Lewis Vivian Cosgrave — Having Heard A Glow

EXHIBITION STATEMENT

It is the everyday—a frame caught while falling. Cropped into a leg mid step, a backyard blurred behind—a moment that becomes a memory. Intimate and undefined.

Lewis Vivian Cosgrave (Ngāti Pūkenga, b.1997) primarily focused on experiences of the quotidian. His’s practice captures transitory moments—life found along concrete pavements, in the backseat of a car, in glimpses of inner city gardens, blending painting, drawing and photographic practices. Through a refined sense of surface and delicate use of colour, Cosgrave brings an intentional reticence to his work—altering collected and personal archive imagery through saturation, erasure and muddying. Arriving eventually to a space that grants us momentary reflection on our everyday—on the mundanity and transience that surrounds us.

A short story by Lucy Clara accompanies the show.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

What: Having Heard a Glow — Lewis Vivian Cosgrave

Opening: Friday 26 September, 5pm

When: 27 September – 18 October 2025

Where: Twentysix Gallery, 26 Constable Street, Omārōrō Newtown, Wellington Pōneke

Gallery hours: Thursday 12–6, Friday 12–6, Saturday 10–4, or by appointment

Sponsors: Duncan’s Brewing, Almighty and The Garden Table

Q&A LEWIS VIVIAN COSGRAVE

What about the everyday, the transient, inspires you?

There is so much beauty in the smaller, passing moments, they carry a quiet intimacy that can so quickly fade. We spend much of our lives in between big moments, milestones and grandiose happenings — it can be easy to forget to slow down. Capturing these trivial, everyday moments lets me pause and reflect on how I move through the world, working with them artistically in turn allows me to shift them from ordinary to something more layered and open ended.

What draws you to painting as a medium?

I have always been drawn to painting because it demands a slower pace, it encourages you to stay with an image or feeling and give it some more thought. While painting is my entry point into art making, my practice continues to shift and change. I’m hesitant to call myself a painter.

What do you hope visitors take away from the exhibition?

If anything, I’d like for visitors to feel the shared nature of passing moments — that our lives overlap in these fleeting scenes. We move through the same light, the same streets — and noticing that with a sense of optimism can suddenly make everyday life feel more vivid.

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