Birthday celebrations and new exhibitions at the Forrester Gallery
Published on 03 April 2023
It’s the Forrester Gallery’s birthday! Commemorating 40 years this April, the Forrester Gallery is celebrating with a new offering of exhibitions – Rā Whānau – 40 Years of the Forrester Gallery; Anthony Davies: Observer and Printmaker; Animals and Us: a wonderlab exhibition; and HERE, an exhibition by local artist Bethan Moore.
For 40 years this former Bank of New South Wales has been filled with art. Inspired by the words of people from our community, Rā Whānau – 40 Years of the Forrester Gallery is a celebration of the Forrester Gallery’s past and present, while considering what our future will be. Since 1983, the Forrester Gallery has presented over 700 exhibitions and welcomed thousands of visitors through its doors. Highlighting artworks from our collection, Rā Whānau – 40 Years of the Forrester Gallery is a special dedication to staff, Friends, exhibitors, donors, and visitors from across our forty years.
Director Chloe Searle says, “In this anniversary year Gallery staff and the Friends of the Forrester are on a multimillion-dollar fundraising mission for a building extension. While the Forrester Gallery is fortunate to operate from an iconic heritage building, it is a challenging space in terms of accessibility. The proposed extension includes a lift, a purpose-built collection store space, a loading dock, a new touring exhibition space, as well as an education and events space. What a perfect 40th birthday present!”
Also opened on the 1st of April is a wonderlab exhibition – Animals and Us. Everywhere you look in our collections – the Forrester Gallery, Waitaki Museum or Archive – you find animals. This exhibition is a glimpse of the types of artworks, museum objects and archival photographs that are centred around animals. Each full of character and showing how animals are treasured in all parts of our lives.
Opening on the 8th of April, Anthony Davies: Observer and Printmaker showcases Davies’ two latest series, The Epistle According to Saint Anthony and WAR – What is it Good For? Davies, formerly from the UK, (he studied at the Winchester School of Art and London’s Royal College of Art, and subsequently lived and worked in Northern Ireland) settled in New Zealand in 1994 and has worked prolifically across the full range of printmaking techniques, not only to document but to invent ways of seeing local and global concerns. Davies will be giving a linocut printmaking workshop as part of this exhibition on April 29th and 30th, but spaces are limited so those interested should register with the Gallery.
Also on from the 8th of April is the exhibition HERE by local artist Bethan Moore. From Wales to Waitaki, Moore has travelled and lived widely, with her watercolour works revealing isolated civilisations dwarfed by dominant lands. With an eye for landscapes and miniature creatures, Moore portrays nature in all its forms.
The four exhibitions are all open to the public on Saturday 8th April. Animals and Us: a wonderlab exhibition is on until the 30th of April; Rā Whānau – 40 Years of the Forrester Gallery is on until the 28th of May, HERE an exhibition by Bethan Moore is on until the 11th of June and Anthony Davies: Observer and Printmaker is with us until the 18th of June. Free entry.
Animals and Us: a wonderlab exhibition – 1 April – 30th April
Rā Whānau – 40 Years of the Forrester Gallery – 1 April – 28th May
HERE | Bethan Moore – 8 April – 11th June
Anthony Davies: Observer and Printmaker – 8 April – 18th June
ENDS