LEGALLY-BLIND
CARTOONIST LEADS CREATIVE KIWI ARMY...
WHAKAPAPA
is an art show that proves there's more to NZ than the All Blacks,
Tolkien tourism and Flight of the Conchords...
BRENT
HARPUR is
a legally-blind, New Zealand born cartoonist, art teacher &
entertainer. To celebrate his second year living & working in
Melbourne, Brent is curating Whakapapa
(pronounced
faka papa),
bringing
together the culturally-diverse works of sixteen NZ artists. This
will be the first time most of these artists have exhibited &
performed their work in Australia.
NZ
Art will be taking over the entire City Library in Flinders Lane, not
just the usual first floor gallery space.
“I'm
thankful to the trusting librarians for allowing my creative Kiwi
army to invade their walls, floors and shelves. They have no idea
what they're in for”, says
Brent.
There
will be a wide range of art on show. Brent has been planning
Whakapapa for two years, since he first arrived and called Melbourne
home. Brent first visited (& fell in love with) Melbourne as a
young art student, when in the early 90's he came to see a Vincent
van Gogh
exhibition at the National
Gallery.
On
display in Brent's show will be every kind of art imaginable. From
paintings, street art, jewellery (including rings, brooches &
adornment art), sculpture, bronze-casting, photography, prints,
cartoons/comic book art (including the work of a ten year old boy),
performance art/dance & some
very special indigenous Maori art.
“There
will be something for everyone - the work of these artists continues
to surprise, challenge & delight me. I admire & love what
they create back home and I want to share it with Melbourne.”
Whakapapa
will open on Thursday, 4 July, from 5pm. As well as the usual art
opening fare, there'll be a wide range of free entertainment,
including music by Tash
Sultana,
The
Weeping Willows,
Since
We Kissed, Rebekah Davis
& Micha,
a
new dance work from Virginia
Kennard,
hooping by Casey
Sol
& poetry by Scottish-born John
McKelvie.
Comedian
and Darebin Greens Councillor Trent McCarthy will open the show at
6pm,
and Brent will draw free caricatures throughout the evening. All
welcome!
WHAKAPAPA:
A Group Exhibition of Sixteen Kiwi Artists From Aotearoa (NZ), 4-29
July, City Library Gallery, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Opening:
Thu 4th
July, 5pm- 8pm.
For
more info and interviews, please contact Brent
Harpur,
Curator:
TWO OF WHAKAPAPA'S FEATURED ARTISTS...
One
of the sixteen artists is Clinton
Bopp.
Originally from Lower Hutt (near Wellington), Clinton has been living
& working as a “street artist & muralist” in Los Angeles
since the mid 90's. During the month long exhibition, he will be
working in Melbourne, “painting
on anything I can find, from recycled wood to discarded furniture,
even footwear”.
He'll also paint a mural within the City Library building itself.
This will be created on two windows in full view of (and overlooking)
the cafes & bars in Flinders Lane below.
“It's
not very often”
says Brent “that
you can view a mural from two different sides of a surface it's being
created on. It'll be magical to watch it being painted from either
inside the library or outside (looking up) from the busy streets and
lane-ways.”
For
more about Clinton & his City Library mural:
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Another
exciting (and very different) addition to the hand-picked line-up of
visual art will be the very talented & versatile Virginia
Kennard;
a self-proclaimed “performance
artist & choreographer”.
At designated times (during library open hours throughout July),
Virginia will be moving/dancing/improvising in the gallery space
amongst the exhibition. She will interact with the environment &
people in it. She has created a special piece (for her Melbourne
performance debut) entitled: “Chocolate
Soup”.
For
more about Virginia:
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Also
showing during the Whakapapa season (4-31 July) will be the short
film “Scatter
Joy”
(about Brent's work here in Melbourne as a legally blind
cartoonist). This 28min. doco was directed by local (independent)
film-maker Amy Hoogenboom
during 2012. This will be its Premiere showing here in Melbourne.
For
more about Scatter Joy:
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BIG THANKS TO: Trent McCarthy (for revisiting the original press release and injecting a healthy dose of irreverence & cheekiness) and to Irene Alligiannis for the photo of Brent and the paua shell.
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