EAST opens at the Hastings City Art Gallery August 11th and runs through to November 11th. EAST showcases work from artists who have exhibited at SPA_CE, including Vanessa Arthur, Peter Madden, Martin Poppelwell and Ann Shelton.

A statement from HCAG runs below.

Hastings City Art Gallery is proud to announce the selection of artists and designers for the biennial exhibition EAST 2018. Twenty-three creative practitioners from across the country have been selected, ranging from recently graduated emerging artists through to acclaimed established practitioners. The diversity of selected artists and designers reflect a wide array of creative practice connected to the region such as painting, ceramics, photography, architecture, industrial design, video, conceptual art and performance.

Selected artists are: Vanessa Arthur, Annette Bull, John Brown, Joyce Campbell, Terri Ripeka Crawford, Jenny Gillam, Ayesha Green, Kauri Hawkins, Michael Hawksworth, Rangituhia Hollis, Peter Madden, George Nuku, Ben Pearce, Martin Poppelwell, Clare Plug, Sonya Lacey, Lara Lindsay Parker, Jacob Scott, Ann Shelton, Natalie Robertson, Tim Thatcher, David Trubridge and Kamaka Pottery (Bruce and Estelle Martin). These artists and designers were drawn from a mixture of direct invitations and a pool of open call applicants selected by independent curator Bruce E. Phillips.

Phillips says that, “The exhibition recognises the legacy of locally based artists who have been pivotal members of the community. There are also a number of artists who have recently moved to the Bay, revealing that the region continues to attract strong talent. For those artists who live in other parts of the country or who predominantly exhibit internationally, EAST 2018 offers a long overdue opportunity to reconnect with Hawke’s Bay.”

The exhibition will feature a mixture of rarely seen existing works and about ten new works commissioned specifically for EAST which will include street performances, large-scale photography, video and sculptural installations.

EAST 2018 will span two venues, Hastings City Art Gallery and MTG Hawke’s Bay in Napier. Hastings City Art Gallery Director, Toni MacKinnon, says, “It has been wonderful collaborating with MTG in the presentation of East. This is the fruition of both MTG’s and Hastings Gallery’s desire to see EAST, our Hawke’s Bay review exhibition, become a region-wide event.”

Over the last few months Phillips has also been in conversation with all of the selected practitioners and HCAG staff to develop the premise of the exhibition. Phillips comments that “EAST 2018 follows the lead of the selected artists and designers. The exhibition’s overarching concept will evolve as their projects come to fruition. Based on our conversations so far, there is a strong interest in social issues and environmental degradation, as well as the importance of whakapapa and questioning conventional knowledge structures.”