Suite gallery annexe

Quick one here as my art outings are racing ahead of my postings. I finally saw the Suite Gallery Annexe on Oriental Parade (still in Wellington here folks) open the other day and got a quick snoop around the space (above photo taken at night obviously, dinner at Martin Bosley across the road is also recommended). Now on the eve of potentially another financial crisis and stories of art galleries closing (Vale GrantPirrie) I think this is a great model to replicate.

Okay, Suite do have a bigger space near a few of the other galleries on Cuba street but this annexe is my all time favourite small space. Originally a garage, then converted into a distillery (NZ's famous vodka 42 below was meant to have been invented here), it is now a fully functioning gallery with the requisite white walls and concrete floor. Reminds me a little of ecosse in Exeter but this is finished a little nice and definitely stands out on the road with its bright pink door. I'd like to see a couple of these in Paddington, especially with all the rear lane access around. I really wonder what Woollahra council would say if punters started opening their own kunsthalles around the place.

No real points today. I was in a hurry so Barbara Strathdee's show didn't really get my attention. I liked her use of painting shapes over an image. Kind of reminded me of Gerald Laing, except he is a famous 60s dude who used Bardot as the background and Barbara uses old illustrations of NZ. Highly commended ribbon to Suite for their Annexe. Which despite the rampant Britishness everywhere in NZ they spell as Annex. Go figure.

RWC edition - 13 October

The team from Big Lamington is still over in New Zealand and fresh from cheering on the Wallabies in a thrilling quarter-final at the Cake Tin was able to snoop around a couple of Wellington galleries today. On the agenda were Bowen Galleries and Suite Galleries from our last outing and a new location in the Peter McLeavey Gallery.

First up was Suite who are showing Roger Boyce's show 'Painter Speaks'. This is a series of landscape paintings with a ventriloquists dummy head transposed over the top. Roger is trying to comment on the man made nature of art but I did find it a little creepy. The landscapes themselves were quite majestic, especially the mountains (they have big mountains here in NZ). Luckily for the friendly proprietors at Suite the public are eating it up. Plenty of red dots everywhere. Next up was Peter McLeavey, the entrance of which is tucked up under the stairwell to Suite. I can see why I missed this one last time - blink and you miss the door which opens up into quite a bright little white room where Nick Austin is showing 'Interesting Chewing Gum'. Interesting name. These are real minimalist works and you have to get that genre to get at the prices. I know plenty of punters who would see that and say $2k for a bad drawing of a cup? Final destination was the Bowen Galleries who always seem to have a handful of artists up on show. My top pick here was the window piece with Gregor Kregar's 'Matthew 12:12 Cup 2011' which are little sculptures of sheep wearing various international rugby jerseys. They come in all sizes and look great in a big group but you can buy big ones individually or small ones in sets of 15 at prices from $600 to $4k. There was a nice Australian #6 available and if the Wallabies can get past the ABs this week then the ovine Elsom may be another great little souvenir.

Points. I think you can guess where I am going here. 3 to Gregor and the sheep. I am a big on the use of iconic images and the sheep is iconic in Aoteoroa. 2 to McLeavey's based primarily on the friendly proprietor who provided a good overview of Nick Austin and gave a great heads up about a show at the City Gallery that is now on our agenda. 1 to Suite, whose next show on Ans Westra looks like it could also get a run here.

Wellington gallery crawl - 4 August

Wellington again? The team here at Big Lamington couldn't make it up to Auckland for their art fair but another fairly cold week in Wellington had its bright side when we ventured out one sunny lunchtime to check out what the self appointed "coolest little capital in the world" has to offer the art lover.

First up was Bowen Gallery on Ghuznee street. This was recommended to me by a gallerina in Sydney so I was eager to check out its wares. I was actually happy that they had a stock room show ("Stuff Up") on as it enabled me to check out a few of the gallery artists. And it was an interesting collection. I liked the photos of Ans Westra - striking image but I'm not sure I'd be slapping down 7000 kiwi for an edition, even if she is meant to be a living kiwi treasure. Top pick for me was probably Bekah Carran whose hanging sculptures were very cool and 4,800 kiwi. Just next door and up some stairs is Hamish McKay gallery. The title of the show was promising, International Velvet. I love velvet paintings, and am still kicking myself for not picking up a Tony Albert velvet a few years back. But Julian Dashpar's aren't your grandfathers velvets. His are all very abstract, and from the 80s so wear was beginning to show (and who says contemporary art practice neglects the conservation angle!). Judging by the 2 page scholarly essay accompanying the show Julian is kind of a big deal around the kiwi art scene. Based on this evidence I will just have to believe them. Third stop was Suite Gallery, and a quirkier little space you will be hard pressed to find. Just round the corner on Cuba street you walk into an old building that seriously looks as thought the squatters are still in residency of and go up 2 rickety flights of stairs until you come to a bright little white room. Their current show is Arie Hellendoorn's Inward / Outward and I really liked this. Arie's style is to do rather simple portraits and substitute the head for something a little different - all colourful shapes. There are also a few head drawings that suggest some old medical illustrations. They have even got a couple of these works over at the pop up space on Oriental Parade that I admired on my morning jog (I run slow enough to take in the art, but that is more from level of fitness rather than a dedication to aesthetic appreciation). Something for everyone here price wise, watercolours for 2,900 and oils or acylics for double that (5,800 kiwi) - lots of red dots so the punters agreed with that strategy. On the way out I popped my head into Enjoy which is a public art space on the first floor which has appropriated the red and white livery of a well known cola brand for their logo - and it is a good look, reminds me of some t-shirts we did for my rugby club back in the day. Here they had a solo work by Tiffany Singh which was a big mandala thingy on the floor made with rice and then originally a number of wind chimes that had been signed out by viewers on the promise to deliver to another museum an hour away. Nice touch.

Points - 3 to Suite, interesting space and best show of the day. 2 to Bowen gallery, looks promising and 1 to Hamish and Enjoy. It was great that there is no more than 50 metres separating 4 good galleries. It was nearly like being at an art fair ... nearly.