Unique Opportunity for Emerging Artists at New Exhibition

A generation of emerging New Zealand artists have been given the chance of a lifetime; the opportunity to exhibit their work at high-profile exhibition, Autumn: call and response, which opens to the public on March 18, 2012 at The Sculpture Park @ Waitakaruru Arboretum, near Hamilton.

In a shift from previous exhibitions, where leading New Zealand artists were showcased, entries for Autumn: call and response were restricted to early career artists. These artists were challenged to create new, site specific work for the show – sculpture, installation, ephemera, performance or conceptual works that wrestled with the challenges of The Sculpture Park, a rehabilitated quarry.

The 35 artists who have been invited to participate in Autumn: call and response are engaging with different elements of The Sculpture Park including the physical environment, environmental issues and/or the conceptual environment. Their works ranged from Auckland artist Veronica Herber’s ephemeral, lace fabric tape installation, to London-based, 25 year old Kiwi, Ryan Monro and his work, R.I.P Greywacke, referencing the rock which was once mined at the quarry.

Curated by Auckland based artist and visual arts lecturer, Kim Paton, Autumn: call and response runs until 10 June 2012. Paton’s vision for the exhibition was to answer the question, “what can an artist add to this site that will be more beautiful, more interesting or more engaging than what is already present in the natural environment.”  This proved to be a significant challenge for many artists, considering the site’s extraordinary scale and natural beauty.

However, Paton was impressed by the response from artists and the confidence with which a new generation of artists tackled their site specific work, engaging their senses to create innovative and thought-provoking exhibits.  “These works will not be monumental as we have come to expect with outdoor sculpture, but rather seek to communicate with or connect to the environment in quite subtle contemplative ways”, said Paton.

As part of the submission process, artists had the opportunity to win an Ebbett Prestige Environmental Award and receive financial assistance to create their work for Autumn: call and response.  Corporate sponsor Ebbett Prestige released $3,000 in prize money, as seed funding to six lucky artists whose projects inspired environmental awareness and demonstrated a significant connection with either the site and/or environmental issues. Judged by highly regarded art consultant, Kate Darrow and curator Kim Paton the winning artists, all from Auckland are: Amber Pearson, Laura Marsh, Nik Blackburn, Taarati Taiaroa, Timothy Chapman and Veronica Herber.

The popular People’s Choice Award, in which the public get to vote for their favourite work on display at Autumn: call and response, will be announced at a special ceremony when the exhibition closes in June. This Award is proudly sponsored by Calder & Lawson, House of Travel and the winning artist will receive a cash prize of $1000.

The Sculpture Park’s 17.5 ha (42 acre) hillside site provides panoramic views over the fertile Waikato valley. The site contains intimate tree-enclosed spaces and interesting landforms including towering cliffs, rocks, a stream, many ponds, and small waterfalls. More than 18,000 trees and shrubs have been planted, representative of flora from many parts of the world. Sculptural works and installations are located along a two kilometre long trail. Please visit the website www.sculpturepark.co.nz for more information about the site, forthcoming exhibitions and events.