Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to EyeContact. You are invited to respond to reviews and contribute to discussion by registering to participate.

JH

Andrea Gardner’s Cultural Juxtapositions

AA
View Discussion
Andrea Gardner,  Across Fields Accompanied by Birds, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm. Andrea Gardner,  Wednesday, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 8000 x 533 mm Andrea Gardner, Under the Sun, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm Andrea Gardner, In the Woods, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm Andrea Gardner, Ten Ways To Be a Bonzai, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm Andrea Gardner,  Season's End, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm Andrea Gardner,  The Desire For Beauty, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm. Andrea Gardner,  Once There was a Tree, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper. Andrea Gardner,  Dear Beautiful Forest, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm Andrea Gardner, Luncheon On The Grass, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper. Andrea Gardner,  Huddle, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper. Andrea Gardner,  Beauty and the Beast, 2015, fine art digital print on Ilford gold fibre silk paper, 800 x 533 mm

Perhaps the most successful work is an image of an illustration of brightly coloured birds in different trees, a dense melange involving several species, on top of which has been thrown various crumbled crusts of bread. It is not too complicated and the two types of ‘reality' mingle surprisingly successfully, with sufficient confusion to draw you in to look closely.

Auckland

 

Andrea Gardner
The Outdoors Enthusiast

 

5 November - 28 November 2015

Cranking up her interest in ‘Culture’, and downplaying the possible existence of ‘Nature’, Andrea Gardner continues her photographic exploration of the drawing-room ‘outdoors,’ working in a broad tradition explored by many artists (such as Boyd Webb, Megan Jenkinson or John Lyall) since the eighties. Here the ‘Wild’ is codified or visually represented self consciously.

With her domestic scaled images and small sculpture, Gardner delights in mixing the two (ostensible) opposites, while revelling in artifice and the synthetic, almost as if there is nothing beyond the reach of cultural construction. Ornately patterned textiles for covering furniture (or making curtains) figure dominantly in this scenario, or Old Master reproductions on chinaware. Many are set against black velvet backdrops, like a stump bearing an open workbook presenting a drawing of a tree, or a collapsible stool on which is a coiled hose, on which is resting an open journal of Audrey Eagle flower illustrations.

There is a delicate balance between being too arch (and apparently heavyhanded) and too subtle where the viewer misses the point. One image of fabric depicting sylvan woods, golden leaves and alert-looking deer - draped over a pile of dry crackly leaves - has small labels on the material that say ‘Real tree.’ Others are marginally less overt, like one with plastic fir trees alongside rolled up synthetic turf that is like carpet. Another still presents fake Christmas foliage covering a landscaped backdrop where a flute-playing satyr sits on a mountain peak in the background, while a ruglike disc of printed white roses emerges from a ‘leaf’ covered floor in the foreground.

Perhaps the most successful work is an image of an illustration of brightly coloured birds in different trees, a dense melange involving several species, on top of which has been thrown various crumbled crusts of bread. It is not too complicated and the two types of ‘reality’ mingle surprisingly successfully, with sufficient confusion to draw you in to look closely. Without a black backdrop this work has a particular lightness and euphoric energy, as the rhythmic images seem to tumble and spring out like a vertical and narrow waterfall. An exuberant treat, it has a different mood from the rest of the show, which seems less spontaneous and more studied.

John Hurrell

Print | Facebook | Twitter | Email

 

Recent Posts by John Hurrell

JH
Jae Hoon Lee, Mother and Child, 2024, inkjet on smooth pearl. 1500 x 1500 mm

Looking Through (or At) Jae Hoon Lee

IVAN ANTHONY GALLERY

Auckland

 

Jae Hoon Lee
Internal Landscape Part II


16 March 2024 -13 April 2024

JH
Outside installation of part of Shiraz Sadikeen's The Natural Rate, at Treadler. Photo: Alex North.

Sadikeen @ Treadler

TREADLER

Auckland


Shiraz Sadikeen
The Natural Rate


8 March 2024 - 23 March 2024

 

JH
Still from Marcus Coates, The Directors: Lucy (2022) Single channel HD video on loop, projection, 21 min, 24 sec--⁠presented at Yellow Brick Road, courtesy of Artangel.

Attempting to Describe the Experience of Psychosis

Te Tuhi /Auckland Arts Festival

5 inner city sites


Marcus Coates
The Directors


24 February - 24 March 2024

JH
Ava Seymour, Manhole, 2023, Maribu solvent screen-printing ink on aluminium, 1120 x 910 mm, unique.

Maternal Appurtenances

COASTAL SIGNS

Auckland

 

Ava Seymour
Heels of Mothers


14 March - 13 April 2024