Auckland painter Reece King is celebrating the completion of his fellowship with an exhibition, "The Ogee & Manaia", at the Hocken Collections gallery.
The 12-month fellowship has provided King with a studio space and salary so he could focus on his art without the usual cost-of-living stresses.
"It’s enabled me to paint unhindered and create an epic show for the Hocken," he said in a statement.
"Having a studio is vital and hard to afford these days. I’m very grateful for the opportunity."
"The Ogee & Manaia" exhibition features a selection of paintings and drawings created during King’s year at Otago, which he hopes will inspire the public to have a different, positive outlook on the world and everything in it.
"The pieces traverse time, layers and ideas, and are vigorous and enigmatic."
Rather than provide instant answers or meanings, they act as guardians and messengers, watching over visitors and speaking in riddles to inspire deep thinking, he said.
The exhibition name stems from the hundreds of observations King made in his work and recorded in his notebook.
An ogee is an S-shaped architectural feature while a manaia is a spiritual guardian figure. Visually, both are curvilinear and the relationship between the two are represented in the ampersand.
King said Dunedin had inadvertently influenced his work and he even named his new, upcoming book after it, Reece King: Ōtepoti Dunedin 2025.
He plans to stay in the city and keep painting once his fellowship is complete.
King holds a master of design in painting (2021) and a bachelor of design and visual arts (2012) from Unitec Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka.
He is a founding member of Sanc Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and has had his artwork displayed in galleries in Sydney and around New Zealand.
"The Ogee & Manaia" runs until August 1.— Allied Media
