Stories

The collaborative week that was

New connections. New ideas. New shows. Jessica Agoston Cleary reflects on October's live shows and looks ahead to future projects.

This piece is adapted from our Artfull Sunday newsletter. Subscribe to receive artfully informed content, every week. 

Words by Jessica Agoston Cleary

Photography by Sam Hartnett & author

Read time 5 minutes

Artists Elliot Collins,Logan Moffat

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The past week at Arcadia at Queens Arcade has been a whirlwind of the best kind. I've had so many enriching conversations and made so many wonderful connections with art lovers of all ages and from all walks of life. Each encounter has been genuinely inspiring and often very moving.

What has struck me most is the true power of art to connect and communicate beyond words. While I may have been doing a lot of talking about art, I have also been doing a lot of observing and listening. There is something quite beautiful in bearing witness to the way a work of art (for all intents and purposes a 'basic' object made of simple materials by human hands) has the capacity to elicit a tangible physical impact on a viewer. I have watched as countless people shift their stance, relax, becoming focused and still as they contemplate and absorb the work of art before them.

The details of what goes through each persons mind is not for me to know. It is their personal, private moment. Yet it is also a shared moment. In holding space with an artwork, be it IRL or online, the viewer connects with the artist, with their ideas, and inevitably adds their own meaning to the work. This silent conversation does not need to be articulated. Yet, sometimes it is.

As I was sitting here writing this email to you, artist Nuala Gregory came into the Artfull HQ space to introduce me to a woman who wanted to buy Rick Allender's 'Villa'. She (the client) told me that she is nearly completely deaf, and that this piece, together with John Pusateri's Polymorph's and Elliot Collins' text work Before You Go each resonated with her on multiple levels. As she gave me her contact details she began to cry. Apologising profusely for being so emotional - a completely unnecessary apology of course, for we must never apologise for feeling - I too began to well up. This is exactly why art matters.

The Weight of Words

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To show art in a historic listed building presents a unique set of challenges, because nothing in the building can be altered. Translated, this means nothing can penetrate the walls. No picture hooks allowed. Rather than being a limitation, this constraint enabled Collins to recontextualise the presentation of his paintings and sculptures, with the cottage itself functioning not just as a space, but as an active collaborator with Collins and each work. 

While Walking (pictured above) was for many visitors the most poignant work in the show. A collection of ‘outsider artists’ landscape paintings, which Collin's had loving salvaged from op shops around the country, were given new life with the addition of his signature poetic words. One word per painting which together formed a moving piece of prose.

Through placing each painting on the floor - out of necessity - the work could be read both literally and philosophically as a moving meditation. A journey across time and space. As your eyes move from one word to the next, the story unfolding slowly, gently, you imagine your feet treading from one golden beach or verdant forrest to another. Yet the landscape created here, on the centuries old floor of the Keepers Cottage is an absolute impossibility; a fictional reality painted into existence by Collins, these unknown others, the cottage itself and each of us who had the privilege of experiencing the work. We animate each scene with our collective memories of Aotearoa, and contemplate what it is to walk this land.

To repurpose these forgotten works in this way is, in Collin's own words, a way to collaborate with and remember these forgotten artists. The care and attention that each unknown painter had given to the subject is clearly evident, and it is with equal care and consideration that Collins used these landscapes to collectively tell a meditative story. The result is truly impactful artwork that occupies the realms of both painting and conceptual art.

Elliot Collins, Icons (unheavenly bodies, scrubbed clean),2022, Acrylic, oil, and gold leaf on found wood from the Waitara beach, washed up after a storm, NZ$1,200.00
Elliot Collins, Icons (unheavenly bodies, scrubbed clean),2022, Acrylic, oil, and gold leaf on found wood from the Waitara beach, washed up after a storm, NZ$1,200.00

Arcadia

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We've talked about Arcadia a lot over the past couple of weeks. If you were one of the thousands of people who came through over the past 10 days, it was great to meet you and connect. From Artfull and all the artists who were part of Arcadia, thank you for your support.

As we keep saying, Artfull exists to make art accessible, to foster connections, and reimagine where art belongs. This past 10 days we have certainly done all this, and more. Arcadia After Dark on Thursday night was an overwhelming success. At one point, there were close to 1000 art loving people filling the historic Queens Arcade.

None of this would have been possible, first and foremost without the artists. Without their work there could be no shows. No conversations about art and creative expression. No expansion of thought, opening of minds or enriching of souls. Such ambitious concepts are also only possible with the support of equally passionate collaborators. So I take this moment to say a special thank you to: Queens Arcade management, Heart of the City, Hendricks Gin and Zenith. 

With the shows now officially drawn to a close, it is my hope that what happened here, that the connections made between artists and new audiences, will be both memorable and lasting.  

Some of the shows will remain on view, including Logan Moffat and Gerry Parke 'Reality Bytes'. Sarah Oostendorp and Yeonjae Choi 'Orbit', Michelle Reid and Jana Wood 'Lurky Spaces' and Tim D. '6 x 6'. If you happen to be downtown, and you missed Arcadia, do stop by.

Logan Moffat, Self portraits through time 2, 2020 - present, Oil on canvas, 700mm (H) x 700mm (W), NZ$1,800
Logan Moffat, Self portraits through time 2, 2020 - present, Oil on canvas, 700mm (H) x 700mm (W), NZ$1,800

Dancing with Myself: A Group Show in 22 Acts

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Another first for Artfull, next Sunday 23rd October sees us collaborating with artist Sarah Oostendorp and the Shepperson's to present a group show at a very special privately owned Waiheke location.

With 22 artists and over 50 artworks - each an interpretation and personal expression of 'the portrait of the artist' - the show challenges what and how identity is articulated, and how ‘the self’ can be presented. Additionally, in bringing together so many artists at varying stages of their career,Dancing With Myself: A Group Show in 22 Acts offers as a survey of contemporary art practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The space and location themselves also warrant special mention. Once again, this is anything but a stereotypical white cube. The Shepperson Center is a purpose built education facility located on Waiheke Island, in stunning Church Bay. With its expansive walls and incredible natural light, the centre offers both a blank canvas (where our curatorial creativity could run wild) as well as a domestic, and therefore relatable atmosphere. The result is once again the space itself performing the role of an active collaborator, adding nuanced context to each work and the show as a whole.