NZ artists celebrated in new exhibition

John Perry

An exhibition featuring more than 60 works by some of New Zealand's most celebrated artists opens in Rotorua tomorrow.

Places + Faces, Art + History features Charles F Goldie, Charles Blomfield, Theo Schoon and Brian Brake and it reopens at the Rotorua Museum of Art and History tomorrow.

Alongside works from the most celebrated, sit gems by lesser known, but equally significant artists like Robert Wynyard, Thomas Ryan and Horatio Robley who recorded the development of the region at a time of substantial transformation. Also featured in the exhibition are works by artists with close connections to Rotorua, including Wilfred Stanley Wallis and Walter Bakkenes.

Collector and art enthusiast John Perry will return to Rotorua Museum for a special talk next Wednesday, November 4 at 5.30pm about the exhibition where he aims to demystify the Rotorua Trust collection.

A well-known New Zealand authority on social history, folk art, and natural history, Mr Perry is a former director of the museum and worked with the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust since its inception to build this considerable collection of paintings, photographs and prints.

In 2000, the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust began an art collection for the people of Rotorua to celebrate the importance of the district and preserve the region's history.

In curating the exhibition, Mr Perry has chosen works that reflect the changing face of the Rotorua district since the mid-1800s including the people, events and geography that have shaped it.

Entry to both the talk and the exhibition is included in Rotorua Museum's admission price, which is free for Rotorua residents with relevant identification. General museum admission is $20 adults, $18 seniors and $8 children.

The exhibition is accompanied by a 75-page full colour catalogue of the entire Rotorua Trust Heritage Collection which is free for visitors to the exhibition. It features texts reflecting some of the key works and artists in the collection and information about the collection's origins.

-Places + Faces, Art + History is on display at Rotorua Museum from tomorrow until February 21.