Other Stories Stone Works: 2002-2012

Transcription

JOE
SHEEHAN
Other Stories
Stone Works: 2002-2012
25 August - 25 November 2012
PATAKA ART + MUSEUM
JOE
SHEEHAN
Other Stories
PATAKA ART + MUSEUM
Curated by Helen Kedgley
INTRODUCTION
tradition of Maori jade and stone carving as well as
the classical tradition of stone sculpture. Yet as a
Pataka is delighted to present Joe Sheehan’s first
Pakeha carver, Sheehan did not feel constrained by
survey exhibition, bringing together fifty sculptural
the spirituality associated with pounamu. ‘While I felt
objects from the past ten years of his practice.
very privileged to be working with greenstone,
Sheehan has fashioned a unique identity for himself
I didn’t want to be bound by its history.’2 He decided
creating work which explores the contemporary
to explore its potential to tell more contemporary,
relevance of stone carving in New Zealand. His
bicultural stories. ‘In some ways I am lucky that I
exquisitely carved, carefully considered pieces –
stand outside of tradition,’3 he says. He began to use
beautiful replicas of everyday objects in stone –
pounamu to create representational sculptures of
engage with the classic tradition of stone sculpture,
everyday objects that explored the concept of illusion
yet confound the usual expectations of the medium.
in art. He wanted stone carving to regain its potency
His formal simplicity and visual understatement
and relevance as an art form today.
belie his work’s technical virtuosity.
Sheehan’s body of work in the last decade has
attracted considerable critical acclaim for its
imported from Russia, Canada, Australia and China.
technical skill, which is always both eloquent and
Recently he moved away from working exclusively
restrained, and for his repositioning of stone carving
in jade, such a rare and precious stone, to a range
in a contemporary conceptual framework. He likes
of other stones, including some of our most
to surprise and amuse; his conceptually driven
common – greywacke and basalt. Although these are
work is both engaging and provocative. The carefully
not conventional stones for sculpting, their weight,
chosen titles of his pieces are often playful, witty
density and subtlety of colour appealed to him.
and irreverent. This survey also shows how his work
This was a radical departure from his work in
has evolved in size and complexity from the domestic
pounamu, but Sheehan found it liberating to work
scale of his early pieces. His recent Words Fail, a large
with materials that he describes as ‘less loaded with
sculptural installation created from white Cararra
cultural significance.’ Sheehan who enjoys the
marble, is his largest work to date.
process of transforming such undervalued stones into
Sheehan is best known for his sculpture in
works of art says, ‘I was trying to find something
pounamu. Prized for its rich colour and translucency,
beautiful in something completely overlooked.’4 His
pounamu (New Zealand’s nephrite jade, commonly
greywacke sculptures tend to be larger than his work
known as greenstone) was used by Maori to make
in pounamu. Harder than most metals, pounamu is
sacred objects, weapons and ornaments; contemporary
very labour-intensive and difficult to carve. According
greenstone carving in New Zealand has tended to
to Sheehan, stones like basalt and greywacke are
replicate such traditional items. Sheehan says, ‘A lot
softer but present just as difficult a technical challenge.
of contemporary carving is retrospective looking.
Where Sheehan’s work in pounamu is characterised
I wanted my stuff to relate to the current social
by its luminescence, with stone he seeks to create light
environment but also reference the particular way our
and shadow. The material dictates the way he carves.
carving industry has developed.’1 Following his study
2
When greenstone became difficult to source in
New Zealand, Sheehan began working with jade
The everyday object presented as art lies at the
of contemporary jewellery at Unitec, Auckland, he
heart of Sheehan’s work. When Sheehan used to
wanted to expand the ways in which pounamu could
visit the Maori and Pacific galleries in the Auckland
be used, to challenge preconceptions about the stone.
Museum as a child, he was drawn to the artefacts,
Sheehan’s work inevitably connects with the long
the everyday objects. He liked what these well-worn,
3
handed-down pieces revealed about people’s daily
the planned obsolescence of consumer society – the
lives. ‘I was always impressed by the utilitarian
way so many household appliances are now designed
pieces in the museum. They seemed to convey more
to be discarded. Sheehan makes inventive and
5
to me than anything else.’ Today, Sheehan embraces
intriguing ‘souvenirs’ of such rejects at the moment
as subject matter the commodities of contemporary
of their demise. In this way his work is concerned
material culture. Using stone to document life today,
with the passage of time. ‘I made a range of things
he re-makes objects that are similarly useful but
pulled out of my daily life and froze them in time.’6
very much of our time. He chooses those with layers
His stone television set, his pounamu cassette
of cultural and social meaning and presents them
tape and his carousel filled with slide-shaped pieces
aesthetically like the archaeological display of artefacts
of pounamu, are all such ‘artefacts of the future’.
in museums. The illustrations of artefacts grouped
together in Elsdon Best’s book The Stone Implements
of global consumerism, environmental degradation
of the Maori are another source of inspiration.
and diminishing resources. While his more recent
An impressive new work The Quick and the Dead
work critiques consumerism, ideas about the
was inspired by two things: an image of a set of
environment have clearly influenced his practice
second-hand television remotes for sale on TradeMe
too. In his ironically titled work, Non-Rechargeable,
and the illustrations of stone adzes in Best’s book.
a wall installation of a series of fake battery packs,
Carved in greywacke, Sheehan’s ‘television remotes’
Sheehan challenges the complacency of New Zealand’s
recall the stone adzes he admired as a child.
clean, green self-image.
With extraordinary technical skill Sheehan
Sheehan’s early work commented on the
transforms greenstone into sculptures that replicate
commercial jade industry that he was once part of.
instantly recognisable yet unremarkable domestic
He questioned the authenticity and quality of souvenirs
objects, things that are in everyday use – scissors,
mass-produced for the tourist market, mostly cheap
ball point pens, safety glasses and keys. By choosing
replicas of historical forms. Sheehan jolts the viewer
pounamu as his material he takes something ordinary
with awkward questions. Why does contemporary
and makes it extraordinary – both physically, with
greenstone carving still look like carvings found in
its luminous appearance, and culturally, with the
museums ‘telling nothing of its time and place’?
emotional resonance of the stone’s associations.
Why shouldn’t greenstone tell our story today? Does
Sheehan likes to disrupt preconceived ideas and
contemporary greenstone carving need to limit itself
expectations. He looks for things that you wouldn’t
to replicating these traditional objects? Can multiple
expect to see carved in stone: paint tubes, records,
cultural approaches to the use of greenstone co-exist
batteries and even lightbulbs. A recent suite of
and be respected? Reserve, a set of ingots carved in
sculptures was inspired by found objects: Mother, a
various hues of jade sourced from the South Island,
greywacke version of a crushed plastic bottle was
Canada and Russia, comment on the value of jade and
inspired by a milk bottle he found washed up on
allude to the politicisation of pounamu as a valuable
Makara Beach, while a bedraggled line of household
resource since its ownership was restored to Ngai Tahu
rubbish bags on a street near his studio was the
in 1997. He adds, ‘The greenstone my father was using
inspiration behind On My Way Home, his large-scale
which used to be found in relative abundance is not
basalt sculpture of a black bag.
there any more.’ So Final Cut, a set of scissors that
Sheehan also has an eye for what will be interesting
4
Sheehan’s work also grapples with issues
gradually morphs into the shape of native birds, ‘was
in the future. Fascinated by the speed with which
about using all the last slices of various bits of stone
today’s technologies become outmoded, he critiques
I had.’7
5
Carving remains Sheehan’s lifelong passion. A
master craftsman, his technical expertise is evident
in the exquisite detail of his work. He pushes
1. Virginia Were, ‘Leaving the Lagoon’, Art News, Autumn (2007), 87.
2. Kathryn Webster, ‘Joe Sheehan—Inspiring New Zealand’,
AA Directions, July 2011, http://www.aa.co.nz/membership/
aa-directions/features/joe-sheehan-inspiring-new-zealand/
stone carving to the limits of his skill, transforming
3. Joe Sheehan, personal communication, 15 June 2012.
dense hard stone into a light, translucent material.
4. Kathryn Webster, ‘Joe Sheehan—Inspiring New Zealand’,
Daily Bread, for example, is a wafer-thin, jade disc
AA Directions, July 2011, http://www.aa.co.nz/membership/
aa-directions/features/joe-sheehan-inspiring-new-zealand/
that looks like a 45rpm record, perforated by
hundreds of angled holes, while Song Remains the
6. ibid
Same is an exact replica of a plastic audiocassette
carved in translucent jade and is a functional tape.
7. Virginia Were, “Leaving the Lagoon,” Art News, Autumn (2007), 87.
Sheehan has a huge admiration for contemporary
and customary carvers. He trained as a stone carver
in his father’s commercial carving studios in
Rotorua and Queenstown and still uses the techniques
he learned in that industry. Yet he constantly
experiments with new techniques and incorporates
new industrial technologies into his process. His
sculptures have a highly manufactured aesthetic
which he achieves by making use of precision and
power tools and most recently a water-jet cutter.
Sheehan says, ‘I am trying to shift my work from
something that is made to look like it is ancient into
something that acknowledges the industrial nature
of the process and the industry.’8
Sheehan has created his own unique style
of contemporary stone sculpture in New Zealand.
Over the past ten years his work has evolved from
his translucently beautiful green pounamu objects
to his precisely crafted black and grey stone objects,
and on to his recent large-scale work in marble.
Yet his work remains as fresh, restrained, intriguing
and relevant as ever.
Helen Kedgley
Senior Curator Contemporary Art
PATAKA
6
7
BIOGRAPHY
Education
Joe Sheehan was born in 1967 in Nelson, New Zealand.
1996 Diploma in Design (Jewellery)
The son of an American jade carver, Sheehan began
UNITEC, Auckland, New Zealand
carving jade in the 90s, working in his father’s
commercial carving studios in Rotorua and Queenstown.
During this time he travelled internationally to source
material, visiting nephrite jade deposits in Australia,
Canada, Russia and China.
After studying contemporary jewellery at Unitec,
Auckland, Sheehan moved to Wellington and had
his first major exhibition at Avid Gallery in 2004.
The following year he had his first solo exhibition
Awards
2010 Antarctica New Zealand Arts Fellowship
2006 Inaugural New Generation Award, Arts
Foundation, New Zealand
2003 Premier Award, Mana Pounamu, Greymouth,
New Zealand
Limelight at Objectspace in Auckland. One year
later Sheehan emerged as one of New Zealand’s
leading young contemporary artists when he was one
of five inaugural recipients of an Arts Foundation
New Generation Award. In 2008 he represented
New Zealand at the 28th São Paulo Bienal in Brazil.
Sheehan recently travelled to Antarctica on an
Antarctica New Zealand Arts Fellowship.
Joe Sheehan
Auckland 2012
Photograph, Jackson Laidlaw
Sheehan’s work is held in private and public
collections including Musuem of New Zealand Te Papa
Tongarewa, Chartwell Collection, Christchurch Art
Gallery and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. He currently
lives and works in a studio in Grey Lynn, Auckland.
Joe Sheehan is represented by Tim Melville Gallery,
Auckland
8
9
The Quick and the Dead 2012 (detail)
argillite
200mm H x 45mm W x 20mm D
PLATES
10
Bulb 2011 (Edition 5/6)
nephrite jade, oxidised brass, electric cable & plug
115mm L x 65mm D
Words Fail 2011
15 Carrara marble letters
Dimensions variable
Record #1 2011
South Australian black nephrite jade
175mm D x 2mm H
470mm H x 360mm W (frame)
Record #6 2011
Canadian nephrite jade (King Mountain)
175mm D x 2mm H
470mm H x 360mm W (frame)
Reserve G9701 – G97012 2011
New Zealand pounamu (Marsden & Arahura Rivers),
Canadian nephrite jade (King Mountain, Cassiar Mountain))
& Russian nephrite jade (Sayan Mountains)
175mm L x 75mm W x 42mm H (each)
Shit Creek 2010 (detail)
24 stones from the Puketui River & wooden case
with hand-made silver catches
920mm W x 190mm D x 65mm H (case)
83mm H x 26mm W x 16mm D (paint tubes)
Shhhhh… 2010
Coromandel granite
Song Remains the Same II 2008
New Zealand pounamu (Haast), plastic spools & magnetic
audio tape recording
Mother 2008
greywacke
230mm L x 160mm W x 110mm D
Conversation Piece 2006
New Zealand pounamu (Haast)
77mm H x 122mm D
JOE SHEEHAN - LIST OF WORKS
Bangles x 2 2001
Russian nephrite jade (Sayan Mountains)
Collection of John Sheehan, Hamilton
Bulb 2011 (Edition 5/6)
nephrite jade, oxidised brass, electric cable & plug
Courtesy the artist & Tim Melville Gallery, Auckland
Conversation Piece 2006
New Zealand pounamu (Haast)
Collection of Annie & Peter Gascoigne, Hawkes Bay
Daily Bread 2006
South Australian black nephrite jade in marine
plywood case
Private collection, Auckland
Final Cut 2006
five carved, hinged implements worked in Haast
pounamu, South Australian black jade, Russian nephrite
& Arahura River pounamu
Collection of the Museum of New Zealand
Te Papa Tongarewa
Final Cut II 2008
New Zealand pounamu, South Australian black
nephrite jade, Russian nephrite jade (Sayan Mountains)
& Canadian nephrite jade (Cassiar Mountain)
Private collection, Blenheim
Keys 2012
New Zealand pounamu, Canadian nephrite jade
(Cassiar Mountain), Russian nephrite jade
(Sayan Mountains), South Australian black nephrite
jade, sterling silver, whale bone & black maire
Mono I 2010
black argillite & pine
23
Mono II – VIII 2010
Non-Rechargeable 2007
black argillite, basalt & pine
& sterling silver: photography by Craig Potton
Mother 2008
greywacke
Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery
New Zealand pounamu (Arahura River)
Te Puna O Waiwhetu
Necklace 2002
Canadian nephrite jade (Cassiar Mountain)
& Russian nephrite jade (Sayan Mountains)
New Zealand pounamu (Marsden River)
Private collection, Melbourne
Collection of Ev Gardiner, Auckland
Necklace 2002
& sterling silver
Collection of Liz Mitchell, Auckland
Reynolds/Fogarty Collection, Auckland
New Zealand pounamu & sterling silver: photography
by Craig Potton
South Australian black nephrite jade &
sterling silver: photography by Craig Potton
by Craig Potton
Russian nephrite jade (Sayan Mountains) &
sterling silver: photography by Craig Potton
by Craig Potton
Collection of Shea McBride, Wellington
24
25
Reserve G97007 2011
Collection of Shea McBride, Wellington
Reserve G97008 2011
Record #1 2011
New Zealand pounamu (Marsden River)
Reserve G97010 2011
Record #2 2011
Private collection, Rotorua
Reserve G97012 2011
Record #4 2011
New Zealand pounamu
Collection of Andrew & Sheridan Harmos, Auckland
Collection of Andrew & Sheridan Harmos
Safety Glasses 2004
Record #6 2011
New Zealand pounamu (Haast) & sterling silver
Courtesy Tim Melville Gallery, Auckland
Shhhhh… 2010
Record #7 2011
Coromandel granite
Shit Creek 2010
Remote Control 2007
24 stones from the Puketui River & wooden case
South Australian black nephrite jade & Tibetan quartz
with hand-made silver catches
Reserve G97001 2011
Slide Show: Carousel II 2009
80 jade & New Zealand pounamu slides
& slide projector
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery
Reserve G97002 2011
Toi o Tāmaki, 2010
New Zealand pounamu
Accession no: C2005/1/38
Song Remains the Same II 2008
26
Reserve G97006 2011
New Zealand pounamu (Haast), plastic spools
New Zealand pounamu
& magnetic audio tape recording
27
Spending Time 2008
South Australian black nephrite jade in marine
plywood case & brass hinge
Collection of Govett-Brewster Art Gallery,
New Plymouth
Stationary Movement II 2012
New Zealand pounamu, Australian black jade
& Russian nephrite jade
Survival Kit 2006
New Zealand pounamu (Big Bay), Russian nephrite
jade (Sayan Mountains) & South Australian black
nephrite jade
Collection of Alastair Carruthers, Auckland
The Quick and the Dead 2012
basalt, argillite & greywacke
Untitled 2009
greywacke
Words Fail 2011
15 Carrara marble letters
Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 2011
Accession no:C2011/1/38.1-15
28
29
Solo Exhibitions
2009 Auckland Art Fair
Tim Melville Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2008 In Shifting Light
2011 Record
2009 Slide Show
2006 Clean Green
2008 Words & Pictures
2008 Goodman Suter Contemporary Art Project:
Objectspace, Auckland, NZ 2004 Stonedog
2008 28th São Paulo Bienal
São Paulo, Brazil
FHE Galleries, Auckland, NZ
2005 Limelight
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki,
Auckland, NZ
The Maui Dynasty
Nelson, NZ
Avid Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2008 I Draw Solace
Group Exhibitions
2007 New Nature
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery,
2012 Five Years
2011 Local Knowledge The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, NZ
2011 Shed Tim Melville Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2007 Coming Soon
Nelson Sculpture Trust, NZ
2007 Te Tataitanga/Bind Together 2011 Game On Hastings City Art Gallery, Hastings, NZ
2011 Deeper Water
2011 Auckland Art Fair
New Plymouth, NZ
2007 Control
Southwest School Art+Craft, San Antonio,
Texas, USA
2002 Greenstone
Avid Gallery, Wellington, NZ
2010 Call Waiting
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki,
Collections
Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ
Auckland, NZ
2010 Sleight of Hand
The Port Nelson Suter Biennale, Nelson, NZ
2010 Paper Scissors Rock
2010 Melbourne Art Fair
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, NZ
RealArt Roadshow, NZ
Tim Melville Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2009 AC/DC: The Art of Power
Toi o Tāmaki, NZ
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, NZ
NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade
Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2009 Black Market
30
31
Published in August 2012 for the exhibition:
JOE SHEEHAN
Other Stories
at PATAKA ART + MUSEUM, Porirua
All text © individual authors
All artworks © Joe Sheehan
ISBN: 978-0-9582393-8-7
Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private
study, research, criticism or review as permitted
under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication
may be reproduced without prior permission.
EXHIBITION CURATOR: Helen Kedgley
PUBLICATION DESIGN: Stuart Forsyth
PRINTING: Service Printers
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kallan MacLeod pages 12-19;
Joe Sheehan page 11, 20; Nick Barr page 21;
Jackson Laidlaw page 9
Joe Sheehan is represented by:
Tim Melville Gallery Auckland
WWW.TIMMELVILLE.COM
PATAKA
Cnr Norrie and Parumoana Streets, PO Box 50 218,
Porirua City, 5240, New Zealand, www.pataka.org.nz

Other Stories Stone Works: 2002-2012

Transcription

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