November 11, 2010
It has been a long time since we have seen anything like a major show from painter Wellesley Binding. This makes “@ WORK”, his current exhibition at the Hastings City Art Gallery, all the more important. Spanning the last twelve years, it gives a full insight into the thinking and influences that are shaping his [...]
July 18, 2010
Artists need art dealers. That is a simple necessity for a healthy art scene. While some artists are brilliant at self-promotion, most are better off concentrating on creating, leaving the selling to a specialist. A good dealer is much more than a kind of high-class vacuum cleaner salesperson. The best dealers are in the business [...]
April 9, 2010
Hastings City Art Gallery – April 10-June 27 2010 It has taken awhile, but Creative Hawke’s Bay has got the formula right for this year’s Invitationals exhibition. The old Hawke’s Bay Review had been in decline and was replaced by the Invitationals which revived standards and artist participation. A stand-down policy provided opportunities for fresh [...]
December 12, 2009
This is the season when columnists produce “best of the year” lists – best books, best films etc. Well, I don’t have “best” artists but, for what it is worth, I have ten local artists whose work I have found especially engaging this year. Chris Bryant of Toi Mairangi takes strength from past artists and [...]
November 16, 2009
Exhibition at Judith Anderson Gallery, Kereru Road, Maraekakaho Ten years can be a long time in art and, since the late 19th century, each decade has stamped its own identity upon art history. Seen This Century exhibition, at Judith Anderson’s Maraekakaho gallery, surveys some of the artists who have emerged on the New Zealand art [...]
August 6, 2009
The Hastings City Art Gallery (HCAG) is my favourite space in New Zealand for viewing art works. Both the space and the light are sufficiently generous to accommodate the largest contemporary work and yet flexible enough to provide intimate areas for small scale work. It could and should be the jewel in the crown of [...]
June 9, 2009
Quite simply, “The Labours of Herakles” exhibition by Marian Maguire now at the Hastings City Art Gallery is the most interesting and satisfying exhibition of New Zealand art that I have seen for some time. The works are lithographs and etchings, that is, limited edition prints made by the artist. Printmaking has become less fashionable [...]











