Headway: New Artist Show 2006
Installation view of Headway - New Artists Show 2006.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Tessa Laird, The Sweet Potato and Oceania, 2006, acrylic over photocopied A4 paper.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Tessa Laird, The Sweet Potato and Oceania, 2006, acrylic over photocopied A4 paper.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Fiona Connor, Headway – Long Gallery, 2006, ink on paper.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Clare Noonan, Trace (re-mapped), 2004-6, work on paper.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Clare Noonan, Track, 2004, wax and found compass.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Andrew Barber, Wall Painting, Washroom (ARTSPACE – Auckland), 2006, acrylic on linen.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Martin Basher, The Western Way: Scene 2, 2006, acrylic on butterfly and various media.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Andrew Barber, Breaks a leg, 2004, oil on du-kit (modelling compound).
Collection of Michael Lett.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Robert Hood, badmoonrisingbadmoonrisingbadmoonrising, 2006, Michangelo ceiling tiles, sound loops and video.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Martin Basher, The Western Way: Scene 3, 2006, 18 caret gold-plated drum and various media.
The Western Way: Scene 1, 2006, tinned meat product and various media
Fiona Connor, Working title, 2006, glass, stainless-steel plated copper, silicon and vinyl
Andrew Barber , Wall Painting, Washroom (ARTSPACE – Auckland), 2006, acrylic on linen
Robert Hood, thousmitetheedownthousmitetheedown, 2006, led print on aluminium and New Age Power Mix, 2006, video.
Photographer: Jennifer French.
Andrew Barber
Martin Basher
Fiona Connor
Robert Hood
Tessa Laird
Claire Noonan
Curated by Brian Butler & Laura Preston
The annual Artspace new artists' exhibition highlights contemporary art practice in New Zealand, which is new and vital. In 2006, the six artists had the opportunity to realise their work in a larger context.
It is a problematic premise seeking the new, as the question always arises 'what is new?' and the assumption exists that the new is always better. Therefore this selection of artists was less about the new and more of a glimpse at the dynamism and momentum of contemporary art in New Zealand at the time. The show hoped to reflect this by presenting six individual artists who are making headway as critical voices.
Andrew Barber lives and works in Auckland and is co-director of artist initiative rm103 Gallery. Since 2002 he has been exhibiting in artist-run spaces throughout New Zealand and Australia.
After studying art at New York's Columbia University, Martin Basher returned to Wellington in 2005 to focus on his work. His interdisciplinary practice considers the environmental and social implications of consumption in our contemporary age.
Fiona Connor graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 2003 and is a founding member of artist-run Special Gallery in Auckland. She has exhibited in artist-initiated spaces throughout New Zealand.
Robert Hood lives in Christchurch and holds a BFA from Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury. He has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Christchurch, Dunedin and Melbourne, as well as managing SOFA Gallery in 2003 and 2004.
Tessa Laird is an Auckland-based writer and artist. Currently completing her Masters at Elam School of Fine Arts and lecturing in Contextual Studies at Manukau School of Visual Art, she balances dual interests in writing and making.
Christchurch-based Clare Noonan completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the University of Canterbury in 2003. She has exhibited in a number of group shows in artist-run spaces in Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington.
In keeping with the exhibition, emerging graphic designer Kentaro Yamada and six new writers contributed to an online catalogue. Auckland-based artist Yamada balances his practice between art and design. He has also studied and tutored at Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. The writers for this show include Stephen Cleland, Vanessa Coxhead, Amy Howden-Chapman, Simon Ingram and Andrea Low.