News Release

‘Strong’ link to Clark’s past in Govett-Brewster exhibition

New Zealand artist Fiona Clark’s new exhibition at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery includes local figures from the artist’s past. The title of Clark’s exhibition, Raw Material, hints at untreated or unedited material, and makes reference to the exhibition’s focus on a careful selection of elements from her own extensive archive.

As part of her exhibition Clark (open at the Gallery until Sunday 17 November) researched and tracked down people who are connected to her photographs. Clark’s exhibition includes photographs from her bodybuilding series, first exhibited at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in 1981. “A key role for our gallery is to support and foster the work of artists and we are delighted to be exhibiting Fiona’s work nearly 40 years after her first exhibition,” say Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre co-directors Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh.

Clark is a leading figure of New Zealand photography and is known for her intimate photographs that explore issues around the representation of marginalised and under- represented communities. In the Raw Material exhibition, she starts from her personal records of her own prolific and varied archive of creative practice, and asks what it means to work in an archive that is built on personal connections, and on objects that summon and remind her of those people and relationships.

Visitors to the exhibition will also see images of the artist herself, as a dancer and in past personas as an art student, her aunt’s hockey mate Valerie Deakin, who went to choreograph at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and prominent dancer Da Katipa.

Clark welcomes us into a networked vision of her career, her archival practice, and her connection to the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. The artist establishes relationships with the people in her photographs, researching and linking people connected via her work.

Clark grew up in the New Zealand region of and now lives in its small town . As a student at Inglewood High School she found an interest in contemporary art under the tutelage of Leon Narbey a renowned cinematographer and the first artist to exhibit at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery at its opening in 1970.

Gallery fast facts:

 The Gallery is open seven days a week on ’s Queen St, 10am to 5pm.  Entry to the Gallery is free for residents with proof of address.  The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery was founded on a visionary and collection policy by Monica Brewster.  It’s owned and operated by New Plymouth District Council.  Focus has been on contemporary art and links with Len Lye date back to 1977 and display of his kinetic art.  The gallery defines itself as a ‘contemporary art museum’ of the Pacific.  The Len Lye Centre wing of the Govett-Brewster is the only gallery in New Zealand dedicated to one artist.  The Len Lye Centre opened in July 2015 as part of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery contemporary art museum and is a joint initiative by NPDC, GBAG and the Len Lye Foundation.  The Gallery is the New Plymouth District’s cultural hub featuring galleries, a 60-seat cinema, a shop and Monica’s Eatery café.

ENDS

Image caption: Fiona Clark Pan Pacific Womens' Body Building Championship posing, 1981 1981. Courtesy the artist and Michael Lett.

Reporters: for more information contact media enquiries on 06-759 6172, (0275 300233) or ([email protected]).