chris meder - de novo gallery

chris meder is a dunedin based sculpture artist who uses rusty old components of mechanical devices to create his works. he usually uses fairly identifyable parts of trains, cars, lawn mowers, rock crushers etc to depict various animals. in this exhibition he focussed on native birds of new zealand, and although he didn't have his mighty moas showcased, he did have some awesome peices displayed...


i found it very compelling how meder creates such a sense of grace and beauty with his samples of robust, cumbersome metal. he uses subtle application of colour and polishing techniques to give his animals more character whilst retaining some of the original nature of his materials in the works.


meder is obviously a skilled craftsman. his welding is tidy and strong, and it impresses me how steady the birds are, given the weight. to me, this weight impresses the idea of substance. ..something homey and comforting.


i stopped in to his workshop while i was in dunedin......recently but he was out. even this was a funky, rustic building. and i had heard from the assistant at de novo that he has cast iron kelpies guarding his ute - this i would love to have seen;

the very top subject is my favourite. the beady eye, the big red beak and a comical stature. i see something really friendly and relateable in this takahe. if i had a spare $1950 i'd buy it i think. -it is very funny how this junk has been rearranged and turned into gold!!

Picturing History

Goldie to Cotton - Auckland Art Gallery

this exhibition showcases some of New Zealands greatest and most influential artists, and gives insight into some of the grittier aspects of the history of 'our Aotearoa, New Zealand'.
Works cover early arrivals to our land, colonial influence as well as cultural integration and assimilation of our people.

the space is layed out well with plenty of room to move around the peices. staff are friendly, and keen to help.


works...

i particularly liked a peice called 'conversion 3.33R', by Robert Janke. it comprised of twelve mounted, lead cast axes with colonial religeos symbols, numbers and letters. they were all almost identical and cojoured up images of the 12 deciples.
the axes made it seem menacing and thier placement -against the wall with the blades facing outwards- gave me a sense of tension and unease.

'tamati waka nene' was a nga puhi warrior and a signitary of the treaty of waitangi, painted by the much debated, charles frederick goldie. this image is typical of the iconic new zealand painter. i think this is a strong choice of subject, and is beautifully painted with deep greens and rich earthy tones, but his works have lost some of their significance to me as they have become over popularised.

another favourite was 'painting', by peter robinson. this was a very wide work that made me walk along in front of it, from one side to the next. i thought this was a good trick by the artist, to get me to emgage movment to veiw this work, as it is concerned with early crossings of maori to new zealand. robinson has used a limited colour pallet to stay true with elements of maori traditional art. strong images and a clear message make this work very appealing to me.

i think that everyone should see these works in person to appreciate their power and relevance to us as kiwi's as they tell they story of our history.