The doors of perception are opened at the Fisher Gallery when an exhibition of artists’ responses to the door opens on Friday the 8th of September. Thirteen artists explore the idea of the door in door to door, in a variety of media including paint, glass, metal, wool, and wood.
Auckland artist Mary Louise Browne’s work is a rug, with the word ‘door’ cut into the pile of the carpet, playing on the idea of the ‘doormat.’ The work of jewellers Jane Dodd (Auckland) and Rainer Beneke (Dunedin) both contains architectural elements as part of the jewellery, including windows, stairs and, of course, doors. Wanganui-based artist Liz Coats’ work is a large door frame with handpainted glass panels, while Peta Tearle’s work ‘Door no.5’ is handpainted door from a downtown Auckland building with a colourful history. Auckland-based painters James Ross, Peter Siddell and Mervyn Williams explore their ideas of the door in paint, from very different viewpoints and with diverse outcomes. Shona Rapira Davies’ work Hauturu Zoo is a freestanding work using a variety of media, including bird bones, voicing her concerns over the management of the land and animals on Hauturu (Little Barrier Island).
Emma Camden’s work in glass is a glowing take on the familiar exit sign, while Monique Redmond’s work ‘Time Spent’ is an installation on the theme of the potential banality of life in the suburbs. Gail Haffern, a Manukau City resident artist, has an installation work in door to door that invites the visitor to interact with it. Six miniature doors by Frances Hansen recall a doll’s house and are painted with different plants to represent favourite places (and gardens) that she has lived in throughout her life.
Ephemera
→ Door to Door, 2000, exhibition brochure
Press
→ Doors focus of exhibits, Eastern Courier, 13-09-2000