Auckland City Council

Press Release

Quay St Art Exhibition Complements Art on Customs Street Project

A third year group of art students from Elam Art School are putting on an exhibition of their works from this Saturday (24 July).

The exhibition runs from Saturday for two weeks - until 7 August. Opening hours are 10am - 4pm, seven days a week.

The exhibition is being staged at the Northern Steamship Building on Quay Street, which was vacated recently.

Known as the Three Quarters Drawn and Hung exhibition, it will reflect works students have completed during their third year.

Exhibition spokeswoman Christina Mackenzie says the students have a wide range of themes being portrayed in their art work.

The students are planning to run the exhibition for two weeks during business hours, offering a free attraction to inner city visitors. They have produced a poster, which reflects the diversity of the works done by participating students.

Artwork exhibit themes from a range of art students include: A cryptic crossword on stuff liked by James Duthie; a soundpiece on the media titled "Twink is a Reality Whitewash" by Anna B.; Alicia Dowsett takes a look at the changes of her city; Kate Mullins looks at the shifting self image and the fragility of our relationships, bodies and lives; Natchez Hudson’s work attempts to deal with the notion of an objective ‘truth’; Joonhee Park explores her personal experiences and identity as she expresses herself through paintings reminescent of her Korean background; Peter Rieve’s paintings take the theme of Inclusion versus Exclusion; Suzanne Ashmore seeks to move the viewer beyond the landscape into a new understanding of spaces, pathways and fragments reminscent of building, human habitation, the sea and the land; while Christina McKenzie has worked with various media such as wax and bitumen, as she returns to her life’s first love - art.

The exhibition will complement the The Art in Custom Street Project, which is a cooperative exhibition that is bringing two Custom St buildings alive with exhibits from inner city galleries.

Eleven of Auckland’s commercial galleries are showcasing a range of their sculptures and artworks through that project, which was opened last week by Mayor Christine Fletcher. A large number of dealers and sponsors are bringing new life to the inner city, through the project. The art is mainstream - and the display windows will change throughout the exhibition period.

Eleven windows will display artworks in total - nine in Customs Street and two around the corner in Commerce St. They will appear both in the old Sofrano and the Levy Buildings. The Sofrano building, including its facade, will be preserved in the Britomart project. Other buildings involved in the Art on Customs St project will also be restored as part of the heritage preservation plans for the Britomart project. The Northern Steamship Building is also being preserved through the project work.

Both events are supported by Council through a $15,000 City Attractions Committee grant - as the new Council saw the artworks projects as an opportunity to make the inner city "Alive and Exciting". The events have been organised by Auckland City Property, the City Attractions Committee and art commentator Hamish Keith. Hamish has had the support of a range of commercial sponsors committed to his goal of bringing a temporary lease of new life to this part of town. Sponsors have built in the windows, and provided the paint and lighting.

© Scoop Media

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