MARTES, EL VEINTINUEVE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-ONCE
page four of the new Mark Hutchins Gallery Catalogue with my painting, 'Trickle-Down Theory' and text by Las Vegas writer, Scott Dickensheets. You'll be able to download the entire pdf catalogue at the gallery website here at some point in the not too distant future.

JUEVES, EL DOS DE DICIEMBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
I've got a few artworks on show in Wellington at Mark Hutchins Gallery, as part of his Maquette exhibition. Here's a link to the works in the show.

MARTES, EL VEINTITRES DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Late November and December sees in the last of the exhibition openings for the year.
Below are listed the upcoming exhibition openings that feature my work:

~Away From Dios: The Seven Deadly Sins, CMTV Galería, Carrer de Sant Pere Mes Alt 36 Barcelona, Spain, 9 December 2010 - January 2011. I have a single oil painting in this exhibition, along with six other international artists, that deal with contemporary updates on the Seven Deadly Sins. You can read the press release here.

~Goonies Never Say Die! Group exhibition, Blackbird Studios, 1551 Commerce St (Commerce & Wyoming), Las Vegas, USA, 3 - 22 December 2010. I have a small, framed drawing, titled 'Superchunk', of the 'dismembered' statue of Michelangelo's David, featured in the film. (drawing is below)

~Reconstructed. Group exhibition, Mahara Gallery, Mahara Pl, Waikanae, New Zealand, 28 November 2010 - 23 January 2011. I have a diorama from 2003 and three small crucifixes.

~Maquette. Group Exhibition, Mark Hutchins Gallery, 216a Willis St, Wellington, New Zealand, December 2010 - January 2011

Continuing Exhibitions:
~Credo and Quest–a selective survey of Religion and Spirituality in New Zealand Art, Whangarei Art Museum, Water Street, Whangarei, New Zealand, 15 Nov 2010 – 7 Jan 2011. I have a wooden devotional box from 2009 and a large crucifixion painting from 2006, courtesy of the Wallace Collection, Auckland.

*Links to the gallery websites and the images in the exhibitions can be found on my website homepage
For a any more information, don't hesitate to contact me.
I hope everyone has a safe holiday season!

hasta pronto
Matthew

JUEVES, EL DIECIOCHO DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
An invitation to a group exhibition I'm part of at Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, Wellington, New Zealand. I'm not exactly sure which work of mine is in the exhibition, but I'll update you as soon as I hear.

LUNES, EL QUINCE DE NOVIEMBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ
Today, my painting 'Half and Half' (which is on display at present at the New Dowse, New Zealand, as part of the 2010 Wallace Art Awards) is featured in John Seed's Huffington Post Blog, 'Five Paintings, Five Palettes: F. Scott Hess, Peter Zokosky, Sarah McKenzie, Nathan Oliveira, Matt Couper'.
The main idea of the blog is to compare and contrast artist's palettes. So far, mine is the skankiest, with paper plates sitting on the ground with a mess of brushes.

MIERCOLES, EL VEINTISIETE DE OCTUBRE, VEINTE-DIEZ

Another invitation to an exhibition, this time it's Sanjay Theodore in Wellington. The exhibition is titled 'M-13, an installation'. I'm not sure if the title is also a play on the film ratings system or not (Sanjay's a big B-grade movie buff), but here's the write-up about the exhibition:

"Like the group of stars in the milky way, from which the exhibition derives its title, the paintings, photographs and objects in the this show, M-13, are installed to be seen and experienced as a cluster – with the whole something more than the individual components. Within a framework Dadasim, the early 20th century art movement which challenged the conventions of what art could be and do, Theodore brings together disparate elements, from east and western traditions, to create an environment which draws attention to the rituals of looking both in the gallery and out.
Sanjay Theodore was born in India and came to New Zealand as a child. He studied art at Canterbury University, the West Texas State University and the New York Studio School. In the mid 1990s, before leaving New Zealand for almost a decade, he was included in several significant public gallery group exhibitions. Theodore is now based in Christchurch and exhibiting in New Zealand and the United Kingdom."

His exhibition opens at Bartley+Co Art, Wellington, on the 2nd of November.

MIERCOLES, EL VEINTE DE OCTUBRE, VIENTE-DIEZ
Just got this in the mail, an Invitation to the opening of the 2010 Wallace Art Awards at The New Dowse in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. My painting, Half and Half is in the exhibition. I w0n't be there (obviously) but my agent Mark Hutchins of Mark Hutchins Gallery, Wellington will be heading out to the opening.

VIERNES, EL TRECE DE AGOSTO, VEINTE-DIEZ

a photograph of new Rob McLeod paintings straight from the studio: (L to R) 'Constructed Chief, Collaged Cowboy and Bandit Tweety' oil on corrugated cardboard and plywood, articulated pieces. To see more of Rob's work: http://www.paulnache.com/artists/rob-mcleod.aspx

JUEVES, EL VEINTICUATRO DE JUNIO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Friends of ours are selling their villa in Wellington and we checked out the photos of their abode. Like my penchant for looking through New Zealand House and Garden to see what art is hanging on the walls of the featured houses, I got a buzz seeing a few of my works on the walls on the website house-listing. Along with my work, there is a James Robinson woodcut, a Saskia Leek vinyl painting, Paul Maseyk bottles, Leigh Mitchell-Anyon photographs and a Simon Kaan print.

VIERNES, EL DIECIOCHO DE JUNIO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Opening Friday night in Wellington is Peter Ireland's exhibition, Return of the Native - Imagining Katherine Mansfield at Gilberd Marriott Gallery (1st floor, 37 Courtenay Place). The exhibition features 12 paintings relating to the influences on and of Mansfield in New Zealand and her displacement from her birthplace.
The works will be online on Peter's website midday Friday.

HAPPY QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY (EL SIETE DE JUNIO)
The closest I have to a 'royal' image - Pauline Hanson wrapped up in an Australian flag on a marble capital.
I can't remember what the title of this painting is, nor who owns it but it was shown as part of 'Panoramas and Painted Objects' at Janne Land Gallery, Wellington, 2001.

JUEVES, EL TRES DE JUNIO, VEINTE-DIEZ
We're off to Wellington for a few days, back soon. We'll be at Happy (cnr of Tory and Vivian streets) on Friday night for The Tenderizers and Butterfly P!G, starting at 8.30pm, then at the Southern Cross on Saturday night. Photos to follow.

Bank Ballance, 1999, oil on canvas, private collection, Wtgn

SABATO, EL VEINTIDOS DE MAYO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Another work featured in BYO at PAULNACHE, Gisborne (I've material for at least 100 posts here!). This work was painted in 2000, but not exhibited until 2001. Part of the Panorama series, its probably the most visually violent work in the group. The planes worked their way into my subconscious as I was living in Hataitai, Wellington and the house had a good view of the airport at Rongotai.

MARTES, EL DEICIOCHO DE MAYO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Another work featured in BYO at PAULNACHE in Gisborne. This work is called Revenge and was painted in 2000. It was originally exhibited at Janne Land Gallery in a solo exhibition called Panoramas and Painted Objects in 2001. You can see this painting in the exhibtion here, just click on the image and it's situated just above the Dog paintings on the palette in the middle bottom of the photograph.

LUNES, EL DEICISIETE DE MAYO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Some more works in stock at PAULNACHE in Gisborne. I took these works up with me to Gisborne last weekend. These works on paper were completed in early 1999, but weren't exhibited until March 2001 at Enjoy Gallery in Wellington. You can see installations of the work here and here. (By the way, Barraud's dog's name was Nipper, not Tito)

LUNES, EL TRES DE MAYO, VEINTE-DIEZ
'Sanctum Hill', 2004, oil on linen, 800mm x 1000mm, collection of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Rome.
This is the painting mentioned in yesterday's post. It's a real pastiche of Renaissance symbolism and composition. The three virtues on the right, flying away (copied from a painting by Sassetta) have Guston-like heads. Along with the Ghirlandaio wall and the Giotto township and of course, Cima's Agnus Dei.
The title, I'm not sure where that came from, but I remember specifically, as I was walking to the opening of my exhibition at Janne Land's, that the apartments opposite her gallery (in Jessie Street at the time) were called the Sanctum Apartments.

Hello All,

My work that was shown recently at Mark Hutchins Gallery in Wellington has segued into 'Contemporary Baroque' and will continue until the 8th of May, so if you didn't get to see the work in the previous four days, you will have a chance to catch it in a new exhibition format.
Mark Hutchins Gallery, 216A Upper Willis Street, Wellington

Also, I have work in several other exhibitions around New Zealand; finishing up on the 24th of April is '13 Works' at Paper-Works, Upstairs, 27 Tennyson Street, Napier, Hawkes Bay
www.paper-works.co.nz

A painting and three crucifixes in 'Represent' at PAULNACHE in Gisborne, finishing on the 1st of May,
PAULNACHE, Upstairs, 89 Grey Street, Gisborne 4010

'Malfunction Baroque', a group of new ceramics at the Rayner Brothers Gallery in Whanganui, finishing on the 15th of May,
Rayner Brothers Gallery, 52 Guyton Street, Whanganui

And, finally, two works in the Creative Hawkes Bay Invitational 2010,
Hastings City Art Gallery, 201 Eastbourne Street East, Hastings

If you click on the links above, you can check out my work in each of the exhibitions.
Hasta pronto
Matthew Couper

VIERNES, EL DIECISEIS DE ABRIL, VIENTE-DIEZ
Installation Photographs of recent exhibition at Mark Hutchins Gallery in Wellington.

MARTES, EL TRECE DE ABRIL, VEINTE-DIEZ
One of the eight new works that will be on display at Mark Hutchins Gallery from this Thursday to Sunday. The oil and collage on canvas painting is 1680mm high by 1280mm wide and is titled 'Half and Half'. It relates to a smaller painting that was worked on at the same time as this one below, but this one slipped through the net at the time - that was October 2008. It has since been three other paintings, a whole new painting painted on the back and now finally finished, ready to be stretched over a wooden frame for display.
You can view all the works in the exhibition here on my website.

DOMINGO, EL ONCE DE ABRIL, VEINTE-DIEZ
Hello All,

You are invited to attend the opening of 'Culturally Baroque' and 'Antiquarius', a new selection of my paintings exhibited next to classical antiquities from the Mediterranean dated 3000BC - 500AD.

The exhibition opens Thursday night, 5.30pm - 7.30pm, 15th of April, 2010 and will continue through to 5pm, Sunday 18th of April, 2010.

**Please note that this exhibition only runs for FOUR DAYS ONLY and this will be my last showing in Wellington while still living in NZ before my wife and I move to the USA in June**

I will be exhibiting selection of new retablo-sized oil paintings on metal, two larger colonial-style framed oils on metal and one large oil painting on canvas.

You will be able to view all the work in the exhibition at this link Tuesday the 13th of April and any enquiries can be directed to Mark Hutchins Gallery at mark@mhgallery.co.nz, 216a Upper Willis Street, Wellington.