"Paper Anniversary" From left to right: Jill Kerr, Susan Ewen, Kristy Wilson, Esther Hansen (organiser), Nicola Pressnell, Daphne Simons, Jacquie Haselden, Kate Lobb and Rachel Schauzer.
One of Pukekohe’s best artists and popular art teacher at Pukekohe High School Esther Hansen, who has become well known for winning art awards each year in the Franklin Arts Festival has collaborated with the Franklin Arts Centre to set up a very special exhibition. She was invited to show her work after gallery staff spotted her incredible printmaking art works in the festival exhibition this year. Esther was immediately keen but wanted to share the space with several of her talented colleagues she had come to admire in the art world over the years. Esther invited 25 artists to contribute their work to an exhibition entitled “paper anniversary’ which tied all of them together as all of these artists produce their art on paper. Some work in other mediums as well but it was decided to promote this genre of art because it can be an effective way for people to buy into the art market. The works are more cost-effective because they would all be presented un-framed which means the buyer doesn’t bare this usually high cost involved and could decide how they would go about framing the work and at what cost. Works on paper can also be gifted to friends who appreciate art and can be sent overseas very easily, also at low cost and minimal packaging making it the perfect way to send a unique and genuine piece of New Zealand to someone living away from home.
The gallery has been delighted by the quality and range of the work it received. The exhibition features established artists and emerging artists and overall it is exciting to see the extremely high standard of work from all. Some of Pukekohe High School’s best students contributed work, notably Daphne Simons (who is now studying for a Tertiary Qualification) who has won the Supreme Award in the Franklin Arts Festival a few years ago and Grace Pickford who won several prizes in this years Festival including Best Youth Artist. Her work was so emotive and remarkable that she was the talk of the Festival this year.
Esther Hansen won an award for mixed media in the Festival; she has since built further on this body of work and the full series of her hand-coloured etchings are featured in this exhibition.
Sale Pepe and Jay Pressnell’s work was so popular on opening night that several people were left heavily disappointed when they reached the counter to purchase their work only to find they had been pipped at the post by other eager buyers.
Sally Mountfort submitted some of the most delicate and wonderfully precise hand drawings of rugby players in the thick of the action on field, they are so magnetic that it will have you believing in the art of sport. Susan Ewen had a similar idea, depicting the rugby player as the ideal specimen in modern art, referencing classical drawings of perfection from the past.
Another stand out discovery from this exhibition is Evelyn Kawhiti who had a huge volume of work but due to space constraints only a select few of her exquisitely moving drawings could be exhibited this time. She is such a wonderful talent that the gallery promptly invited her to exhibit the full range of her work during Matariki in 2012. Something we are now very excited about. All the work in this exhibition is worth seeing and investing in and we hope that the overwhelming response on opening night continues to flow over in the coming weeks for the duration of the show. The exhibition closes on November 28, 2011.