The Pacific comes to City Gallery Wellington

MEDIA RELEASE May 18 2010

Just in time for winter, the Pacific comes to City Gallery Wellington

Major survey show by John Pule opens at City Gallery Wellington on May 29 John Pule’s exhibition Hauaga (Arrivals), opening at City Gallery Wellington on May 29, is causing ripples right across the world.

This major survey show, initiated by City Gallery, is John Pule’s first solo show in a major public art gallery, and has drawn international interest. In a recent interview, Cambridge University professor and Pacific art and culture expert Nicholas Thomas said “John is possibly the most important, living, contemporary Pacific artist. His work has a range and accomplishment that I think very few other practitioners match”

City Gallery Director Paula Savage agrees. “We are delighted to be able to launch this exhibition, which is of major significance not just to New Zealand, but internationally. John is a major figure in contemporary New Zealand art, and we are honoured to be able to bring his work together on this scale for the first time.”

A major highlight of the exhibition is the inclusion of some of Pule’s greatest works on paper, which include both his images and text. These works show Pule’s strengths as a poet as well as a painter, asking to be read as well as viewed.

John Pule’s art has been included in major exhibitions in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Major collections of his work are held at the Queensland Art Gallery and as far a field as the National Gallery of Scotland. In 2004 Pule was honoured with the prestigious Laureate Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.

Alongside the exhibition, Otago University Press (in association with City Gallery Wellington) is producing Hauaga: The Art of John Pule, an extensive new publication including colour plates of over 100 of Pule’s works. Celebrating Pule’s place as both painter and poet, it includes major essays by Cambridge University professor Nicholas Thomas (the book’s editor), Dr Peter Brunt, Gregory O’Brien and writings by John Pule. This is the first dedicated publication about the artist’s work and will be the most comprehensive publication on the work of a living Pacific artist.

John Pule: Hauaga (Arrivals) 29 May –12 September 2010 Free Entry City Gallery Wellington Civic Square, Wellington Ph: 04 801 3021, citygallery@wmt.org.nz www.citygallery.org.nz City Gallery Wellington is managed by the Wellington Museums Trust with major funding support from Wellington City Council. Principal Sponsor:

ends

© Scoop Media