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Matakana Pictures |
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| Exhibitions Artists | Matakana Pictures Sada McCormack - Gallery Manager |
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Matakana Pictures opened 3 June 2005 as a permanent exhibition space for New Zealand and international photographers. A stunning space in the mezzanine of a larger building, it has 60 linear metres of wall space. It is a significantly unusual and exciting destination in the vibrant Matakana rural region - a new arts destination handy to Auckland. The exhibition schedule was launched with the show, “Solstice”, which is the first of a series of six group exhibitions surveying the best of contemporary exhibiting New Zealand photographers. It is the main goal of the gallery to encourage new artists, and assist established artists to exhibit new work; to create a comprehensive base of contributing photographers, and to work towards the creation of a larger viewing public for contemporary work in photo-based media. Providing support to photographers to produce and exhibit work will foster an extensive representation of people working in this art form. It will enable new practitioners to exhibit in a high quality space, as there will be no reliance on commission from sales which tends to pressurize galleries to exhibit only established artists, and known, or conservative, work. It will also enable established photographers to exhibit challenging new work, which may not be commercially viable but educational, or culturally and socially expansive. Matakana Pictures is located within The Matakana Country Park. It is a growing attraction, comparatively close to Auckland in an area perceived to have important tourist growth. The area is being heavily promoted by organizations such as Matakana Coast as a wine and art gallery trail. Matakana Village itself is being extensively redeveloped as an art centre with the imminent construction of an art-house movie centre. The large numbers of people with holiday homes at one of the local beaches has resulted in an influx of art galleries, cafes and wineries. Matakana is becoming increasingly renowned as a community of art and artists, as well as offering entertainment and attractions for every taste; as a recent visitor to Matakana Pictures commented “There is something in this area for everyone”. |
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Opening of the first exhibition: Solstice, 3 June 2005 |
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