Location: Whakatāne Community Board Gallery, Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi — Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre

Anthony Davies investigates recent socio-political events in New Zealand through the language of printmaking. He is interested in how people live their lives and believes ‘people should be aware of what’s going on in the world.’

Since arriving in New Zealand in the 1990s, Davies has documented Aotearoa’s social events as they happen. Originally from the UK and firstly observing as an ‘outsider’, he witnessed the same disparate socioeconomic divide as in his homeland. Over the years, Davies has diligently collected clippings and images from national newspapers and magazines, as content for future print works, thus reviving the protagonist in print.

This exhibition presents a selection of two print series, Closing the Gap and Aotearoa (2010/2011). Both reference New Zealand’s social and cultural complexities. Davies indicates a desire to articulate a national visual media identity through a social and cultural vernacular. Commenting from the horrific to the trivial, these works intend to re-evoke the emotion of how one may have felt at the time of the event.

About Anthony Davies

In 1994, he arrived in New Zealand as Artist in Residence at Elam School of Fine Art. In 2002, he founded the Hotspur Studio in Aramoho, Whanganui. Since 2007, he has lived and worked in New Zealand as a permanent citizen.

As the Situation Unfolds by Anthony Davies opens 4 pm on 9 December 2017 at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi – the Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre, alongside Mataraupō by Tangimoe Clay. If you would like to attend this opening event, please join our mailing list, email arts@whakatane.govt.nz or call 07 306 0505.