Credo and Quest - Selected Survey of Religion & Spirituality

Art and religion have been intertwined since the first glimmerings of human history but in New Zealand - somehow despite our missionary colonialist connections - any major survey of the visual arts in this genre has been entirely minimal.

Within such a breadth of subject perhaps most curators have been intimidated to touch a deeply emotive and controversial subject. Several key artworks in the Whangarei Art Museum collection have become a touchstone to inspire this selective survey of how artists have evolved a response to the spiritual realm from the early 20th century to today. From L.J. Steele and Charles F. Goldie to Max Gimblett and Whangarei artist Starr Gossage this is a brave, luminous, and at times very controversial exploration of how artists have responded and dissected faith in their art.

From traditional Christian imagery to the Maori spiritual renaissance of the 1950s of which the Northern Maori Project was a partial catalyst, this substantial exhibition explores a series of contiguous thematic groups of works throughout; from Greek mythology to Maori spirituality, as well as Buddhism, Baha’i and Hindu. Each of the artists involved reflect a new Aotearoa emerging from the monoculture of early missionary values towards a new inclusive Christianity and a nation of many religions.There are truly ethereal works in this show from Reuben Paterson’s shimmering glitter and light installation In Your Own Time Tane (2003) to David Trubridge’s most recent luminous floating light installation Icarus Hanging Lamp.

A pivotal work will be a ‘homecoming journey’ for Colin McCahon’s ‘Venus and Re-entry: The Bleeding Heart of Jesus is Seen Above Ahipara” (1970-71), Te Manawa Museums Trust.

The exhibition is almost a Hollywood Biblical blockbuster! With a stellar cast list of New Zealand artists. Among the celebrity list of New Zealand’s art elite are two powerful paintings by Philip Clairmont which have never been shown publicly in his lifetime or since. The exhibition also includes major works by L.J. Steele & Charles F. Goldie, Tony Fomison, Colin McCahon, Michael Illingworth, Edward Bullmore and Kura Te Waru Rewiri, Jeffrey Harris, Robert Ellis and Robin White and includes photography; ceramics; painting; installation and moving image; sculpture and lightbox works and printmaking. Other artists include, Ralph Hotere, Edward Bullmore, Buck Nin, Sandy Adsett, Alexis Hunter, Darcy Nicholas, Julia Morrison, Anna Starr, Mathew Couper, Prakash Patel, Anne Nobel, Shigeyuki Kihara, Margaret Thompson, May Smith, Jeffrey Harris, Nigel Brown, Tony Lane, Garth Tapper, David Sarich, Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh, John Reynolds, Janet Green, Grant Beron, Heather Straka, Jim Allen, Louis White, Laurence Aberhart, Adele Younghusband, Scott McFarlane, Ellen Smith, Buck Nin and Jin Ling.

Event listed by whangareartmuseum

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