va’a o’oe na ole ave ave leai se toe fa’afo’i mai

Artist: Day, Melvin
Title: Vertiginous

Artist:
Title: Painting of Mayoral Chain

Artist: Walters, Gordon
Title: Tawa

Artist: Taepa, Ngataiharuru
Title: Nga Kaawai O Te Kopu Series, #2

Artist: Ross, Andrew
Title: Dismantled Gates, Shed 21

Artist: Wilson, LW
Title: Lake Wakatipu from the 25 Mile Peak

Artist: Brodsky, A & Utkin, I
Title: Columbarium Architecturae (Museum of Disappearing Buildings)

Artist: Dumini, Adolfo
Title: Henrietta?

Artist: Schreiter, Johannes
Title: Hameln Fazit 35/1976/F

Artist: Shay, Robert
Title: Untitled [double-walled vessel, blown-glass]

Artist: Shay, Robert
Title: Rouge Royale

Artist: Wilson, LW
Title: Lake Wanaka, Otago

Artist: Simmons, W.H
Title: [Seated old woman and child]

Artist: Brown, Elliott James
Title: Cuba St, Wellington

Artist: Weeks, John
Title: Parisian Facades

Artist: Black, Peter
Title: Woman and Lizard, Wellington Zoo

Artist: Lusk, Doris
Title: [Roses - Still life] Flowers?

Artist: Warren, Robert
Title: [Still life - pottery and fruit]

Artist: Black, Peter
Title: Moore's Antiques, Wellington

Artist: Turner, Dennis Knight
Title: [Nude]

Artist: Picasso, Pablo
Title: The Bull

Artist: Blomfield, Charles
Title: Maori canoe

Artist: Nakazyo, Kumio
Title: Indian Corn

Artist: McLeod, Lindsay
Title: 3 Nuns

Artist: Leenards, Gerda
Title: Morning
Media:

Artist: Hotere, Ralph, Culbert, Bill
Title: Fault

Artist: Lennie, Jean
Title: H. Temple White O.B.E., 1958

Artist: Matchitt, Paratene
Title: Waharoa [Bird Gate] from the Installation Nga Tohu no Te Wepu, 1990

Artist: Taepa, Ngataiharuru
Title: Nga Kaawai O Te Kopu Series, #1

Artist: Petone Technical Institute
Title: Te Pou O Witako

Artist: Petone Technical Institute
Title: Te Pou Tauiwi

Artist: Black, Peter
Title: Rainbow's End

Artist: Weigall, Henry
Title: Bust of the Duke of Wellington
Media: Metal

Artist: Morell, Joan
Title: Sir Michael Fowler

Artist: Anderson, Sue
Title: Untitled [abstract horses in field]

Artist: Waggstaff, C.E
Title: Portrait of Field Marshall, His Grace The Duke of Wellington K.G

Artist: Walsh, John
Title: Untitled

Artist: Hodgkins, Frances
Title: Stall holders

Artist: Tapper, Garth
Title: The Club

Artist: Svenson, Jessie Edith
Title: Part of Lambton Harbour in Port Nicholson

Artist: Bruck, Stella
Title: Centenary Exhibition N.Z. 1940

Artist: Cole, William
Title: Wellington Harbour on the occasion of the opening of the old Band Rotunda, Oriental Bay as swimming changing sheds.

Artist: Petherick, Jnr, James
Title: Wellington New Zealand 1842 in New Zealand woods

Artist: Hanly, Patrick
Title: Pacific Hope

Artist: Maddox, Allen
Title: Flower piece

Artist: Brown, Nigel
Title: Suburban Clothes Line

Artist: Day, Melvin
Title: Bull

Artist: McCormack, Thomas Arthur
Title: Lilies

Artist: McCormack, Thomas Arthur
Title: Apples

Artist: Estall, Stephen
Title: [Untitled]

Artist: Estall, Stephen
Title: [untitled]

Artist: Lai, Richard
Title: Windy Point

Artist: Wong, Brent
Title: Clouds, Island, Dunes

Artist: Enting, Brian
Title: Rangihiroa's mirror

Artist: Comley, Dorothy
Title: Port View

Artist: Comley, Dorothy
Title: Houses in Nepal

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Riviera

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Red T-shirt with arms

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Man of Steel with Plastic Phallus

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Red helmet with leather

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Clown to Clown

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Red stool with legs

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Hand and Foot 1

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Hand and Foot 2

Artist: Price, Neil
Title: Reluctant Swimmer

Artist: Lee-Johnson, Eric
Title: The Puriris

Artist: Nicholson, W.M
Title: [untitled]

Artist: Nicholson, W.M
Title: Untitled

Artist: Hos, Kees
Title: Lost City

Artist: MacLennan, Stewart Bell
Title: [Visitors from the city]

Artist: Webb, Marilyn
Title: Lake Mahinerangi 5

Artist: White, Robin
Title: Southland Monkey Puzzle

Artist: White, Robin
Title: Red Barn, Lincoln

Artist: White, Robin
Title: Self-portrait with Conrad and shells

Artist: Kay, Robin
Title: Pohutukawa

Artist: Kay, Robin
Title: Windows

Artist: Kay, Robin
Title: Red Dawn

Artist: Wilkinson, Lester
Title: Margaret with Pincushion

Artist: Ngan, Guy
Title: Series Six Variation

Artist: Quirk, Bonnie
Title: Entry into ( Brown state)

Artist: Woollaston, Tosswill
Title: Makara

Artist: Drawbridge, John
Title: Girl at Window No.1

Artist: Hamon, Rei
Title: [Manuka with spider web]

Artist: Leitch, Peter G.
Title: Kapiti Island, North Island, NZ

Artist: Smither, Michael
Title: [Mount Taranaki]

Artist: Hanly, Patrick
Title: Ginko Garden

Artist: Greig, Rhondda
Title: [Day Closes]

Artist: Taylor, Cynthia
Title: Conversation 1.

Artist: Leitch, Peter G.
Title: Ngauruhoe

Artist: Park, Lyndsay
Title: Home-smoked produce

Artist: Fanning, Joan
Title: Tree Ferns

Artist: Lovell, Sylvia
Title: Sailing, Lake Horowhenua

Artist: Lovell, Sylvia
Title: Lake Horowhenua

Artist: Lovell, Sylvia
Title: Plimmerton in Storm

Artist: Laurenson, Olive
Title: Girl in Red Head Dress

Artist: Blair, Philippa
Title: Aeroplane Angel

Artist: Hanly, Patrick
Title: Butterfly Vacation

Artist: Leahy, Tony
Title: Autumn Leaves

Artist: Edwards, Victoria
Title: Untitled

Artist: Thompson, Robert M
Title: The Appearance of Red Tracks No. 2

Artist:
Title: Ratana Church, Raetihi

Artist: Aalst, van
Title: Bay of Islands

Artist: Pratt, John
Title: Bird of Paradise

Artist: Blake, Jamie
Title: Mitre Peak

Artist: Cleavin, Barry
Title: The hungry sheep looks up

Artist: Drawbridge, John
Title: Interior with Bottles

Artist: Kay, Mary
Title: Portrait of the artist as a weighing virgin

Artist: Elliot, Margaret
Title: Baring Head through rocks

Artist: Cornwell, Graeme
Title: Grit 200 Mr. Judd's Roof

Artist: Baker, Richard
Title: Ngauruhoe

Artist: Livick, J.M
Title: Phil and Pete

Artist: Tricker, Gary
Title: The Beginning To travel is a better thing than to arrive- R.L. Stevenson

Artist: Tricker, Gary
Title: The matter of time/The easy rider

Artist: Markham, Shirley
Title: City Series 3

Artist: Shepheard, Carole M
Title: Dream Weaver

Artist: Dolores, Edward
Title: Night Garden

Artist: Ransom, Peter
Title: The Mauve Bridge

Artist: Watkins, Denys
Title: Research

Artist: Thomson, Elizabeth
Title: Exploring new territory

Artist: Bishop, Merle
Title: Too Late

Artist: Abbott, Liz
Title: Rachel and Nick

Artist: Elliott, Reiko
Title: Kurumabiki (Kabuki Series)

Artist: Elliott, Reiko
Title: Tsuchigumo (Kabuki Series)

Artist: Lander, Mark
Title: Pacific Trilogy

Artist: Burrows, Karel
Title: Chair 1

Artist: Burrows, Karel
Title: Lonely

Artist: McIntosh, Fiona, Watson, Tania
Title: Botanic Gardens

Artist: Nicholas, Darcy
Title: Hine Rangi

Artist: Nicholas, Darcy
Title: Lord of the Forest

Artist: Chadwick, Katherine A
Title: Woman with Head; Urinal Mrs fish Theatrical Production Poster for 2 plays by Mark Casson at Bats Theatre, Wellington.

Artist: Feu'u, Fatu
Title: Manaia
Media: Paper

Artist: Watson, Ruth
Title: An introduction to gaming

Artist: Hotere, Ralph
Title: A Union Jack

Artist: Muru, Selwyn
Title: Nga Tuupuna o te whenua

Artist: Reynolds, John
Title: Blind Prophet

Artist: Chilcott, Gavin
Title: Opiated Wine Jars and Heart Pot

Artist: Ellis, Robert
Title: Kuparu

Artist: Kahukiwa, Robyn
Title: Wai Tangi

Artist: Waru-Rewiri, Kura te
Title: Whakapapa

Artist: McIntyre, Mary
Title: Moa Summer 1.

Artist: Feu'u, Fatu
Title: Pale Auro

Artist: Hellyar, Christine
Title: Germinal

Artist: Tuck, Barbara
Title: Repetitions

Artist: Frizzell, Dick
Title: Just outside Taumarunui

Artist: McWhannell, Richard
Title: Untitled (Three heads in profile)

Artist: Matchitt, Paratene
Title: Tuamata kahawai

Artist: Dolezel, Jenny
Title: Love Picture

Artist:
Title: Maori carving

Artist: Watkins, Denys
Title: Parkinson's Study

Artist: Markham, Philip
Title: Waiting For a Start

Artist: Billich
Title: Reach for the Sky

Artist: Tuffery, Michel
Title: A'ai Siva, A' ai Siva, A' ai Siva

Artist: New Zealand Illustrated
Title: Print of: Te Heuheu's Old Pa of Waitahanui, at Taupo Lake, by George French Angas

Artist: New Zealand Illustrated
Title: Print of: Volcano of Tongariro with Motupoi Pah from Roto-aire Lake, by George French Angas

Artist: New Zealand Illustrated
Title: Print of: Mount Taranaki, War canoe, by George French Angas

Artist: New Zealand Illustrated
Title: Print of: Motupoi Pah and Roto-aire Lake Tongariro in the distance, by George French Angas

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: Print of: Louis Le Breton, Port Otago 1840

Artist: Hocken Library
Title: Print of: Charles Henry Kettler, View of Part of Dunedin, and Upper Harbour, from Stafford Street

Artist: Government Printer
Title: Print of: Charles Heaphy, Lambton Harbour and Wellington, April 1841

Artist: Hill, Faye
Title: Central Otago

Artist: Hill, Faye
Title: Central Otago 2

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, View looking down Hawkestone Street, Wellington, with Mr Brees' cottage. [1845?]

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, Makaenuku Pa

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, Barrett's Hotel and Lambton Quay, Wellington ca.1843

Artist: Avon Fine Prints Ltd
Title: Print of: Samuel Brees, The Aglionby Arms (Burchams)

Artist: Petherick, Jnr, James
Title: Petone 1839
Media: Wood

Artist: UNKNOWN
Title: John Plimmer

Artist: Esplin, Tom
Title: Blues and Ochres

Artist: Bett, Elva
Title: Still Life, Flowers

Artist: Laurenson, Olive
Title: Windswept Trees

Artist: Hiruma, Kazuyo
Title: Memories of Water 1

Artist: Hiruma, Kazuyo
Title: Memories of Water 2,3, 4, and 5

Artist: Kahukiwa, Robyn
Title: He Tatai Whetu

Artist: Moffitt, Trevor
Title: Looking and Talking

Artist: Moffitt, Trevor
Title: MacKenzie the sheep stealer

Artist: Pearson, Jacky
Title: Save the Children BT Global Challenge yacht

Artist: Webb, Marilyn
Title: Protection work-pale poppy 2

Artist: Zusters, Jane
Title: 'Stepping of the Planet' (for Marcus)

Artist: Faulkener, Neil
Title: See-saw, Majory Daw

Artist: Faulkener, Neil
Title: Little Boy Blue

Artist: Faulkener, Neil
Title: Little Bo-peep

Artist: Faulkener, Neil
Title: Nuts an' May

Artist: Buckley, Andrew
Title: Portrait of Elizabeth R & Philip

Artist: Richmond, Dorothy Kate
Title: Smoke Haze over Nelson

Artist: Wells, Kate
Title: Wellington rug

Artist: Gauldie, Matt
Title: Portrait of Mark Blumsky, Mayor

Artist: Heath, Eric
Title: That'll Teach Them...

Artist: Frizzell, Dick
Title: Portrait of Fran Wilde, Mayor

Artist: Tuffery, Michel
Title: Calvery Lua'a

Artist: Edmonds, Jacqueline
Title: Cat-in-a-basket.

Artist: Wynn, Colin C
Title: Tasting the Southerly: HMNZS Wellington From Barretts Reef

Artist: McKee & Gamble
Title: Print of: Luke Nattrass sketch City of Wellington, New Zealand 1841

Artist: McNabb
Title: Adelaide 11

Artist: Cowan, Roy
Title: Wellington

Artist: Reidy
Title: Wellington's Eco House - 9 Regent Street Newtown

Artist: Drawbridge, John
Title: Flight

Artist:
Title: [untitled - carpet]

Artist: Small, Kate
Title: Thorndon Pool

Artist: Schmidt, Sandra
Title: Membrane Dissected

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Taranaki [#1], Wanganui, 17 November 2002

Artist: Aberhart, Laurence
Title: Taranaki, Midhurst, 11 July 1991

Artist: Barrar, Wayne
Title: Twin tunnels, Manapouri Underground Power Station [from the series 'An Expanding Subterra']

Artist: Barrar, Wayne
Title: Moa Point (four viewpoints with accelerated algal growth) from the site of the former sewage outfall [closed 1998], Wellington, 1999/2002

Artist: Morris, Simon
Title: Blue line 54 minutes

Artist: Morris, Simon
Title: Blue line 56 minutes

Artist: Sasaki, Ai
Title: Untitled

Puppy love

Jeff Koon's Balloon Dog at the Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich

Cutting the pie

CNZ Travel Advisory

The following Creative New Zealand staff and Council members will be attending the Biennale to support the exhibitions:
Carla van Zon (Manager International)
Tanea Heke (Project Manager, Venice)
Katrina Smit (Communications Adviser)

Alastair Carruthers, Arts Council Chair
Jenny May, Arts Council member
In the case of the two Council members, Creative New Zealand will only be covering part of the costs associated with their travel/associated costs.

Creative New Zealand will also be covering the costs of:
Commissioner, Jenny Harper
Artists. Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard
Curators Leonhard Emmerling, Heather Galbraith and Francesco Manacorda
Technical Production Manager, Bruce Edgar
The NZ Venue Attendants: Frances Loeffler, Robyn Pickens, Julia Holderness, Thomasin Sleigh, Serena Bentley, Marnie Slater, Ariane Craig-Smith, Shelley Jahnke-Bishop and Simon Glaister

Note: this does not include any personnel that would be required to support the events programme.

Venice Budget

Click on image to enlarge

Formal

Thank you for your response.

We are happy to provide the requested information, however, in some instances the information is either not available (i.e. matters are at the planning stage only, and in some cases, subject to contractual negotiations) or matters are not yet confirmed. I have indicated below, in response to your specific questions, when we expect to be able to provide the information you are seeking:

1. Is Bic Runga going to Venice to support the art shows?
The events to be held in association with the exhibition are still being planned. No final decisions or commitments have been made as yet. We expect to make public announcements about the events/programme from mid- to late April 2009.
2. Are Moana and the Moa Hunters going to Venice?
As for response to (1) above.
3. What is the "reading room" all about? what sort of furniture is being displayed? and how was it transported to Venice?
As for response to (1) above.
4. Where the opening will be held i.e. Francis's venue or Judy's or both?
Answered.
5. What sort of events will be held alongside the Venice exhibitions?
As for response to (1) above.
6. How many CNZ staff and associates will be travelling to Venice including Board members?
We will provide this information when the Creative New Zealand delegation has been confirmed, which we expect to be after the Arts Council meeting to be held in the week following Easter. At this stage, final decisions on attendance have not been made.
7. How is the private fund raising going?
8. We would also like to get a copy of the CNZ Budget for Venice, is that possible?
We will provide budget information after the Arts Council meeting to be held in the week following Easter.

If you would like a more formal response (in terms of the Official Information Act), we would be happy to discuss this with you or provide it, but hopefully this is helpful as an interim response. You can also raise this matter with the Ombudsman if you are not satisfied.

The work has clearly been mistreated and needs attention

Stains, scars and botched repairs on Wellington's Henry Moore sculpture Bronze Form.

More Moore

Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece's large scale and difficult-to-reach areas (created by the curving forms) present unique challenges to the conservation team during the annual cleaning and maintenance. In order to treat every inch of the sculpture, at least six people must work a minimum of three days, using an elaborate system of mechanical lifts, scaffolding, and ladders.

Treatment of Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece begins with a thorough inspection of the sculpture. Next, the team rinses both pieces with water, using a pressure washer on a low setting. The sculpture is then washed with water and a mild, non-ionic detergent without perfumes or colorants. This step is the key to removing the dirt, pollen, and pollutants that disfigure the sculpture. Left untreated, these pollutants would eventually lead to corrosion of the metal and loss of patina. Finally, the sculpture is waxed and buffed. Applied by hand, the protective wax coating (consisting primarily of carnauba wax mixed with other natural and synthetic waxes) preserves the brown-red patina. The highly polished surfaces, however, are especially vulnerable to changes and require additional treatment. These areas are polished with an extremely fine grade of microalumina powder and coated with a synthetic resin before being waxed. The entire sculpture is buffed, both by hand and with mechanical devices.

Image: Bronze Form as it was originally intended as part of Large Figure in a Shelter

Collect them while you can

Callum Arnold; Alexander Bartleet; Dave Beazley; Hannah & Aaron Beehre; Gregory Bennett; Lex Benson-Cooper; Israel Tangaroa Birch; Tracey Black; Benjamin Buchanan; Kushana Bush; Jonathan Campbell; Steve Carr; Liyen Chong; Ruth Cleland; Eddie Clemens; Chris Clements; Matthew Couper; Maryrose Crook; Tjalling de Vries; Matthew Dowman; Julien Dyne; Scott Eady; Lianne Edwards; Thomas Elliott; Matt Ellwood; Simon Esling; Finn Fair; Emma Fitts; Carol Fletcher; Graham Fletcher; Sam Foley; Richard Freestone; Nicola Gibbons; Darren Glass; Jacquelyn Greenbank; Aiko Groot; Sam Hartnett; Ray Haydon; Glen Hayward; Andre Hemer; Kristin Hollis; Sara Hughes; Matt Hunt; Gavin Hurley; Lonnie Hutchinson; Andy Irving; Gina Jones; Simon Kaan; Richard Kearney; Sonia Keogh; Hannah Kidd; Jee Young Kim; Gregor Kregar; Peata Larkin; Hoon Li; Peter Madden; Tim Main; Richard Maloy; Gina Matchitt; Liz Maw; David McCracken; Paulus McKinnon; Andrew McLeod; Gary McMillan; Kim Meek; Peter Miller; Dane Mitchell; Sam Mitchell; Roger Mortimer; Phil Murray; Seung Yul Oh; James Oram; Richard Orjis; Miranda Parkes; Reuben Paterson; Benjamin Pearce; Jessica Pearless; Clinton Phillips; James Robinson; Joe Sheehan; Kathryn Stevens; Matt Summers; Kelcy Taratoa; Lorene Taurerewa; Tim Thatcher; Katie Thomas; Ruth Thomas-Edmond; Martin Thompson; Andy Tolhurst; Mark Ussher; Janna van Hasselt; Krystie Wade; Nick Wall; Rohan Wealleans; Richard Wedekind; Pete Wheeler; Brendon Wilkinson; Sarah Williams; Kate Woods; Wayne Youle.

Editorial

A sinking feeling about Venice
The Dominion Post | Saturday, 28 February 2009


New Zealand's last exhibitor, Merylyn Tweedie - who presented a jumble of wires, boxes, furniture and computers that, according to one reviewer, looked and smelt like a building site - refused to talk to journalists.

The London-based Ms Upritchard also deserves commendation for her candour. No, her art doesn't really have anything to say about New Zealand, she told The Dominion Post. No, she doesn't want it to, and no, she doesn't care.

Clearly Ms Upritchard hails from the same school as David Cerny, the Czech artist who was commissioned by his government to produce a work celebrating the Czech Republic's presidency of the European Union.

It was not until the work, Entropa, was installed at the European Council building in Brussels that anyone noticed he had treated the commission as a practical joke. In a giant, stylised jigsaw puzzle, Bulgaria was depicted as a hole-in-the-floor toilet, Luxembourg as a tiny lump of gold with a "For sale" sign attached to it, France as being on strike and the Netherlands as being under water.

The work, which is still on display and, according to some reports, is appreciating rapidly in value, has generated amusement for those who are not the butt of Mr Cerny's humour, but embarrassed the Czech Government, which had wanted to celebrate the glory of a unified Europe.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that Ms Upritchard's Biennale exhibit will attract anything like the same attention. If it fares anything like Ms Tweedie's, it will sink without trace.

But she operates according to the same principles asMr Cerny. Take the money and cock a snook at thoseout of whose pockets it is coming.

It is costing Creative New Zealand $650,000 to exhibit her work psychedelic-coloured medieval figures and the three-dimensional paintings of fellow exhibitor Judy Millar, who also seems perplexed by the notion that New Zealand should benefit from her presence in Venice.

"I think there is a problem in New Zealand in that New Zealanders seem to want art to be able to be used for some reason," she said.

Ms Upritchard is perfectly entitled to produce psychedelic representations of whatever she likes. The same holds true for Ms Millar. Neither is obliged to focus on New Zealand subjects. Nor are they obliged to explain their work to philistines who are not immediately struck by its brilliance.

But their independent stances would ring truer if they did not rely on funds from New Zealand taxpayers, many of whom are contemplating an uncertain future, to exhibit in Venice.

Perhaps it is Creative NZ that should be answering the questions. Why is it spending more than half a million dollars exhibiting work overseas that says nothing about New Zealand and can be seen only by the handful of New Zealanders wealthy enough to travel to Italy?

Surely it could find a better use for the money. If it cannot, there are plenty of cash-strapped taxpayers who could.

Willingness

Sunday Star Times 22 February 2009. Click on image to read.

Python

Haacke and Connor

Top: Hans Haacke News.
Bottom: Fiona Connor, Notes on Half the Page

Snap

Lamps, on the floor leaning against the wall, Hany Armanious sculpture, art books and Julian Dashper drum skins. Top Hamish McKay, bottom Michael Lett

Art at the movies: The Horses Mouth

Alec Guinness ponders Bratby

MAD Folding