This and that

I've drawn a line under my show. Finished the last things over the weekend (the last one being the image above). Not going to do any more work for it but move on to the next thing instead. To that end I splashed out on a nice linen canvas at the end of last week. Since then it's been sitting there staring at me reproachfully.

Went to a fun experimental music and film gig at the jazz fest on Sunday night. It was enlivened by the smoke for the final guy's laser show setting off the fire alarms. I especially liked Campbell Kneale's film.

Off up to Wangas again tomorrow

You can check the show out here. You need your pop-ups enabled but.

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Toi town

I went and checked out Te Papa's show of the national art collection yesterday arvo. My review of it is here.

Painting and the fourth dimension

Whatever exists as a movement, as something happening in a space with a specific number of dimensions (n), can be represented as a form in space which has one additional dimension (n + 1).

- Hermann Minkovski

Something in Wellington to go to

I went to three openings last week. The most interesting show was the one at Hamish McKay's. They're people who haven't shown there before, and about half of them were from Melbourne. It's always good to see what other people are up to, even though I suspect the range of work on show reflected the people choosing it rather than what's out there. A lot of the stuff left me cold, but there was a drawing on a scroll of paper that wasn't too shabby. My favourites, though, were a couple of studies on canvasboard - small and unassuming but punching well above their weight.

Working definition

Art is symbolic thought expressed materially in a self-conscious and highly associative way.

Something in Wanganui to go to

Prologue: The Matthew Couper and Jo Russ Collection, at the Sarjeant Gallery in Wanganui, is open to the public from 14 October.

I'm in the mortality section (but then aren't we all? ho ho). Here's a shot of what I've got in it (next to Nik Kokx skulls, a Simon Ray sheep painting, and a Andrew Ross photo):

Here's a nice shot of another section of the installed show:

Quote of the day

When we want to throw off an intolerable depression, we sometimes take marijuana. Well, in my case the marijuana was painting. Painting is an antidote for everything that bores you; in itself, I must admit, it is a poison.

- Francis Picabia (sort of)

Something in Sydney to go to

My brother Ben has a show at the Ray Hughes Gallery on at the moment.