Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational 2009
Written by
In a rich and diverse exhibition, new works by 50 established and emerging professional contemporary artists will be shown in the annual Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational 2009.
The Invitational opens at the newly re-branded Hastings City Art Gallery on Friday 24 April and runs through to Sunday 31 May.
The aim of the Invitational is to encourage an expansive view of contemporary art. In a rich and diverse exhibition, new works by 50 established and emerging professional contemporary artists will be shown in the annual Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational 2009.
The Invitational opens at the newly re-branded Hastings City Art Gallery on Friday 24 April and runs through to Sunday 31 May.
The aim of the Invitational is to encourage an expansive view of contemporary art. The thread that links all the artists together is that they must have been born in Hawke's Bay or been resident for a significant period.
Susan Melhuish, the manager of Creative Hawke's Bay Manager who is organising the show, explained that the exhibition is not curated and artists are selected by a 'confidential' panel to a clear set of criteria. The panel (which changes annually) strive to select a mix of established and emerging contemporary artists that are producing new and original work. The idea is to create a dynamic and exciting exhibition that is that is going to be full of complex combinations of artists and rich in content.
The 2009 Invitational has artists ranging from the very established such as Para Matchitt, Don Driver and Neil Dawson to newer names on the block such as Ben Pearce, Jo Blogg and Grant Beran.
A key feature to the Invitational is the Creative Black Tie opening night on Friday 24th April which will feature an Auction of Commissions.
The auction is unusual in that bidders purchase and then gain the right to work with an artist who will create a personal art work to their specifications ,aesthetics and price.
"The Auction is separate to the Invitational however some artists feature in both. It works well because both the bidders and the artists have a chance to work together on specific commissions within a flexible time-frame and in a relaxed manner. As in previous years, we hope to encourage lots of patronage by Hawke's Bay residents to bid for commissions by leading contemporary artists" Ms Melhuish said. The Auction is conducted by James Parkinson from Art + Object in Auckland.
The Opening Night is a ticketed event and tickets are sold in order to off-set the costs organising the exhibition.
The Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational is at the Hastings City Art Gallery, 201 Eastbourne Street East , Hastings from 24th April - 31st May 2009.
For more information or photographs, please phone Suzy Melhuish on 06 835 7719 or email suzy@creativehawkesbay.co.nz
09/02/09