Along with the opening of retail, we couldn't be more excited to be heading back to our favourite galleries again! We've complied some of the best exhibitions to check out now as well as those that are coming up over summer that need to be added to your diary!
Bill Culbert - Slow Wonder | A tour for the curious at Auckland Art Gallery
Bill Culbert is a highly acclaimed conceptual artist who’s exhibition A Slow Wonder is inspired by Culbert’s fascination with light, perception, and subverting expectations. Be prepared to have your preconceived notions upended and your old habits challenged. This exhibition is suitable for ages 5 all the way up to 105. It’s a great family outing and everyone will be engaged and stimulated.
I am Island and Sea at The New Zealand Maritime Museum
Explore the past, present and future of Tīkapa Moana Hauraki Gulf and beyond, see the devastating effects of a kina barren, and be inspired to protect and improve the mauri and health of our region. I am Island and Sea is suitable for all ages and visitors are encouraged to add their voice to the exhibition.
Lightworx Gallery by Artbay Auckland
Lightworx Gallery in the Viaduct Harbour are open for business, with a new collection of experimental artworks by gallery artists. Playing with geometrics, light, shadow and perception these works defy logic. Make sure to check them out!
New exhibitions at Gow Langsford Gallery
Located a short distance from The Auckland Art Gallery, the Gow Langsford Gallery has a focus on promoting the best contemporary art that New Zealand has to offer. Though disrupted by Covid restrictions, there are exciting exhibitions currently on featuring artists including Sara Hughes, Laurence Aberhart, Virginia Leonard and Paul Dibble. Check them out here.
Opening in December 2021
Mary Quant exhibition (opening on December 10) at Auckland Art Gallery
An iconic fashion designer from the 1960’s most famously known for popularising mini-skirts and hot pants, Mary Quant has come to Tamaki Makaurau. Auckland Art Gallery director Kirsten Lacy Co-Curators of Mary Quant Jenny Lister and Stephanie Wood said “we’re delighted that the Mary Quant exhibition is opening. We hope it will appeal to everyone, not just fashion fans. The Quant brand is so much more than clothes, representing humour, self-empowerment, and redefining rules and conventions.” There will be a mix of archive photography, garments from accessories to cosmetics, and sketches.
The Fruit is There to be Eaten, 2018, film still, by Michelle Williams Gamaker (HDV Colour). Courtesy of the artist.
I Multiply Each Day (opening on December 4) at Gus Fisher Gallery
I Multiply Each Day is a mantra taken from Larry Achiampong’s seminal film Beyond the Substrata (2020) examining topics around the socio-political threads of race, class, gender, and gentrification. A collaboration of many different international artists, this exhibition examines the history of migration from a contemporary lens. It’s a coming together of great minds who wrestle with big questions and present the answers in dynamic ways.
Note: Gus Fisher Gallery is currently closed for exhibition changeover but will reopen on 4 December with the I Multiply Each Day Exhibition.
Coming in 2022
Michelangelo – A Different View at Aotea Centre
Taking place early next year, this exhibition offers the most complete and authentic reproduction of Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. The photo-mechanically reproduced copies are shown in almost original size, and visitors can look at them up close and in their own time. The title of “A Different View” refers to the different vantage point of looking down instead of looking up at the ceiling. There are 50 pieces of timeless and awe-inspiring art, from artists like Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, and Domenico.