Katikati Artist Birgitt Shannon says: On Friday 28th April I attended an opening with a difference at Macandmor Gallery in Tauranga. It was unlike any opening I have ever been too.
When I arrived, people were mingling outside the gallery which had its roller shutter doors closed. There was music, tasty food and drinks…just no art.
At 6:15 the music got louder, there were coloured lights flashing in the gallery and smoke started billowing from under the doors as they slowly raised revealing the artists and their work. It was all very dramatic and fun.
The name of the exhibition is Ultra Modern Unit and features the works of the following five extremely talented artist:
ALISTAIR SCARLETT
Alistair studied Design at the local college in Bristol, England. Technology “happened” when he was employed making bits for airplanes and his life changed. He began creating images digitally and then screen printing them using the solid pigment of real ink. Alistair developed quite a fan base for his work which is in collections in Tokyo, Scandinavia and The U.S.A.
Screen prints by Alistair Scarlett.
JOHN BAXTER
Born in Yorkshire, England, John moved to New Zealand at the age of 12. He is an artist, photographer, poet, musician and has a Diploma in Graphic Design. A multi-talented person! He works in a variety of mediums but is mostly known for fine ink work pieces and abstract acrylics; graphic pieces embellished with minutely detailed ink work that mix surreal and real.
Works by John Baxter
SEAN O’ROURKE
Sean has kept his fantastic talent to himself up until this his first exhibition. He is self-taught as an artist from very young. Sean strongly believes in human rights and the exercise of those rights with truth, grace and kindness. These beliefs have a big influence on the content of his work. His style is influenced by graphic novels, street art, symbolism, and word play. He couples that with critical thinking, technology, and fact based observation.
Works by Sean O’Rourke
PAUL CORNWELL
Design and artistic endeavour have always been an integral part of Paul’s life. He studied Graphic Design and worked on agencies in Auckland, Dublin and the Bay of Plenty before establishing his own creative business in 2008. Central themes of Paul’s work include NZ wildlife and the Kiwi coastal lifestyle. More recently portraiture has been a focus.
Portraits by Paul Cornwell
JIMMY ROBERTSON
Jimmy is self-taught and was very artistic as he was growing up in Tauranga. Over ten years ago Jimmy discovered airbrush painting and has not looked back since. His bold, and often confronting work, uses water or urethane based acrylic paint on a variety of substrates. He is currently spending most of his time creating photorealistic images over ground aluminium panels.
Works by Jimmy Robertson
Ultra Modern Unit will be closing on the 13th of May. The work of these artists is brilliant and very interesting so don’t miss it.
Macandmor Gallery also features the art of many incredible local artists in every medium and of every subject imaginable.
The gallery is located in the Goddard Centre, Devonport Road, Tauranga and is open Monday to Saturday 9:00am-2:30pm. You can also follow the Gallery on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/macandmor/
Artist biography information and photos provided by Macandmor Gallery
BIRGITT SHANNON Artist, Katikati An accomplished artist of Australian descent Birgitt has participated in solo and group exhibitions. She is part of the group of artists chosen the now famous Morrinsville Cows – a street art project. Her street art work can also been seen on the large planters outside the Katikati BNZ, part of the 2015 NZ Mural Competition and Arts Festival. Birgitt has sold dozens of paintings in Australia and New Zealand and has recently sold a painting now hanging in a Research Centre at The Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles. Birgitt’s work can be found on her website www.artbybirgitt.com and you can follow her facebook page at www.facebook.com/artbybirgittnz
AND WHILE YOU’RE HERE – TAKE A LOOK AT THE ARTbopSHOW
where we’ve just published an interesting conversation. Dhaivat Mehta talks with spoken word and performance poets SIMONE KAHO and SHANE HOLLANDS. And look out for Simone’s book of New Zealand-Pacifica insightful poetry LUCKY PUNCH
