Gallery exhibitions focus on Taranaki landscapes and artists

Taranaki from the Eastward by Denis Bourke using oil on panel. Photo/ Supplied.

Two exhibitions, one focusing on strong topographical forms in Taranaki landscapes, and the other, spotlighting Taranaki artists have just opened at Percy Thomson Gallery.

The #make/believe exhibition showcases work by several emerging artists who are pushing creative boundaries.

Many have been winners in the gallery's successful biennial Emergence Award for Young Taranaki Artists, including previous supreme award winners Morgan Hancock and Jack Perkins.

Gallery director Rhonda Bunyan is keen to continue the impetus created by Emergence and support and provide continuing exposure for these young artists.

"Emerging young artists often feel stymied by the lack of opportunity to exhibit their work. They rely on social media, but there is nothing like seeing the art in person, and for the artists to see their work hanging in a public space."

Artists include Stuart Tullett-Morris, Jordan Quinnell, Hayley-Elliott Kernot, Lee-Ann Rapira, 2018 Emergence Award winner Hancock, Amy Brennan, Dwayne Duthie, Carl Fairweather, Portia Roper, Donna O'Donoghue, Blake Tanner, Haoro Hond, Lissa Lee, Blake Tanner and 2020 Emergence winner Perkins.

The exciting exhibition has a contemporary edge and promises to elicit more than mediocre responses from the viewer.

In Gallery 2 is the exhibition Origins and Memories – Paintings of Taranaki and Hinterland by Stratford-born artist Denis Bourke who produces art and designs works in a range of media from his studio north of Auckland.

His fascination in landforms and topography lead him to study geomorphology at tertiary level.

His work is held in numerous collections in New Zealand and overseas. Bourke has recently completed a large mural series at the Albertland Heritage Centre at Wellsford, north of Auckland.

The exhibitions run until Sunday February 21.