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Exhibition questions dominant ideologies

Tuesday 12 June 2012, 1:37PM

By University of Auckland

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Landshaft, 2012 by Derrick Cherrie
Landshaft, 2012 by Derrick Cherrie Credit: University of Auckland

AUCKLAND

A large-scale temporary outdoor sculpture titled ‘Landshaft’ designed to entice passers by is just one part of a new exhibition ‘Constituent Parts: Objects and Their Discontents’ by artist Derrick Cherrie at Te Tuhi in Pakuranga.

Cherrie’s latest work continues his investigation into the psychology of the built environment and the socio-political forces that shape urban life. Creating a series of sculptural works Cherrie draws on the material qualities and forms of conventional architecture but in a way that directs a range of uncertain spatial experiences.

Outside Te Tuhi is a two-story high temporary installation that resembles a modernist-style commercial building, but is too narrow to allow comfortable human habitation. The sculpture is intended to entice curious passers by while also injecting elements of abnormality into the surrounding environment.

Inside Te Tuhi, the accompanying exhibition contributes similar notions of architectural ambiguity. Featuring an installation of miscellaneous building materials the work literally takes over the gallery space. Through this body of work, Cherrie seeks to disrupt our experience of built environments and question dominant ideologies.

Since the early 1990s, Cherrie's sculptural works have ranged from large quasi-architectural constructions to smaller hybridised furniture-like forms. Through such works, Cherrie attempts to destabilise notions of 'normality' by creating forms that share uncanny resemblances to every-day objects but are unusually shaped to resist conventional function.

Associate Professor Derrick Cherrie is Head of Elam School of Fine Arts at The University of Auckland. He has exhibited extensively and his artworks are included in many prestigious collections both in New Zealand and overseas.

The exhibition of sculptural works inside the gallery runs until 29 July at Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, 13 Reeves Road, Pakuranga. The large-scale outdoor work will be in place until November.