Re-staging Points of Contact

Points of Contact: Jim Allen, Len Lye, Hélio Oiticica is an exhibition that traces the historical and conceptual connections between New Zealand artist Jim Allen (b.1922), a significant figure in the development of post-object art in New Zealand, and two of his key contemporaries: expatriate experimental filmmaker and kinetic sculptor Len Lye (1901-1980) and Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica (1937–1980).

Organised and toured by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery with assistance from Creative New Zealand and Michael Lett, and curated by Tyler Cann and Mercedes Vicente, Points of Contact draws together bodies of work which share certain material and conceptual qualities, most especially their engagement with light, movement, colour, and the body.

Central to this exhibition is the reconstruction of Allen’s pivotal 1969 Small Worlds exhibition at Barry Lett Galleries in Auckland, one of the earliest instances of environmental sculpture to be presented in New Zealand.

These installations are joined by other works by all three artists that are variously originals, reconstructions and photographic documentation. This re-staging enables viewers to dwell on the challenges and possibilities posed by the re-presentation of ephemeral or conceptual works of art, and therefore to explore the complex legacy of the ‘post-object’.

This exhibition presents Hélio Oiticica’s work for the first time in New Zealand.

Points of Contact joins a number of recent surveys that challenge the European and North American art historical paradigm, proposing and examining instead parallel and specific art historical trajectories outside these centres, in both their local and global dimensions.

A public programme of artist talks, discussion and ‘live feed’ performances has been designed to provide a platform for critical discussion and to enhance engagement with the exhibition.

Opening: Friday 18 March, 6pm. The opening speaker is artist Phil Dadson. All welcome.

For more information, contact the gallery: ph +64 4 4635229, fax +64 4 4635024, or go to http://www.adamartgallery.org.nz/calendar.

Event listed by AdamArtGallery

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