Michael Parekowhai - Maori Hall

Michael ParekowhaiMaori Hall5 Edinburgh St.Newton, AucklandTuesday Rosetta Stone 19 Saturday 23 February2008Open 12-6pm DailyOpening reception 6pm Tuesday19 FebruaryMichael Lett is pleased to announce anexhibition of work by Michael Parekowhai at the MaoriHall.Michael Parekowhais inflatable sculpture JimMcMurtry will fill Newtons historic and neglected MaoriHall. Initially conceived in 2002 as a fibreglass monumentfor Christchurchs Cathedral Square, Jim McMurtry wascommissioned as an inflatable for the 5th Gwangju Biennalein 2004. Jim McMurtry has previously been exhibited atZacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (2006), ContemporaryArt Center, Vilnius (2006), and Christchurch Art Gallery,Christchurch (2007). Parekowhai's narratives can becomplex, he draws on an abundant range of both vernacularand collective vocabularies which he re-manufactures intothe narrative structures and formal languages of his work.Although Rosetta Stone Italian key themes of his practice could be described asdeliberate takes on notions of introduced species andculture, any potentially overt political dimensions,however, are downplayed. Ideas of camaraderie, tools ofteaching and childhood learning, as well as quotes from thecanon of modern art history and popular culture openly playout in many of Parekowhai's stories. While his work is oftendescribed as emphasising the extraordinariness of theordinary, each body of work has layers of potential formeaning and significance they are open to any depth ofinterpretation and storytelling. Michael Parekowhai is oneof New Zealands most important contemporarypractitioners. In addition to an extensive exhibitionhistory, his work is held in all significant public andprivate collections throughout New Zealand and Australia, aswell as many important collections worldwide. MichaelParekowhai graduated with a BFA (1990) and MFA (2000) from Rosetta Stone Korean Auckland Universitys Elam School of Fine Arts, and in2001 was awarded Arts Foundation of New ZealandLaureate.