Lopdell House Gallery WEST AUCKLAND’S REGIONAL ART GALLERY
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Lopdell House Gallery WEST AUCKLAND’S REGIONAL ART GALLERY Annual Report July 2010 – June 2011 mission To develop and foster the practice and appreciation of art in West Auckland with an emphasis on contemporary New Zealand art in all its creative diversity. Lopdell House Gallery Staff Lesley Smith, Director Kate Wells, Curator Iona Matheson, Art Educator Kirsty MacDonald, Assistant Art Educator Kate Frances, Gallery Administrator Maryanne Seccombe, Accounts/Administration Margaret Stone, Housekeeper Gallery Assistants: Lisa Bearsley, Nicole Burri, Lopdell House Society Rebecca Busch, Chin-Yi Chu, GovernanceCommittee Jennifer Fuemana, Dan Greig, Chairperson Sheila Jefferson, Chris Harvey, Deputy Chairperson Exhibition assistants: Bill Rayner, Treasurer Tony Brown, Adrian Jackman Lopdelll House Gallery Pamela Wells, Secretary Volunteers 418 Titirangi Road Members Ila Selwyn, Liz Malcaronne, Titirangi, Waitakere 0642 Ruth Cole Miriama Toms, Gillian Taylor, 09 817 8087, [email protected] Judith Moore Chisholm Marjorie Cotter, Elizabeth Darragh, www.lopdell.org.nz Robin Kewell Jenness Malcolm 2 Lopdell House Gallery • Annual Report • July 2010 – June 2011 Chairman and Director’s Report 2010/11 The past year has been significant in the history of the now has been running at maximum capacity. Lopdell House Society and the Gallery. We have seen the We are committed to bringing additional events to the model of Auckland local government move to a unitary Gallery, these often being held on the top floor of Lopdell status; so far this has had a beneficial impact on the House which, in the daylight hours, presents what we Gallery allowing more certainty in our relations with the believe is the best view in Auckland. A development over Council and increasing opportunities for collaborations the past year is Make & Cake based on the crafternoon tea with other art providers around the Auckland region. To be concept where new crafts can be sampled; along with a able to assist other galleries in a spirit of cooperation and cup of tea and slice of cake! More typical events are our reciprocity is very rewarding and it also generates useful Rhythm & Verse evenings that are engaging a growing economies for everyone concerned. As connections and audience. The top floor is also available to hire for events relations develop around Auckland and even further afield and last week Titirangi Primary School held an art we look forward to future collaborations. exhibition of student’s work that attracted hundreds of Presently the membership of our Friends of the visitors. Gallery programme stands at 190, we shall maintain our Our shop provides an additional retail dimension in current very reasonable subscription rate and focus on Titirangi, presenting a range of high quality art and growing the numbers. We would like to use this craftwork from local and national artists as well as a range opportunity to ask all board members and existing friends of art books. The shop is a very successful adjunct to the to make every effort to enlist new Friends of Lopdell gallery and does very good trade with the most profitable House Gallery. There are many incentives to being a friend day being Christmas Eve. of the gallery, a discount on purchases from exhibitions Staff and volunteers are embarking on ATTTO and our shop, invitations to exhibition openings, (Aviation, Tourism and Travel Training Organisation) opportunities to attend events and simply the opportunity training and we will submit an application for Museum to makeacontribution to one of the major cultural Accreditation when this process is complete. We are drawcards of West Auckland. To board members in committed to continuing professional development of all particular we would say that, in agreeing to serve as a staff, viewing this process as vital to maintaining interest, trustee,you have committed yourselves to furthering the morale and a high standard of service to visitors. interests and influence of our wonderful gallery and what A grant was obtained from the ASB Community Trust better way can one do this than by encouraging new for the development of a new website. This will shortly be people to come and share in the life of the gallery. coming on line providing several new elements to make it It may not be known to many Friends of the Gallery more useful both for the online browser as well as for day- but after a substantial bequest a few years ago we have to-day management of the gallery. One particular feature been developing a library of art reference books, staff use is a ‘Dashboard’ that will report on various aspects of our this facility regularly and we would love for it to become operation and show a transparent evaluation. A second more widely used, we are working to make this happen important feature will be the provision of a streamlined quite soon. booking system for all the schools that visit us. We extend This Annual General Meeting will see some members our sincere thanks to the ASB Community Trust for their retire from the board and new members take on the generosity. mantle of governance. Our other major supporters to acknowledge include Bill Rayner, as treasurer, has overseen the accounts of The Trusts Charitable Foundation and Sky City Community LHG for several years and now his time on the board has Trust and we welcome our new wine sponsors The Peoples drawn to a close. Bill took on the accounts at a difficult WIne. time but now leaves us in much better shape. We are very pleased the Gallery was able to make a Judith Moore-Chisholm has left the board as will Robin significant donation to the Canterbury earthquake appeal Kewell and Ruth Cole. Robin in particular has been a thanks to the generosity of our visitors, to whom we stalwart in the cultural life of West Auckland. For a long extend our thanks. time he ran monthly film nights on the top floor of Lopdell Lastly we would like to thank the Gallery team, House and still runs his Oratia Settlers Film Club. volunteers and staff, for their professional dedication. We have some excellent people standing for the board at this time; bringing considerable experience in governance, education and in business, we warmly welcome those new members. Lopdell House Gallery continues to stage wonderful exhibitions and the constantly high visitor numbers are a testament to their range and appeal. The gallery also Dan Greig Lesley Smith develops and delivers outstanding art classes. We are very Chairperson Director proud of our education programme that for some years August 2011 Lopdell House Gallery • Annual Report • July 2010 – June 2011 3 Exhibitions Programme total visitors – 27,261 Champions: New Zealand Winners — Jessie Casson 2010 Auckland Festival of Photography exhibition 12 June – 1 August 2010 This exhibition profiled winners and champions from the length and breadth of New Zealand. Everyone included in the exhibition has won a competition at a high level, often nationally or internationally, sometimes setting world records. Award-winning jam-makers, Rodeo cowboys, and ‘Universe’-straddling drag “My senses are queens. These seemingly disparate individuals, along with many others, were brought so engaged!” together in this fascinating exhibition — Jessie Casson’s loving tribute to the unsung New Zealand achiever, many of whom are not known outside their own hometowns. Emma Hubbard, Australia Each winner in the exhibition is a testament to the passion and determination of the people of Aotearoa. They are of all ages and come from widely differing backgrounds, but they are all champions. Nocturne — Ava Seymour 2010 Auckland Festival of Photography exhibition 12 June – 1 August 2010 For Lopdell House Gallery Ava presented a new series of works developed during her summer McCahon House residency, combining photoshop, collage and photography, her images explore the subtleties of colour and shape and the relationships between form and line. “Interesting, thought-provoking Under 6 August - 3 October 2010 exhibition. Thanks.” Surrounded by verdant native bush, Lopdell House was the perfect venue for an exhibition which investigated the dichotomies of New Zealand landscape. Under was a probing of the way we navigate territories an exploratory mission into the grey areas between nature and the manmade, imagination and reality, and the difficulties of cultural expectation. Under sought to expose the ideas that lurk beneath the surface, a conscious unveiling of the darker alternatives to romantic notions of the way we see the land and its history. Curated by Karl Chitham. Artists: Mark Adams, Deborah Crowe, Megan Hansen- Knarhoi, Niki Hastings-McFall, Lonnie Hutchinson, Rangi Kipa, Ben Pearce, Reuben “Insightful and Paterson, Jane Shearer, John Walsh, Clinton Watkins. inspiring. Lifted my High Class Boner Meds / Paradise Sale — Martin Basher spirits. Stunning!” 6 August – 5 September 2010 Rachel Hume, Auckland Taking its title from internet spam emails selling Viagra, Martin Basher’s exhibition used iconic everyday images and objects to ask questions about what our consumer society wants and believes in. His work featured exquisite photorealist paintings of beaches, collages, cryptic placards and signs, and sculptural assemblages featuring a variety of consumer goods and fluorescent lights. His work plies the ocean of contemporary culture and the backwaters of spiritual deficit, focusing specifically on the ways that desire (material, physical, sexual, spiritual) is bound with consumerism, belief and politics. Piling images and icons together in what look almost like haphazard arrangements, Basher’s work destabilises straight heirerachies of taste, quality and class. Material goods are plentiful, lifestyle is easy, interest is low, but gratification is elusive. 4 Lopdell House Gallery • Annual Report • July 2010 – June 2011 Lopdell House Gallery • Annual Report • July 2010 – June 2011 5 Words Chosen Carefully — Liz March 10 September – 3 October 2010 Words Chosen Carefully brought together some of New Zealand’s finest literary SEAN SHADBOLT practitioners, 15 writers and 15 literary critics, in discussions about each author’s oeuvre, the nature of writing and the place of land, culture, belonging, society, family and art in their work.