Imposters: Sculptures from the Collection
8 July, 2014 - 27 July, 2014
Little Gallery
At first glance the Little Gallery seems to be filled with a strange assortment of ordinary objects. But these objects are in fact facsimiles, replicas of objects from everyday life, artworks masquerading as objects you might use, or just as easily overlook.
A fire extinguisher and three softball gloves hang on the wall, latently ready to fulfil their functions. Two flattened cardboard boxes have been left on a desk, while a stack of formed boxes has been haphazardly erected in the middle of the room; left there as though they had just been used to perform an unknown task.
Crafting these sculptures exactly as their originals appear, the artists in this exhibition highlight our contrasting relationship to works of art as opposed to all other non-art objects, the value we place on different kinds of objects, and the rules and conventions around value that we often abide by, consciously or unconsciously.
It may seem strange to revere a fire extinguisher or stack of boxes as fine art, yet here they are presented as works of art: (please don’t touch!) Teasingly, the artists have left few clues as to how we should treat these objects. With no plinths or frames, and with forms that seem to be identical to their subject matter, how we receive these things is uncertain.
In reality the artworks in Imposters are made of a variety of media, including wood and clay, modelled by hand. They have no function other than existing as art. In this sense the objects in this exhibition are both original works of art, and functionless facsimiles.
All these artworks are part of the Arts Trust Collection. Artists included in the show are Steve Carr, Glen Hayward and Marita Hewitt. Steve Carr was the 2012 recipient of the Wallace Art Trust Fulbright Award. Glen Hayward was the 2010 recipient of The Kaipara Foundation Wallace Arts Trust Award. Marita Hewitt was the 2013 First Runner Up of the Wallace Art Awards.