Renowned Kiwi painter finds magic in the moment

Renowned New Zealand contemporary painter Hope Gibbons is launching her first solo exhibition in the South Island next month.

Entitled ‘IN THE MOMENT’, the exhibition will run from 21 to 31 October at the new Artbay Gallery in central Queenstown’s Mountaineer building.

‘IN THE MOMENT’ showcases 25 of Ms Gibbons’ latest pieces which explore the materiality of paint. Ms Gibbons pushes the boundaries of traditional painting practices and techniques through the use of paint, rust, inks, leaf and varnish to create a visual feast of mixed media.

She is inspired by different textures, light and landscapes and tries to capture magical moments to immortalise them in her paintings.

“Painting ‘in the moment’ means making continuous instinctive decisions as to what to keep and what to discard. Paring back is essential,” she says.

Ms Gibbons, who lives and works in Matakana, north of Auckland, has been exhibiting in the North Island for more than 10 years and many of her works are held in private collections around the world. She has been published in ‘New Zealand's Favourite Artists’ and has featured in lifestyle publications such as NZ Life and Leisure and Next.

Artbay owner Pauline Bianchi says she’s delighted to be the first to hold an exhibition for Ms Gibbons.

“Her works appeal to most people because she has two distinctive styles. Her signature ‘dreamscape’ series is subtle with calming energy and organic textures while her more recent series uses a bright palette and has an abstract, lively and dynamic composition.”

Since opening her gallery three months ago Ms Bianchi has received very positive feedback about the gallery space, exhibitions, and art talks.

“Making the arts more accessible to more people is something I am very passionate about. We’ve already confirmed a programme of art events for next year and I’m just about to start on our 2011 programme,” she says.

Artbay Gallery is the new space where New Zealand contemporary and über art meet. It officially opened in July 2009 on the first floor of the restored historic Mountaineer building in the heart of Queenstown. Artbay Gallery showcases contemporary, beautiful, über and interesting artworks by emerging and established New Zealand artists and sculptors.