Andy Griffiths and Mark Graham
Opens Thursday 27 September 6pm until Wednesday 10 October; 10 – 3 daily
 
An exhibition of contrasts; urban and rural, watercolour and acrylics, street art and landscapes; this exhibition of work by two Kaipara artists will intrigue and delight visitors to the Mangawhai Artists Gallery.  
 
Andy’s landscapes and seascapes, his spontaneous use of watercolour captures the beauty of Kaipara.  For Andy watercolour is the antithesis of the digital painting which has occupied him for the last 10 years.  Having been a professional artist since 1990 working for large corporate clients like Warner Bros Consumer Products and small independent publishers, Andy explains ‘in 2017, I blew the dust off my 30 year old set of watercolour paints and made the decision to start “Real” painting again’. This is Andy’s first exhibition and he is excited about this new phase of his artistic career.  Looking at his paintings you will be too. 
 
A lover of street art combining graphic design, a love of street wear, an extensive collection of Nikes, Mark’s collaborates with local and New Zealand wide artists to sell artworks, products and apparel. Mark studied graphic design at Massey University and keeps his creativity flowing by regularly changing his art style.

Image is Andy Griffiths with two of his watercolours .

About the Artists
mangawhaiartists.co.nz/andy-griffiths
mangawhaiartists.co.nz/mark-graham.html 

Mangawhai artists Nicola Everett, Lynn Middleton and Tatjana Panyoczki are joining other artists in marking the 125thanniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. 
 
Nicola and Lynn are joining 125 New Zealand printmakers in a project ‘125 CELEBRATE 125’. Printmakers throughout NZ have contributed A4-paper prints which make up two carefully collated boxed sets.  The prints will be displayed and archived as part of New Zealand’s 125 Suffrage Celebrations.  
 
Nicola explains her work is about ‘the resourcefulness of women, particularly my grandmother, Rosanna Sarah Partridge, who was constantly stitching.  During the Depression she reworked clothes over and over’. Nicola says that being resourceful is becoming a more valued skill today especially considering the futures we may face.
 
In a work called ‘Forget me Knot’, Lynn has used women’s hair and cotton threads to represent the strength that comes from working together, shared energies and collective strength.  The forget me knot is set within embossed grid lines to illustrate the opposition faced by Suffragettes and remembering the imprisonment of UK Suffragettes.
 
Organised by the Franklin Print Group, imagery in the prints celebrates the lives, roles, presence and influence of women, inspired by history, our national story, and each artist’s personal experiences or thinking. The printed imagery is primarily generated by a hand-made print process.  One box will be displayed in Pukekohe on 15 September as part of the Franklin Suffrage Celebration Day ‘Suffrage 125 - Kiwi Women Lead the World’.  The second boxed set will be gifted to the Auckland Museum and archived as part of their collection.  
 
In 'Stories of Hankies and Heroines', Tatjana Panyoczki has joined other artists in an exhibition ‘Empowering Women - 125 Years of Women's Suffrage in Aotearoa’ at Masterworks Gallery Auckland from 26 August - 19 September.
 
Nicola, Tatjana and Lynn are members of Mangawhai Artists Inc.  There is an opportunity to see more of Nicola and Lynn’s work when, and along with five other Mangawhai printmakers, they will be exhibiting in the Mangawhai Artists Gallery from Friday 12 October in an exhibition of printmaking; PRESSED.
 
About the Artists
mangawhaiartists.co.nz/nicola-everett
mangawhaiartists.co.nz/lynn-middleton
Tatjana Panyoczki in masterworksgallery.co.nz/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/125-years-women-s-suffrage/
​
​IMAGE is a collagraph print by Nicola Everett

Barry Read
Opens 6pm Friday 14 September until 26 September 2018
 
Barry Read’s work is “about the way something is transformed by light, whether that’s a film or an art work”. Barry explains “designing for film isn’t architecture, it’s about designing for the camera. You can create something quite abstract on a film that then translates as realism on screen. It’s translation of ideas”. 
 
Barry’s first solo exhibition in Mangawhai Artists Gallery concentrates on two elements; drawing and painting. Barry describes his process for the work in his exhibition. “I’ve restricted the drawings to pencil on paper. The process is not as important as getting the idea across. With the paintings I carried on an experiment begun ten years ago - much more textural - it’s that thing about light. I start by drawing with texture and it’s an exciting process because things that aren’t obvious in the under painting can appear through the layers of translucent paint. So when I start that process I have an idea of where I’m going, but not the specifics.”
 
Interested in landscape and the interaction of the straight-line mechanical with nature, Barry also explores the ideas of colonialism and tribalism “because we live in disturbing times and the politics of fear. Where anybody different is ‘stranger’ and ‘danger’”.
 
Barry has exhibited throughout NZ and when living in London he exhibited in the UK, Barcelona and St Petersburg.  He says; “the major influence for me, and my greatest stroke of luck, was going to the BBC, there I met some great draughtsmen and draughtswomen, fantastic, beautiful, stunning, unbelievable work. So I learned to draw in a way I’d never drawn before. I got less precious I guess!”
 
‘Zone C’ by Barry Read opens in Mangawhai Artists Gallery at 6pm Friday 14 September and Barry looks forward to the exhibition because “the space and lighting is so good. To have the works shown together should be interesting.”

For more information mangawhaiartists.co.nzand artist profile:
mangawhaiartists.co.nz/barry-read