Perspectives: Te Tai Ao Notions of the Universal Exhibition

Exhibition Opening 6.30-9pm Thursday 9 February (closing 11 March)

Artists' Talks and Inspirational Art Activities 10am - 4pm Saturday 11 February
10.30am Agnès Desombiaux Sigley: Artist talk and poetry writing activity
11.00am Justin Sobion & Jasmine Hope: Artists talk about their work
11.30am Penny Otto: Artist talk and drawing activity
1.00pm Max Grey and Marion Gordon-Flower: Artists talk about their work
1.30pm Children's Art Quiz
2.00pm Pastel drawing for all ages
4.00pm Gallery closes, opens again Monday 9am

The sacred significance of whānau bonds, the rewriting of stories told through photographs, the uprising of artists through challenges of Covid-19, all embracing connections with nature, and the horror of the Ukraine War. Just a taste of the diversity that the theme of the universal has brought into the art arena at Malcolm Smith Gallery, Uxbridge Art Centre in ‘Perspectives: Te Tai Ao Notions of the Universal’. The exhibition features the work of the Flowers Art Collective, 11 artists of diverse ethnicity and viewpoints, brought together by a common interest in the challenge of bringing the illusive into tangibility. Each has a unique perspective of what the universal might mean and at the same time commonalities are there to be discovered and interpreted by the viewing audience. The show is full of media variety in contemporary painting, photography and in illuminations which use internal lighting. The Flowers Art Collective artists are as follows: Agnès Sigley Desombiaux, Anne Shirley, Jasmine Hope, Justin Sobion, Lynette Fisher, Marion Gordon-Flower, Max Grey, Mary Shirley, Penny Otto, Ruth Bioletti and Taylen Heremaia. ‘Perspectives: Te Tai Ao Notions of the Universal’ opens 6.30-9.00pm, Thursday 9 February at Malcolm Smith Gallery, Uxbridge Arts Centre, 35 Uxbridge Road, Mellons Bay, Howick. For further information contact Ashleigh King, Programme Coordinator (Visual Arts), 09 535 6467.