We are delighted to offer you the opportunity to visit the Millers O’Brien Gallery to see 3 new exhibitions, Always Forever Now, Nobody Believe You (Bad Luck) and Salt Pillars, by emerging artists, Will Bennett, Harry Culy and Jaime Jenkins. Painting, photography and stoneware are combined in the exhibition and speak to a collective memory, and the natural and urban landscape of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Will Bennett and Harry Culy are based in Wellington and will be present in the Gallery to talk about their work and answer any questions you may have.
Always Forever Now is a series of 8 oil paintings by Will Bennett that reference archival photographs from 1990’s New Zealand. Bennett re-frames these strangely familiar and nostalgic images, bringing to life a domestic interior that contains all the comforts and uncertainties of a not-so-distant past.
Harry Culy’s four black and white images were made on a large format 4×5 camera and form his exhibition Nobody Believe You (Bad Luck). These poignant works explore the antipodean landscape as a haunted space and form part of an ever-growing, shifting archive of the Gothic every day.
Working in stoneware with rocks gathered from watering holes on summer camping trips, Jaime Jenkins’ work is influenced by the natural landscape of the Bay of Plenty and 1970’s – 1980’s New Zealand pottery. Dense and delicate hand-built pieces layered with sprayed glazes form her exhibition Salt Pillars, and are tangible links to the land of Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Gallery is located on Level 1 of the Mibar Building, 85 Victoria Street, Wellington (near the Lido Café). Please arrive at the entrance to the building no later than 10.20 am. Access to Level 1 is by a short stircase or lift. Some seating will be available in the Gallery. There will be an opportunity to socialise afterwards at a nearby café, details will be advised on the day.
Image credits:
Will Bennett, Yellow Bag, 2019. Oil on linen
Harry Culy, Nobody believe you (bad luck), 2019, Archival pigment print
Jaime Jenkins, Stool and Washer, 2019, Stoneware