New art is always arriving at ZIMMERMAN – and this month is no exception. 

We're exhibiting new works by Angela Tier, Sean Crawford and Ian Chapman – on display now until Sunday 27 June. Come take a look!

 

 

 

 

Angela Tier - coiled stoneware sculptures:

She does not know how, but they found her

This installation of three cat figures reflects on the feelings experienced on receiving a diagnosis of terminal illness.

 

The relationship between the figures is a reminder of the mortal cycle of birth, life, and death; the child-like winged spirits stand ready to guide the central mother figure on a journey from which she will not return.

 

An unpleasant dream
Will I wake up tomorrow?
They have come for me
Going to yonder
I see the clouds gathering
Where the winged cats fly

 

Exhibited as a single installation for the 2021 Whanganui Patillo Arts Review at Sarjeant Gallery, now the sculptures are individually available … and preparing to travel to their new homes.

 

Angela Tier - photographic image:

She who haunts me

 

Before 2016, photography was the key focus of Angela Tier's studio practice.

 

In the photographic portrait She who haunts me, the artist reflects on the desire, from our colonial past, to import exotic birds to New Zealand.

 

Peafowl were imported in the 1840s as ornamental birds. Only a few people could afford to keep them as pets, or to pay for taxidermy so the birds could be proudly displayed after death.

 

The peacock, in particular, is symbolically associated with vanity; the character of which is reflected in the model's haughty expression and pose.

 

The majestic, exotic feathers adorn her like an elaborate cloak, a pelt she wears with pride, reflecting her thoughts as to her social status.

 

The work can be viewed as a reflection on attitudes from times past, and their relevance and place today. 

 

As to the fate of peafowl - the birds brought to New Zealand have long since escaped captivity, and feral populations have established in the wild.

 

Some local farmers now consider them to be pests, and are seeking to find ways to tackle the perceived peafowl problem.

 

Sean Crawford – steel sculptures:

 

Lost in Translation

 

Direct from the studio of Wairarapa artist Sean Crawford are three new wall-mounted steel sculptures: Kowhai, Whero and Kikorangi.

 

- Kowhai features a standard Police issue glock, fashioned from yellow kowhai flowers. 

 

- Whero is a stylised section of a prison door, composed from bright red pohutukawa blooms.

 

- Kikorangi takes the form of a surveillance camera, fabricated from kopakopa (Chatham Island forget-me-nots).

 

The artist says "I remember, as a school aged child, my introduction to learning Maori. Being taught colours was a cultural gateway to understanding. Within this series of works, I have approached that colour reference as ‘primary swatches’, blocks of colour that pass their reference point without misinterpretation. 

 

I have chosen to use botanical motifs in these works to highlight an innocent exchange, native flower to colour. This also strengthens the idea that a balanced respectful exchange of cultures incorporates indigenous people, and the flora and fauna of the land.

 

As the flowers become corrupted in form and meaning, they are subverted to shapeshift into objects of oppression. These manifestations (or distortions) reflect a reality of restriction, repression and persecution, as humanness becomes ‘lost in translation’.”

 

Ian Chapman – new paintings: celebrating curves!

 

Rounding out the featured works this month are the quirky and colourful paintings of Ian Chapman.

 

Recently Chapman discovered Hilda, a "plus-size pin-up girl" who gingered up American calendars from the 1950s to the 1980s.

 

Created by illustrator Duane Bryers, the rambunctious redhead was a fun and energetic country girl, not at all shy about her plump body and often engaged in innocent escapades.

 

In Chapman's hands, the voluptuous leading lady features in the most surreal situations, yet seems blissfully unaware of the strangeness of her curious – and often dangerous - circumstances.

 

In Two Can Play at That Game, Chapman borrows the iconic imagery of a carefree girl on a tyre-swing. But Chapman transports us to a frightfully fantastical setting, in which the shapely swinging lady is airily held aloft by a king-sized toucan. Just what will happen to our suspended star, when the big-billed bird opens his great beak?

 

In another uncommon scene, Don't Look Down, a bikini-clad babe focuses on balancing upside-down on a tortoise shell. So intense is her concentration she seems unaware of the golden snub-nosed monkey perched on her feet ... or of the gravity-defying feat of the tortoise beneath her, steadying himself on four spindly stands.

 

And when night falls, we might expect our adventurous heroine to at last be safely tucked up in bed. Instead, the red-haired vixen appears to be staying up late, reading from a well-thumbed copy of Fox in Socks, to an enormous fox who has comfortably curled himself around her fleshy thighs …

 

Gallery open hours are 11am to 3pm Thursday to Sunday – come take a look!

 

Featured images:

 

Angela Tier

 

She does not know how, but they found her, coiled stoneware sculptures: central black cat 530 x 330 x 250 mm / blue and green winged cats each approximately 310 x 270 x 180 mm

 

She who haunts me, Ilford gold fibre silk A2 print framed with museum glass, 700 x 490 mm (including frame)

 

Sean Crawford

 

Kowhai (yellow glock), fabricated laser cut steel with automative paint render, 400 x 400 x 40 mm

 

Whero (red prison cell door), fabricated laser cut steel with powder coat render: 400 x 400 x 50 mm

 

Kikorangi (blue surveillance camera), fabricated laser cut steel with powder coat render: 400 x 400 x 290 mm

 

Ian Chapman

 

Two Can Play at That Game (with toucan), acrylic on canvas, 910 x 610 mm

 

Don’t Look Down (with tortoise), acrylic on canvas, 910 x 610 mm

      

Now We Come to Ticks and Tocks, Sir (with fox), acrylic on canvas, 710 x 560