Manners of Speaking – Te Pūkoro o Tāne

Manners of Speaking – Te Pūkoro o Tāne, an exhibition of multiple worlds, opens at NorthTec's Geoff Wilson gallery this Friday with works by 34 artists. They are a response to an open call for artworks with responses from as far away as London and Italy on the theme of proverbs or whakatauaki. Sonja van Kerkhoff is curating this with 3rd year NorthTec art students, who are also exhibiting artworks.

Two paintings in this show by South African born Warkworth artist, Ursula Christel, feature her disabled son who was born with the Angelman Syndrome. It is a severe form of disability requiring life-long 24/7 care and like most, her son cannot speak. So these paintings are a form of speaking for and of her son. Another of her paintings, Muted bearing text in English and Maori, uses scrabble board letters to make the point that speaking isn't easy for the disabled. The “I” in the centre of this assemblage is horizontal to represent a hospital bed.

American born Whanganui artist Brit Bunkley's video was also selected for the 2019 Wallace Art Awards.

The moko-shell installation, Te Ara ki Rangihoua (The Way to Rangihoua) is by the anonymous sibling-duo known as, Yllwbro. Helensville artist Jeff Thomson, not only has one of his corrugated hens in this show but also a number of unusual corrugated sculptures each matched to a saying or proverb.

Artists in the show are:
Alicia Courtney (Moerwera, The Far North), Andrea Gardener (Whanganui), Ashleigh Taupaki (Auckland), Brenda Liddiard (Auckland), Brit Bunkley (Whanganui), Carolyn Lye (Karetu, The Far North), Catrina Sutter (Russell / Kororāreka), Chiara Rubino (Matera, Italy), Cle Tukuitonga (Otangaroa, The Far North), Elaina Arkeooll (London, UK) Giacomo Silvano (Irsina, Italy), Hilda Simetin (Auckland), Jacqueline Wassen (Maastricht, The Netherlands), Jamie Larnach (Auckland), Jarred Taylor (Whangārei), Jeff Thomson (Helensville), Joas Nebe (Germany), John Hoby (Millwater), John Mulholland (Warkworth), Maartje Zandboer (The Hague, The Netherlands), Naomi Roche (Waikato), Lipika Sen & Prabhjyot Majithia (Auckland), Peter Scott (Kerikeri), Piet Nieuwland (Whangārei), Robert Brown (Whangaparaoa), Sam Melser (Auckland), Sonja van Kerkhoff (Kawakawa), Tash Nikora (Whangārei), Tracy Singer (Auckland), Ursula Christel, Mokopōpaki (Warkworth), Yllwbro, Mokopōpaki (North Island).