Claudia Jowitt | This is a Library | Enjoy Gallery
"This is a library", curated by Hanahiva Rose, is an exhibition of work by Teuane Tibbo, Christina Pataialii, Salome Tanuvasa and CLAUDIA JOWITT. It runs from 13 March - 18 April 2020 at Enjoy Gallery in Wellington.
In the early 1960s, Tibbo became one of the first contemporary Pacific artists to have work exhibited in dealer and public galleries in Aotearoa. She began painting at 71 and over the following decade worked consistently, experimenting with technique and form, and made a significant impression on her contemporaries—including Pat Hanly, Michael Illingworth and Tony Fomison. Her work is held in collections around the country and has been included in a number of significant exhibitions, including Polynesia in Auckland (Auckland Museum, 1996), Te Moemoeā no Iotefa (City Gallery Wellington, 1990), and Home AKL (Auckland Art Gallery, 2012).
Drawn from public and private collections for exhibition in This is a library, Tibbo’s work can be seen to foreshadow consistent themes in a new generation of artists: memory, place and the idea of home. Pataialii, Tanuvasa and Jowitt respond to Tibbo’s practice and legacy, creating conversation between generations of painters. Across each of the four artists runs an interest in the formal qualities of painting: in mark marking and media. They look to trouble genre and resist easy interpretation.
The exhibition draws its title from Jim Vivieaere’s video installation This is not an ocean, this is a rented house / this is not a hand, this is a library / this is not the sky, this is a grandfather clock / this is not a child, this is a mirror (2007). In referencing Vivieaere’s work, the exhibition seeks to acknowledge the long history of contemporary Pacific art and exhibition making in Aotearoa to which both he and Tibbo belong. This is a library is a space for connection to be established and influence shared.
Curated by Hanahiva Rose.
www.enjoy.org.nz
To enquire about works by CLAUDIA JOWITT: info@melanierogergallery.com
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