''iD2k16'' (Blue Oyster Art Project Space)
Curated by Hana Aoake, ''iD2k16'' seeks to critique and parody the economic exchange between art, fashion and advertising.
The show is surrounded by its own marketing, from branded merchandise to self-appointed corporate sponsors, and is accompanied by the ambiguous, yet rousing, tagline: ''For the lifestyle you deserve.''
The brand that Aoake has constructed then serves as a central ethos for the exhibited artists to critique, appraise and meditate on.
Local artists Motoko Kikkawa and Severine Costa, Auckland-based Clara Chon, Rose Thomas and Alessandra Banal and Melbourne-based Josephine Mead come together to form the lifeblood of ''iD2k16'' through nuanced and critically discursive works.
The artists' works are a variety of sculptural and installation pieces that will be rearranged throughout the course of the exhibition in the manner of commercial shop and window dressing.
Unmoving at the back of the exhibition, however, is Thomas' Your Demons Will Feed, an exploration of fantasy and expression that would be censored in a commercial setting and even in the Blue Oyster is flagged with an R18 restriction.
The exhibition's name itself is a revision of iD Dunedin Fashion Week, and, with the actual event happening this month, offers a timely rumination on the culture that surrounds the consumerist aesthetics of fashion, advertising and branding.
''Nga Kakahu Karaihe'', Te Rongo Kirkwood (Milford Galleries Dunedin)
A collection of Te Rongo Kirkwood's glass cloaks opened at Milford Galleries Dunedin last week.
Drawing from traditional Maori cloaks, Kirkwood brings the historical form into a modern setting through her mixed-media practice that uses both customary and contemporary techniques.
Two series of works are represented in this exhibition: ''Nga Tuaitara o Taikehu'', a series of black cloaks that have been modelled off the kahu toi, a traditional warrior's cloak, and ''Turua Po'', a series of cloaks hung on native timbers that explore the spiritual role of birds in Maori mythology.
Kirkwood specialises in kiln-formed cold-worked glass, and the glass adornments on her cloaks range from ethereal feather-like shapes that refract the light around them to darker shapes that have a stone-like opaqueness.
The glass also provides a strong sense of materiality that implies the weight and sound of the cloak when it is worn and moved.
The reality of the material is parallel to the ceremonial implications of the objects that carry through from their historical antecedents.
Kirkwood shows a profound understanding of the sacredness and taonga of the form she recreates by making her cloaks fine-art objects that are both desirable and admired in the gallery setting.
''What is Art For #1'' (Forrester Gallery, Oamaru)
Oamaru's Forrester Gallery has curated an exhibition of works from the gallery's permanent collection, posing the question ''What is art for?''.
Five works, all by New Zealand artists, have been chosen as they identify something unjust that the artists wanted viewers to take notice of.
The exhibition goes further and explores whether art can be successful in making people take notice and asks if the success of the work's message relies on the artistic vision and technical skill of the artist.
Although small, the exhibition displays the high-calibre of the gallery's collection and represents a wide range of New Zealand history and art history.
Works by John Mitchell, Eion Stevens, Nigel Brown, Ralph Hotere and Peter Cleverly are exhibited, each hung alongside a blurb that explains the historical context surrounding each piece as well as biographical information on the artist.
While this information provides context, the exhibition ultimately invites the viewer to consider each work carefully and through their own eyes - drawing the viewer in close so they may consider not only the ideas presented but also the technical and visual elements of each work.
The premise of the exhibition provides a framework that encourages deep engagement with each work and inspires a particular appreciation of the artists' personal ethos and practice.
-by Samanthan McKegg
