Beloved

For Art school i was required to visit the art gallery here in Dunedin and blog about the beloved exhibition.

but what is it?

from the Dunedin art gallery website this is what they say:

"The Dunedin Public Art Gallery, established in 1884, was New Zealand’s first public art gallery.

To commemorate its 125th year, Beloved will showcase a selection of the historical and contemporary gems from the gallery's collection.
The exhibition and lavish accompanying publication celebrate the history of the collection, paying particular attention to some of the better known and favorite works.

Spanning a time frame of more than 600 years, this rich body of work is both diverse in its content and in the range of media it brings together including painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper, installation and the decorative arts."

first thing i noticed was the red doors through from the foyer to the beloved exhibition, and the fact they don’t close tightly, you can see through the gaps like an invitation to see the “whole picture” so with that in mind i was eager open the doors and enter.

the first room you enter is red, i associate it with mc Donald's red, or any fast food really, more with food than anything else, and when i think that i think, eck red is the color that sets off appetite,so i was hoping i wouldn't be interrupted by my subliminal mind to leave and eat. i was there, almost shackled to my notepad until i considered myself to have a sufficient amount of blurbs.

after that i never noticed the color of any the other rooms as i walked through, it was more about how i must try and decipher my note taking later on.i was worried i was writing too fast but i had so many ideas about the pieces i did like, that sometimes i found it hard to word. and people often would look over at me in slight interest.

i started off writing down the names of the artworks, then thought the artist would be good to add, then considered a few dates, and mediums, but wanted to keep them brief and just stuck to artist and piece and my utterly truthful opinion and written admiration.

most the time i found the works more interesting or informative on closer inspection.brush strokes, patterns and all the finer details enchanted me more than large installations that were there which are seen as their seen kinda thing.i like to know how a nose is painted,or a cuff on a sleeve, one can look at it and admire it from 3 or 4 meters, but, from 20cm away you really learn about what its made of, and the skill, its like looking at particles under a microscope, you really learn about what its made off. its then that i really admire the piece or pieces as whole.

After walking through the doors the first painting to capture my attention was not of large size like that of Charles Frederick Goldie by Margaret hay. maybe because it is such a big in your face, full of character painting.you can not really avoid the large piece (715 x 595 mm) with its smile.

I guess maybe due to a systematic approach i skipped it.

So which piece first captured my eye, and why?

Madonna and child with pomegranate.
By Master of San Miniato

The frame it was presented in was rather chunky in comparison to the delicate painting.i liked that. the gold in the frame and the painting brought both opposites together. but what really grabbed my attention was the detail.


next piece on the other side of r side of Charles Frederick Goldie was a piece, self portrait by Rita Angus, and i know that even before i read the information plate.
nor did i know this because i am an art buff, because I'm far from it. but because my style of painting is close to hers, i feel i can relate to and understand her images.though like most painters i've taken a shine to or appreciate use oil paints. where as i use acrylic with watercolor.

I like how she uses complimentary colors, earthy and near to natural.

Next piece, or set that i really cant walk by without noticing was the artwork titled "black carnival" by christine webster.
this piece is a series of photographic images.



what out first was that they were all bigger than life size and emotions shown are all different, the textures in the images are all original and different to the next image.
there were 6 images all up on display.
I then thought what would they belike on canvas, of course the texture in the images would be compromised, but then they would appear more like a painting, with an over all flatness, unlike that of the photograph.


next up
“construction on red” by Milan mrkusich



To me this piece looks like scrap, or a prop or some tool used in geometry because of the angles because of the slight depth of the cut in it that spans around.
I love the colors used, the drawing on it is sharply drawn and precise.I think one would either like it or love it.for me it is much the later.




"Maybe tomorrow" by Alvin Pankhurst,1974.

"The room illustrated here is typical of those found victorian house in New zealand.
The old man's image reflected in the mantle morror is reproduced in the oval mirror above it, but he is seen from behind and in shadow.
-A reference to reminiscence or nostalgia for the past. The painting's perspectival inconsistencies quite possibly translate as the distortion occurs when events are revisited from memory; the rambling vines are also indicative of the passing of time.The mildly erotic wallpaper intimates various realities, but perhaps in this case concerns th continuation of the generations." quoted from the exhibition piece description.

This next piece is far better in real life, by far.this image kinda flattens it and doesn't show the tone as well as the lighting in the gallery did.
The detail is exquisite and is hard to miss.it inspired me the moment i saw it.so much so that the first time i went to the gallery and saw it i went home that day and worked on a painting of my own for a day and half.
The use of the mirror gives it multiple dimensions, along with the pattern in the wallpaper, the objects and its lighting pulls one in to observe all the smaller details, i would describe it like an image from Animalia.the over all tone is kinda peachy and warm, considering it seems like a “sad” old man in what could be a cold Victorian house.