Art News New Zealand: Viewing Process and Practice

Parlour Projects in Hawke’s Bay has recently established its first artist-in-residency programme and selected Auckland artist Grace Wright as the inaugural recipient. The programme, which will be an annual event, is about bringing an artist to Hawke’s Bay for research and development of a new work which responds to the environment and landscape of the Hawke’s Bay region. At the same time, the local community is invited to experience contemporary art right on their doorstep.

Parlour Projects believes that bringing artists of this calibre to the region will link the Hawke’s Bay art scene with the rest of Aotearoa’s. The public is invited to visit Wright at the gallery during her residency, so that they can learn about her process and practice as she executes a large-scale painting..

From May 22 to June 2, Wright will create an installation on the gallery’s main wall, which stands at 11 x 6 metres. “This is my most ambitious project to date,”the artist comments. “This work is about developing my ideas around the pleasure of viewing and taking it from looking to experiencing.”

“While the edge of the canvas usually dictates the end of the work, this installation will make the whole space the grounds for a painting. I liken it to being near a mountain; because of your comparative size, you feel small, low to the ground and immediately aware of your physical body. I want to re- create this same sensation. The work towers over you, and wraps around you.”

The installation will then form part of a solo exhibition in June, Breathing Room, which will be accompanied by a sound work and six large paintings.

Grace Wright, artist in residence, 22 May to 2 June, and Breathing Room, 2 June to 1 July, Parlour Projects, Hawke’s Bay. For more information please click here.