Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

The Burning Hours - Kushana Bush

Northern Advocate
7 Apr, 2018 02:17 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Whangarei Art Museum is proud to present Kushana Bush: The Burning Hours. In December 2016 the Dunedin Public Art Gallery (DPAG) launched a significant exhibition of works by Dunedin-based New Zealand artist Kushana Bush.

As one of the most exciting contemporary painters to emerge in recent years, Kushana Bush has received serious attention, nationally and internationally, for her original subject matter and distinctive style.

The exhibition focuses on works produced between June 2014 – late 2016, with the aim of illustrating the shift that has taken place in Bush's recent practice. While her early works characteristically positioned the subject matter centred on the page, her newer paintings have grown larger in scale and are more visually rich and compositionally complex.

This new body of work is rich with detail – each surface, of gouache and gold, is filled with references to illuminated manuscripts, Persian miniatures, European art history and modern life. These disparate sources bind Bush's works to both the past and the present; the historical and the contemporary. Human interactions, humour, dramatic tension and intimate scale are her tools to draw viewers into a private conversation and, in some cases, a spiritual space.

This sense of a spiritual space is the cornerstone of the body of work presented in The Burning Hours – a title that pays homage to the medieval illuminated manuscript, 'The Book of Hours'. In 2014 Bush visited the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, where she viewed illuminated manuscripts, miniatures and decorative arts from Islamic, East Asian and Western traditions. This experience was the closest thing to a spiritual event that she, as secular individual, had experienced.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

With her source material extending from thirteenth-century manuscripts to twentieth-century painters (including Stanley Spencer), Bush is interested how religious themes blend with secular narratives, often manifesting in ritualistic violence. This interest is permeated by Bush's enquiry into grand narrative constructions, resulting in a series of works that examines what spirituality, ritual and community might mean in a contemporary world.

Kushana Bush: The Burning Hours is accompanied by a substantial and generously illustrated book, which is the first major publication focusing on Bush's practice to date. The book will include three essays; by the exhibition's curator Lauren Gutsell, Heather Galbraith (Massey University) and Justin Paton (Art Gallery of New South Wales). Exhibition closes at Whangarei Art Museum on May 27, 2018.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Kaipara mayoral hopefuls on rates, museums and what they would do differently

14 Jul 12:00 AM
Northern Advocate

Kaitāia Airport's $5.4m upgrade progresses with regular iwi meetings

14 Jul 12:00 AM
Premium
Northern Advocate

'Ambulance at the bottom': Retailers criticise new shoplifting penalties

13 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

 Kaipara mayoral hopefuls on rates, museums and what they would do differently

Kaipara mayoral hopefuls on rates, museums and what they would do differently

14 Jul 12:00 AM

Kaipara's rates hike is 8.3%, with a targeted rate of $14 per property for three museums.

Kaitāia Airport's $5.4m upgrade progresses with regular iwi meetings

Kaitāia Airport's $5.4m upgrade progresses with regular iwi meetings

14 Jul 12:00 AM
Premium
'Ambulance at the bottom': Retailers criticise new shoplifting penalties

'Ambulance at the bottom': Retailers criticise new shoplifting penalties

13 Jul 05:00 PM
Man jailed after forcing children to witness horrific animal cruelty

Man jailed after forcing children to witness horrific animal cruelty

13 Jul 08:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP