A focus on local art and design

How has design shaped Ponsonby and the inner city?

Ponsonby News talked to local artist Gavin Hurley, architect Pip Cheshire and gallery owner Melanie Roger to get their insights.

Melanie Roger, owner Melanie Roger Gallery

Art and design is a way for communities to express their collective identity. Would you say this has been put into practice in and around Ponsonby and the inner central suburbs over the last few years?

Auckland’s concentration of galleries has shifted from the central city and the area surrounding the Auckland Art Gallery to the Karangahape Road and Putiki Street districts – both on Ponsonby’s doorstep.

It began when Artspace moved to K’Road back in the late 90s and commercial galleries followed. Now there is a real sense of community – not just amongst galleries, but also other creative businesses and organisations.

What are some events or happenings in Auckland that have really stood out for you?

The growth and relaunch of the Auckland Art Fair has been exciting to watch. We are returning after an absence of a few years which we are really excited about. But within the art world, there’s always an opening. Most galleries are free and welcoming so you can visit anytime – you don’t need to wait for Artweek to drop by.
Much has been said about women artists and women curators like yourself starting to take up more space in the scene. Have you witnessed things changing for the better over the last few years?

I think that we have some amazing women curators and gallery directors in New Zealand. We also have many amazing women artists. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always translate into exhibitions and collecting habits. It’s a work in progress.

We are proud to currently represent 14 female artists out of a total of 23 and that is important to us.

What are some of the challenges that come with being an independent gallery in the current landscape?

It’s always a balancing act of being able to show artists that you want to, with being able to sell enough to keep things going. As an independent gallery, we don’t receive any funding so we do rely on works finding homes. That is an enormous responsibility when you work with over 20 artists.

How do you think indies like yourself could get more support?

I would like to see greater support around the marketing and promotion of the arts. I’d like to see our mainstream media bringing back reviews of exhibitions and listings of what is on. We have whole sections of newspapers dedicated to sport and yet barely any coverage of the arts.

What are some of your favourite ways to discover great art and design in our neighbourhood?

I follow accounts on Instagram that I am interested in – art, clothing, food, design. I like the immediacy of it and, depending on what you follow, it can give you access to some fantastic grass roots-type events.

Gavin Hurley, artist, who will be showing new works at Melanie Roger Gallery until March 21, 2020

Art and design is a way for communities to express and recognise their collective identity. Would you say this has been put into practice over the last few years?

There is usually plenty happening in Ponsonby and the suburbs, people attending and supporting is what makes it work.

My advice is to get to the openings, otherwise a month goes by and you’ve missed it.

What are some events or happenings in Auckland that have really stood out for you?

’Walking In Trees’ in Albert Park springs to mind as a great event. It will be on again later this year, hopefully. I miss ‘Art In The Dark’ in Ponsonby – to see that many people in one place was really something.

It seems that those being able to list their occupation as ‘full time artist’ are a diminishing bunch – would you agree?

I think it must be harder now for younger artists to expect to make it as a full-time occupation without some other work. The ones I’ve grown up with (now in their 40s) still do the odd side gig to keep financial. I was lucky to finish art school at a time when things were expanding; it’s changed a lot over the last 20 years.

What are some of the challenges that come with being an artist in the current landscape?

Making the work is challenging enough – even though it’s just part of putting a show together. I still pretend to not live in the ‘real world’ – business and accounting were never strengths but are often subjects in my collages and paintings.

What are some of your favourite ways to discover great art and design in our neighbourhood?

We have a lot of creative friends around us in Auckland so information about what’s going on isn’t difficult. It’s still easy to forget about things, so social media is good as a reminder.

Pip Cheshire, architect and writer
Art and design is a way for communities to express their collective identity.

Would you say this has been put into practice in and around Ponsonby and the inner central suburbs over the last few years?

Nooooo — given the staggering number of people making stuff in the country, the urban realm is way undercooked… just some big bangers resulting from a laboured public process and a few very interesting, privately funded projects. It would be interesting to let a number of artists loose on a block of, say, Ponsonby Road with no holds barred and facades, road surface, signage, lighting, all in play. It would need a pretty robust curator to avoid a shambles but too much is rarely enough.

I am also keen on requiring digital billboards to display commissioned work, film or images, for 30% of the time. Given their intrusiveness, it’s the least we should get in return.

What are some events or happenings in Auckland that have really stood out for you?

I think it’s great when we take to the streets. I prefer a demonstration but any event where we gather en masse as a body politic feels pretty good. Promenading at Mission Bay is okay, but joining a surge of school kids on Queen Street protesting climate change gets the blood pumping.


Your team has worked all over the city, what is a project in the neighbourhood that you’re particularly fond of and why?

Ponsonby Central is not one of ours but it is a good piece. Adaptive reuse as it’s called; an industrial building hollowed out and reconfigured; a very simple circulation path that doesn’t set out to trap you like the meandering interior of malls and enlivened by nice additions where you touch the building; a gateway, a handrail or door handle. It’s helped too by the height difference between floor level and pavement that has diners part of the street scene yet above rather than below the eye height of passers by – way more successful than tables on the pavement.

How would you describe your role in the company and, indeed, your occupation?

I am increasingly a critic and provocateur and less of a pencil hand.

What are some of your favourite ways to discover great art and design in our neighbourhood such as by keeping an eye on social media for interactive events?

I’m on the mailing lists, am awash in the tsunami of social media and keep an eye out for shows, but I prefer a quieter time with the work than the crush of an opening. (HELENE RAVLICH)