Looking to the future for regional and New Zealand-wide artists, the management of ArtsPost Galleries (which has long been an important Hamilton exhibition space) has been taken up by the Waikato Museum of Art and the Hamilton City Council. This means new and better opportunities for artists working and exhibiting in New Zealand. And, one of the first to benefit from, and take advantage of, ArtsPost's new direction is Auckland artist Clay Bodvin. This is the first, full-scale showing of the artist's new photomedia work and it can be seen in the Ida Carey Gallery from February 4 to February 26. Bodvin, who is originally from Seattle, has lived and worked in NZ since 1976 and this is his first solo show since 1998.
This collection of photomedia inkjet-paintings and prints is described by the artist as being “at the intersection of the message and the medium” and is based upon the conceptual platform of Object:Desire/Result:Luxury.
In this exhibition Bodvin brings into sharp focus the legacy of Matisse’s still life paintings with a fusion of old and new technology and techniques. His use of luxurious colour, distorted perspectives and arabesque textures creates rooms which, in spite of their physical impossibilities, do indeed exist as dynamic interiors and spaces.
The work highlighted above, Untitled: Self-Portrait, is of particular interest. It represents two new directions of artistic activity for this artist. For the first time, in this 3’ sq inkjet-painting on stretched canvas, the artist is publicly seen as subject matter. This portrait is also part of images and material used to produce a STILLanime© (Flash animation sequence) titled “There Must be Some Way Out of Here”.
The animation project was a collaboration between Bodvin and Mike Braun - both members of the international art collective Mappa Mundi. Braun, who lives in the Denver CO area, produced the Flash animation and the soundscape and the STILLanime can be seen on Artrom Gallery’s website, in the experimental ‘back_room’ space.
A special evening preview and opening is scheduled for Friday February 3 at 5:30 pm. Clay Bodvin’s exhibition opens alongside Raglan artists Kim Marsh, Louie Galloway, Mark Purdom and Chris Meek who are showing in the Chartwell Gallery and the Paterson Burn Photographic Competition in the Margot Philips Gallery.
For a portfolio of Clay Bodvin’s new work visit
http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/m/mediummixer/. Bodvin has been a member at absolutearts.com since 2004.
IMAGE
Cly Bodvin
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