Aotearoa Art Fair Returns to Auckland
By Aotearoa Art Fair
Gow Langsford Gallery’s booth at the 2022 Aotearoa Art Fair, Auckland. Photo by Luke Foley-Martin. Courtesy Aotearoa Art Fair.
New Zealand’s premier showcase of contemporary art, Aotearoa Art Fair, will return to The Cloud in Auckland from March 2 to 5 with a roster of international galleries from Seoul, Jakarta, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Rarotonga, and Oxford, alongside the best galleries from New Zealand.
Many regulars will be returning, including local galleries Michael Lett, Gow Langsford, Starkwhite, and Bergman Gallery, as well as Wellington’s Jhana Millers and Bartley & Company Art, while 12 new galleries will be participating for the first time. Upstairs in the mezzanine space will be four young galleries who will make the trip across the Tasman Sea for their Aotearoa Art Fair debut: NAP Contemporary (Mildura), Savage Garden (Melbourne), Haydens (Melbourne), and Laila (Sydney), all of whom will be showcasing a raft of interesting works.
The 2023 edition will include acclaimed practitioners such as John Pule at Gow Langsford Gallery (Auckland), Yona Lee with Fine Arts gallery (Sydney), and Paul Yore who’s showing at Station (Melbourne / Sydney). Also on view are emerging artists Travis MacDonald and Gian Manik, both presented by Laila. Elsewhere, Robin White, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated artists, will be shown by Two Rooms Gallery (Auckland).
ROBYN KAHUKIWA, Tuakiri, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 76 × 76 cm. Courtesy the artist and Season, Auckland.
An Aotearoa Art Fair debutant, Auckland-based Season gallery will showcase a curated assemblage of works of four artists: paintings by Jade Townsend and Robyn Kahukiwa, furniture by Emile Drescher, and clay works by Maia McDonald.
Another first-timer at the Fair, NAP Contemporary will present the energetic, experimental, and transformative spirit of the Tennant Creek Brio artist collective, a group that brings a dynamic interplay of street art and art activism to the contemporary art scene.
Outdoor Sculpture Space, presented in partnership with Audi, at the 2022 Aotearoa Art Fair, Auckland. Photo by Luke Foley-Martin. Courtesy Aotearoa Art Fair.
Overlooking the Waitematā Harbour, the outdoor Sculpture Space, presented in partnership with Audi, is a visitor favorite. This year, the Sculpture Space will include work by Hannah Valentine (Page Galleries, Wellington) and Ray Haydon (Sanderson Contemporary, Auckland), among others. For those seeking something on a more modest scale, they will find Glen Hayward’s unexpectedly charming creations at the booth of Gisborne-based gallery Paulnache, and Nell’s symbolically charged rock n’ roll sculptures at Station’s booth.
CLAUDIA KOGACHI, Dolphins in Love, 2022, wool, 16 × 17 m. Courtesy the artist and Jhana Millers Gallery, Wellington.
This year’s “one-to-watch” is Auckland-based artist Claudia Kogachi, who will present a miscellany of works in a solo presentation with Jhana Millers Gallery (Wellington). Oscillating between painting and textile, the artist hums the same energy throughout. With playful ease, Kogachi embraces ugliness, with no subject or bodily aspect too taboo for the canvas.
The fair’s Talks Program will be offering enlightening conversations. Curated by Christina Barton of Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery, with support from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, the program will present a series of panel discussions designed to stimulate public debate. Similarly, there will be a comprehensive schedule of artist talks on gallery stands, where visitors can get to know the people behind the works.
A true testament to its position as the wellspring of artistic talent from New Zealand, the Aotearaoa Art Fair is a must-visit for the culturally curious.
The Aotearoa Art Fair will be on view at The Cloud, Auckland, from March 2 to 5, 2023. Tickets are on sale now via the Fair website, www.artfair.co.nz.
* This post is presented by the Aotearoa Art Fair.
