CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Colours, Shapes and Images of a Lifetime 1914-2007
31 May - 6 July                     

Colours, Shapes and Images of a Lifetime 1914-2007 has been curated by The Suterable Art Group of the Nelson Branch of U3A (University of the Third Age). This group comprises eleven members who have an interest and background in the arts.  It brings together art works that date from the life span of the oldest current participant in the Nelson branch of U3A to create a backdrop of colours, forms and ideas which reflected and challenged the norms of their day.
Following the guiding principle of the U3A “no teachers and no students – all are equal members” every member has joined in this journey of learning, consultation and decision making.   So expect some surprises when the exhibition opens in May – it is the result of a collaborative approach by a like-minded, knowledgeable, humorous and energetic group.




Cold Comfort: The Craft Sublime
31 May - 13 July

Sandra Bushby, Andrea Chandler, Andrea du Chatenier, Jacquelyn Greenbank, Megan Hansen-Knarhoi, Lauren Lysaght, Genevieve Packer, Jeanette Schäring, Deborah Walsh

The deserted island as a utopia or dystopia – a place where dreams can soon turn to nightmares – is a recurring theme in the history of philosophy, literature and popular culture. From the Swiss Family Robinson to Survivor, the island is a laboratory or petrie dish for the observation of human behaviour in isolated conditions.
Cold Comfort: The Craft Sublime uses this concept to explore newly charted terrain in the field of contemporary New Zealand art. The exhibition constructs a tropical island of colourful and comforting delights, crafted with tender loving care. But beneath the fabric of this idyllic wonderland lurks an unsettling reality; traces of human habitation that bear an uncanny but twisted reflection of own selves. Hidden treasure, murder and mystery abound, this exhibition is a foray into surreal and fabled territory.




Woollaston 101
7 June - 20 July                       

In 1979, Toss Woollaston gifted 101 works on paper to The Suter’s collection. 
For the first time Woollaston 101 presents the entire collection which has finally been framed in its entirety – a project that has taken nearly three decades and only completed recently with the support of private benefactors.
The collection will be supplemented with iconic studio landscapes in oil for which the artist was perhaps best known. This comparison will provide an insight into the mind of the artist at work and reflect his belief that “drawing is always intended as a thing in itself, it might sometimes later serve as a reference for a painting but only incidentally.”