THINKING ABOUT PREPARING ART BITES
have found that I have been truly impressed by Art. I sincerely respect its contribution.
Experiencing the act of looking and listening got me into Art. I put my viewing of early Francis Bacon in a success camp. (1) I saw an exhibition of his paintings in 1971 at Tate Britain. Seeing his 1970s work then picking over his biography, I respected seeing the bull walking off stage at the end of his career. Bulls carry mana.
David Hockney had started painting his two people themes in 1971. (2) He painted wonderfully large canvases.
I did two things when I came home from Europe, Canada and America in 2001, having seen the shock on television of The Twin Towers coming down as soon as I arrived home, I grabbed hold of a need to be in a mood to make more of my own film material. The early 2000s was a productive time for the project I researched for and made in California, New York, Copenhagen and Oregon. After that project I took out the car drive. Then I became engaged for the first time in my life in a voluntary project. In 2018 I undertook six weeks of training to be a volunteer guide at my local Art Gallery. Soon after this, I decided to start giving Art Bites.
I’m a paragraph. Drag me to add paragraph to your block, write your own text and edit me.
I’m a paragraph. Drag me to add paragraph to your block, write your own text and edit me.
Besides looking at current Christchurch exhibitions from which I might select an artwork to talk about, I kept up with North Island Galleries. Sample. Michael Parakowhai puts his Te Papa commission, Detour, in scaffolding. 2018
DETOUR By Michel Parekowhai. 2018. A commissioned work to open a new extended Art Gallery floor 6 at Te Papa
Early Colin McCahon held in scaffolded in Detour. 2018
M
I’m a paragraph. Drag me to add paragraph to your block, write your own text and edit Waistcoast.Waistcoaste.
Waistcoat for Michael Parekowhai. 2016. Photograph by Stephanie Beth. 2016
B_E_T_T_Y . Modified readymade as art. Marcel Duchamp's ordered waistcoat. 1961. Photograph by Stephanie Beth.
Michael Parekowhai commissioned Kate Sylvester to create a waistcoat for Détour 2016. Photograph by Stephanie Beth.
You ask, what was the RED PIANO?The Red PianoHe Korero Purakau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: story of a New Zealand River (2011) This was part of Parekowhai's exhibition to Venice. A piano was played in Venice continuously in Venice in 2011. It was presented to New Zealand audiences, once it returned from Venice Biennale 2015. At City Gallery, Ng Gallery and more. I listened three times at Ng. Parekowhai's Red piano from Venice in 2011 in 2018. Perception of the contemporary form is a learning curve.
I first started thinking about Venice Biennale's in 2011, vis vis New Zealand selections. When I was travelling with David and living with Hilde Goldschmidt, in 1970 and 1973, a whole focus on Venice had occurred. Hilde had been a close friend of Peggy Guggenheim. She had often gadded about with her in the 1950s. All that had followed in European history by the 1940's was a strong substrate of my learning European story.
NG CHRISTCHURCH 2012 Michael Parekowhai's performance Red Steinway piano was at NG in 2012. According to his prescription, volunteers constantly played the Red piano for visiting cultural imbibers at Venice. *The Christchurch experience was significantly and emotionally racking for we locals. Let alone that many of us are familiar with the Jane Mander Story of a New Zealand River, it is known how significant a piano has been as an imported object in migrant colonial life. In 2011 the piano played to weeping people in shock from the high intensity and tragic earthquake we had all just experienced. We stood upstairs above Ng and looked down at Parekowhi's bronze bull below and we listened and listened to the red piano playing. I went to that room three times for solace in 2011.** Can you imagine the agony of choosing to stay in a city downed by a huge earthquake. The change stretched our pain and our imagination.
Bull. by Michael Parekowhai. On First looking into Chapman's Homer. * Madras Street. 2012. Photograph by Stephanie Beth. For the non- poetry reader, the title of this work is a reflection upon a Keats poem. Michael Parekowhai is an artist who looks upon art in culture from quirky sets of tangential angles.
*The Christchurch Art Galley friends purchased the Bull. On First Looking into Chapman's Homer by Michael Parekowhai attracted crowds on Madras St in 2012. It was one of three artworks purchased by the gallery through fundraising. Photo: RICHARD COSGROVE / STUFF
** The loss of NG magnificent showroom for clothing and designed jewelry in a 19 Century building, was a poignant loss for the public when city planning for the new Christchurch Sports Stadium required the geographic space on Madras Street. Sharon Ng, with help, tried for a decade to save the 117- year- old Heritage building. https://www.ngspace.co.nz/ng-building
Bull, and a reference to a Keats poem. Venice. 2011.
Bull. Sitting on bare land across the street from NG on Madrass Street. 2018
In MELODY THREE, see a photograph that I made of the red piano at play 2016, at City Gallery, Wellington
1982
Me. Living in the Arts Center. Christchurch. An apartment above what is now Artist visitor space. 1982
Coincidentally, when I decided to talk Art Bites, other energy was going into display boards around the city. the city also has SCAPE Public Art, an art in the community contribution. Such were the febrile times before Covid! Look into why Parekowhai's Bunnies were never seen in Christchurch square. https://www.scapepublicart.org.nz/about-scape-public-art/
At Te Papa, this announcement was made: In 2012, Over the four weeks He Korero Purakau mo te Awanui o te Motu: story of a New Zealand River will be performed by top musicians including Gareth Farr, Robert Wiremu and Tama Waipara, and at 12.30pm daily by pianists selected to play this unique piano when it was exhibited in Venice.
see a fact update on the actual red piano
A billboard for Antony Gormley for SCAPE PUBLIC ART. Two of his sculptural works titled STAY were a purchase for Christchurch city. 2015, 2016. (Google Gormley) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Gormley Also, a little byline from Kent nd Gormley, 2016 https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/04/22/antony-gormley-sculpture-quietly-removed-and-sold-off-by-uk-council
Thank you Anthony Gormley.
WELLINGTON 2016
In Wellington the day that I visited the City Gallery, Vitrines were on display in a room right next to the Red Piano returned from Venice 2011 and the red piano was being played. These were the works of artist Simon Denny. I decided to make my first talk about Simon Denny.
 I saw a segment piece of Denny’s exhibit, Secret Power (2015) It was some of Denny's assembled vitrines about the Five Eyes Security alliance, once it returned from Venice Biennale 2015. This was, already well advanced by 2015, Denny's energetic knack of assembling object, graphs and ideas about data, whoever in the world was interested in using data. I selected some artists to talk about in ART BITES. Michael Parekowhai's " Poorman, Beggerman, Thief " was one of mine in 2020. Penetratingly, the triggering link to me, was that after I spoke about Denny, I chose to speak about Parekowhai.
References 1. 2 .