Pimp My Planet
2 September 2008
Pimp My Planet
Is land (detail) 2008, Simon Shepeard
The aesthetics of degradation are
presented in a new exhibition Pimp My Planet by Simon
Shepheard, which opens at Mary Newton Gallery on Tuesday 9
September.
Shepheard reworks degraded materials such as
wood, steel, old plastics, and flaking paint into
‘environscapes’. He explains “When I started working
with these materials there was considerable social stigma
around them.
My recent work still exploits the redemptive elements within discarded materials and objects. Now they’re re-realised into bleakishly appealing New Zealand environscapes – high relief paintings, often kinetic or containing some transcendental stunt, like glistening materials such as paua or metal parts. These are absorbed into the landscape, implying some kind of environmental tension from years of human excess.”
Pimp My Planet runs from 10 September – 4 October 2008.
ENDS