Public Access 6

Public Access 6 sees the founding members of Cut Collective come together to produce the latest in a series of exhibitions that began nearly 15 years ago.

In that time a lot has changed in the world of street art and mural painting, a lot has changed in the artists' lives. However, the compulsion to make art and to make art collectively remains, the results of which are presented within this exhibition by some of New Zealand’s street art originators.

Cut Collective formed in the early 2000s, bringing a group of like-minded artists together to work on collaborative projects, murals and exhibitions. Active in the Auckland street art scene, the collective began to gain recognition for their public works that typically employed spray paint and hand-cut stencils. As the collaboration grew so did the ambition and soon the collective were set up in their own studio space behind Auckland’s Karangahape Road.

The collective adopted an approach that rejected the conventional pathways that artists were typically required to tread and prioritized the production and presentation of artwork that was accessible for all. In addition to a focus on public space, the artists sought to remove the barriers that stood in the way for much of the public to have encounters with art.

It was out of these efforts that the series of exhibitions named PUBLIC ACCESS was created. As the name suggests, Public Access has always addressed the issue of accessibility around the viewing and enjoyment of art while presenting studio-based work created with the benefit of space and time; luxuries not afforded the artists when they were making illegal art in public spaces.

The works presented in this exhibition represent the focused effort of the artists current studio practice and can be viewed as a counterpart to the mural being created by the collective as part of this years Graffiato: Taupō Street Art festival.

Cut Collective are Component, Enforce1, Flox, Peepshow & TrustMe.

Taupō Museum is open 7 days from 10am to 4:30pm and entry is free to Taupō District residents with proof of address.