Surrealist Art

Te Papa are holding an exhibition of Surrealist art at the moment. This is likely to be very popular, so we decided that a Tuesday morning would be a good time to go along as it wouldn’t be as crowded as at the weekend. Our best-laid plan included breakfast at The Larder, then we headed into town and parked at Te Papa. 

As expected, there weren’t many people there, and we were able to make our way through the exhibition, spending as much time as we wanted. The exhibition documents the Surrealist movement, how it grew out of the Dadaist movement, which itself was a response to the horrors of trench warfare in World War One. They had many significant paintings and other works on loan from around the world, including several by Salvador Dali, the best-known proponent of Surrealism. There were also some sculptures, books and films, and a display which recreates the painting Not To Be Reproduced by Rene Magritte:

 

There was also this famous sofa: 

So if you want some serious art, go see this exhibition.

Van Gogh Alive

Van Gogh Alive is an exhibition of Van Gogh’s works, projected and set to music. Some pieces are also animated. It’s been all round the world and is currently in several cities – St Petersburg, Mexico City, Birmingham, Sydney and Zurich, as well as New Zealand. The whole thing tells the story of Van Gogh’s artistic life, from Netherlands to Paris, Arles, Saint Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise. It also contains biographical details and excerpts from his letters to family and friends. It’s travelled around the world and has been in Wellington before, in 2020, when it was an outdoors exhibition. For its return they’ve moved it indoors to the TSB Arena.

We went on a Monday morning to try to avoid the crowds, and were reasonably successful in that – there were only a few people in the exhibition. Before entering the projection room there’s a display of his art and the various phases of his work, so you can follow his artistic development. There’s also a mock-up of his bedroom at Arles, the subject of one of his paintings, in which you can stand to have your picture taken.

The projection runs on a loop lasting around half an hour or so. We’d joined it near the end, so waited whilst it completed, then took us back to the start. Slightly out of kilter, but it didn’t make much difference to us. We stood, then sat, through the show, as people wandered around and children played on the floor projections. 

At the end there’s a room full of sunflowers and mirrors in which to take your picture as well. Finally, exit through the gift shop, where we bought some fridge magnets.

So, is it any good? Well, the difference between getting up close to the actual pictures in a gallery is obvious. On the other hand, all the pictures are in various galleries around the world, so your chances of seeing them all together depends on there being a major exhibition. And then being able to get to it. It also provides a pretty good potted history of Van Gogh’s paintings, styles and influences. So overall it gets a thumbs up from me, and a thumbs up from her.

Afterwards we went to lunch at a new place we’d spotted when we parked the car: The Lab, which appears to be the bigger brother of the one we visited a few months ago on Victoria Street. Apparently there’s four of them now in Wellington. Anyway, tasty food, but no beverage license so had to have soft drinks or water. It turns out it’s been there a while, actually, but as we don’t visit this part of town with any kind of regularity, we’d missed it.

 

 

Paintvine

Paintvine is an activity company that provides people with an outlet for their creativity. And wine. Wine is an important part of it. They organise events where you drink wine , then paint a picture. Our evening was organised through the Friends of Te Papa, and took place inside the museum, after hours.

We started off with a glass of wine and some nibbles, and then learned about the picture that we were going to paint, from curator Rebecca Rice. This is one of many colour paintings done by John Gerrard Keulemans for Buller’s Birds of New Zealand – the first definitive book of New Zealand’s birds, published in the early 1870s. The first edition of the original books were produced to order – you had to pay in advance, as they were all hand-painted over lithograph prints. The bird selected for us is the kākāpō, New Zealand’s rare, flightless parrot.

Before beginning, Debbie Anderson (the artist in charge) gave us some helpful tips about how to draw, what colours to use, how to mix colours (we were using watercolours, but other events use different media), and generally make sure we knew what we were doing. No experience is necessary, and all the materials are provided for you. Importantly, they also clear up after you! We donned aprons and set about recreating Keulemans’ masterpiece.

 First, outline of the bird. We used a grid system to make sure we were getting the proportions right. 

Second, complete the details: 

Finally, apply paint.

 

This is my effort...

...and Nicola's interpretation

I know, I know. Indistinguishable from the original!

We took the paintings home and are now considering framing options.

 

 

More Gisborne

The next day we took ourselves off to Toihoukura, School of Māori Art and Design, which is just up the road. We arrived by 10:00 and had a look at the art in the gallery – the second year students’ end-of-year exhibition – before taking a seat and having a talk given by the principal lecturer, Derek Lardelli. He explained the principles of the school, why it is important, and how It is attracting people from all around New Zealand to study and practice modern Māori art. Some of it is using traditional methods and materials, but there is also a lot pieces using more modern techniques and ideas, including digital technology. Some of the students were also present so were able to talk to us about their particular artworks and inspiration. We bought a piece that was a combination of traditional and modern.

Afterwards, we had lunch in a café in Gisborne before walking to our next point of interest, the Tairāwhiti Museum. There we explored the exhibitions and were led on a guided tour, which included the next-door ‘C’Company Memorial House. This is a memorial to the members of ‘C’ Company of the ANZAC, the Māori Battalion, in two world wars, as well as continued service in Malaya, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. This section of the tour was delivered by a former officer who was able to bring to life the stories of the Māori in Gallipoli and also in WW2, particularly the exploits of Haane Manahi. We then switched guides and went with one of the curators of the museum, who gave us some insights into the current collection and efforts to repatriate taonga Māori currently held by overseas museums, particularly in the UK and Germany; she also took us underground to the archives to show us some artworks and other objects not currently on display.

Our next port of call was a visit to a Jack Richards’ house, gallery and garden in Okitu. The gardens are extensive and we explored them for about an hour before returning to the house and admiring the artwork on display. We’d already seen some of it at Tairāwhiti Museum where it is on loan at the moment.

Our return journey included a visit to the lookout up the top of Titirangi Hill, where Captain Cook first came ashore in New Zealand. We took pictures of Young Nick’s Head, the headland opposite named after the Endeavour’s surgeon’s loblolly boy, Nick Young…who was young (12) at the time. He was in the crow’s nest and first to sight land which turned out to be New Zealand.

In the evening we went for dinner at the Marina Restaurant, on the banks of the Waimatā river. After starting with shared platters of Gisborne produce (meats, avocados, asparagus etc.) there were two options for main - beef fillet or snapper, not dissimilar to last night’s. As we were a large group of 40+, they’d come up with a novel arrangement to serve it: alternating meat and fish, and you had to negotiate with your partner or neighbour about who got what! The same applied to the dessert – a kiwifruit & coconut concoction or chocolate panna cotta. A bit odd. Nevertheless, it was all quite well-cooked and tasty.