Two new art exhibitions on show at the museum

A striking wall of new paintings now hang in the main foyer of MTG Hawke’s Bay, while an exhibition of landscapes from the collection of the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-Rangi, opens on Saturday, 9 February.

Pastorale, by Geoffrey Fuller, acrylic on hardboard, 1971

Toi Āhua is an installation of 10 paintings by Iwitoi Kahungunu, an arts collective founded by renowned artist Dr Sandy Adsett. The contributing artists use a shared colour palette of primarily black, white, red and grey on identical square canvases. Hung on a custom wall setting designed by Mr Adsett, together the paintings form one large artwork that reflects the kotahitanga, or unity, of the collective.

The exhibition of Five Pākehā Painters: perspectives on Hawke’s Bay currently being installed in an upstairs gallery features 12 artworks from the museum collection by Rita Angus, Jenny Campbell, Geoffrey Fuller, Dick Frizzell and Martin Poppelwell.

Viewed as a collective, these paintings give insight into how Pākehā society has responded to the land of Te Matau a Māui over a period of 90 years, as well as reflecting Pākehā culture more broadly.

Landscapes ranging from the Tukituki River to the Awatoto shingle works express Pākehā appreciation for both the natural beauty and the utilitarian potential of the region, with customary practices of widespread deforestation, wetland drainage, mining, and intensive agriculture featured in the artworks.

The exhibition includes established favourites such as Geoffrey Fuller’s ‘Pastorale’ and ‘Churches, Hawke’s Bay’ by Rita Angus, along with more recent additions to the collection by Martin Poppelwell.

Both exhibitions will be on show all year.

13 February 2019

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