Arie Hellendoorn- Lost in Space

Ripple
Arie Hellendoorn

Layers on layers, fading out, collecting, swelling, but not quite droplets, I could have stared at these for hours. The textures he creates, movement, meiosis, topographical waves ebbing flowing enveloping stark white bleached bones on a shore line.

Arie Hellendoorn’s paintings are biological psychedelia, internal externalised

He uses the paint, actually uses it as paint and appreciates the medium for its unique characteristics. I haven’t been to a painting show in far too long and these works have really made me appreciate paint as a medium again.

{Suite} Gallery you’re awesome. Looking at the artist’s website (LOOK HERE) and starting from 2012, work backwards through his works. What a great insight in to the workings of an artists process. Performance, installation, object, and back to painting, I wonder what the next ten years will produce?

Daniel Betham- What would I do without you

Daniel Betham

This is the first opening I had been to in a long time, I get a bit nervous about going to shows by myself and drink the free wine too fast then leave.

I was lucky to meet a lovely lady named Laura Scheper at the opening, also a practicing artist (see 98 Limes) she was in Wellington for a few days. We talked about the works, and the art scene in Wellington, and Gisborne (she is from the US), and how lovely New Zealanders are. This made me feel like realise I was 100% the reason for New Zealanders having a reputation of loveliness. In that packed out pulsating space we also talked about meeting strangers and having great conversations with the leg of a white plastic chair poking you in the back of the head.

Faux paaaaas, I just admitted to touching the art… I feel like since I have a BFA I’m allowed to touch all the art anyway, “No it’s ok, I’ve done this before, I can touch this, I won’t drop it on its head or anything.” ‘Actually can you just stop leaning on that Ron Mueck sculpture Miss’. But really how else was I going to get a clear picture with the shutter speed that low?

My favourite work in Daniel Betham’s show was the video work of the deck chairs sticking out of a tennis court fence, gyrating, gathering momentum, snapping falling bristling deck-chair-hair it was awesome. If anyone ever went in the Life Education van with Harold and Barbara, this work reminded me of when she made us line up facing each other and pelvic thrust inwards so that we were an oesophagus. It was awkwardly sexual, even at seven years old you don’t want to be thrusting at your classmates (Austin Powers hadn’t made it funny yet).

Daniel is a Massey graduate, like these artists that showed at Enjoy last week. I think I get his work, have you ever watched sport whilst really high? I haven’t, but I can only imagine it would reveal how obscene rugby players look bashing each other with incredible brute animalistic strength, wrestling man meat on man meat.

Anyone know who won the rugby?

Lucy Hughes

Lucy Hughes
Lavender Mauve
Lambda print with oil paint
890 x 890 mm
2012

Did anyone else have sheets like this as a child? Aside from the ones with the happy mouse on them, these were my favourite. Candy pastel stripes, flannelette, almost made you want to go to bed.

Hughes’ work is archival, I really can’t get use to this last name thing especially when it ends with ‘s’, never quite got that. I spend hours looking through old family photographs whenever I go home home. The way these are cropped, faded, impressions of the originals, painted back in to to subtly is just beautiful. Talking to the artists sister, she would refer to each work in reference to the original photograph, something the average viewer is not able to do.  The walls of 30 Upstairs may be gallery stark winter white but numerous rooms, comfortable sofas and chairs and views of rain soaked streets just outside gives it a homely, lived-in feel.

Lucy Hughes
Five Snapshot Backs and One Snapshot Front, 1963 – 1969
Untitled II
Inkjet print on Epson Enhanced Matt 190 gsm paper
153 x 110 cm
Edition of 5
2010

Seeing these works close up is something special, fibrous to the point of becoming flattened Friesians, the photographs look more like prints, and are hung un-framed from pins on the wall. Orientation isn’t important because online they are displayed up the opposite way 🙂 I thought that they were silhouettes, faces and bodies removed and blacked out, they almost are. If you’ve ever ripped photos out of your parent’s albums you’ll be able to recognise the glue smears, black chalky paper fibres and red Kodak stamps on the front/reverse.

Come and buy these works, they are fairly cheap and really stunning. I’m excited to see more from Lucy Hughes, who was also the 2011 Glaister Ennor Graduate Art Award winner. She graduated from Elam in 2012with an MFA, its so good to see recent graduates (and talented ones) getting such good exposure. Thanks 30 Upstairs!

The best thing on Courtney Place

Max Bellamy
Carte Blanche
1:05 – HD video
Edition of 3

30 Upstairs, I read about this gallery on TheBigIdea (I think), and I finally went to a show on Thursday night. After talking to, hold on, listening to other people talk about Law at WYP networking cheap o’ wines (where’s my Man O’ War?) it was a great pleasure to sneak up the staircase beside El Horno and discover 30 Upstairs. I thought that I was going to see some of Max’s photos (because I can’t/don’t bother to read descriptions good and they work so well as stills) but it is actually five video works and two photographs, Borrowed Time is the name of the show, get there!

Can I say that I conducted an interview?

Broughton: Did you dress as a pilot while filming this?

Bellamy: No…

Listening to Max describe how exactly he achieved each shot which involved everything from zip lines to helium balloons and animation was a perfect accompaniment to orange slices and fetal spooning Campari. On edge of Fiordland National Park, the edge of civilisation, bounding through the beech forests and moss after a flying DSLR make believe passenger carrier preventing any dead camera body casualties and planes from smooching trees. Some of the shots in this remind me a lot of Home with the rattling little plane sailing along on its journey, and if you like this take a look at Microcosms.

Max Bellamy
Meme
0:24 loop – HD video
Edition of 3

The rat race that is Invercargill, McDonalds is frequented far more than the art gallery (that pyramid with Henry the Tuatara in it, who has his own blog?). This loop sits beside a film made at Monkey Island which took olympic feats of swimming, flying and gumboot wearing to make. In contrast, Meme is filmed from a stationary spot inside the William Hodges accommodation. Max is pretty flash just by the way, He was the William Hodges Resident in 2011 and stayed in the old white building overlooking the above, just off Gala Street.

I took my friend (also from Southland) to see both exhibitions today because I wanted to listen to the audio again without the excited chatter of an exhibition opening in the background. Interesting to note that neither of us saw Maroon; Blue as being an island because we were very familiar with the land formations in that area. It was wonderful to see someone appreciating the remoteness and inaccessibility (and Monkey-less-ness) of Monkey Island, and now we are both home sick.

I highly recommend braving 140km winds and torrents of water blowing out of the Dixon Street fountain to go and see this show. Follow up with a peanut butter (add chocolate) milkshake from Sweet Mothers Kitchen and some vege tortillas and you’ve just won Saturday.