MEDIA RELEASE

Monday, 21 January 2019

GAVIN CHILCOTT WINDOWS AT ARATOI, THANKS TO GENEROUS DONORS

A new colourful design is installed on the windows at Aratoi, protecting staff against summer heat, thanks to the generosity of artist Gavin Chilcott and journalist Michele Hewitson who gifted the mixed media artwork to the museum.

The window film features an enlargement of ‘Nature – Design and the Cosmos’ by the internationally regarded and Wairarapa-based artist Gavin Chilcott.  Completed in 2018, the mixed media artwork contains several of his signature symbols: eye, spruce and swallow.

The film replaces a wide blind, about two metres long, that had been in use since 2002 and recently broke. When the replacement cost proved prohibitive, Aratoi looked at alternatives.

Gavin Chilcott (1950- ) creates prints, carpets, furniture, ceramics, paintings, interiors, boxes, paper bags and more. Chilcott attended Auckland Technical Institute and Elam School of Fine Arts, has exhibited widely nationally and internationally, has received numerous QEII grants, and is represented in all public New Zealand collections, including Aratoi’s. This is the not the first time he has collaborated on a project with Aratoi. In 2018, he contributed a work a fundraiser.

“Any public institution relies on strong connections with the community,” said Aratoi Director Susanna Shadbolt. “As both a public museum and a registered charity, Aratoi is grateful to Gavin Chilcott and Michele Hewitson, and for all the support that our museum receives from the community: the evidence is the exhibition currently on display: about 30 recent acquisitions to our public collections. It is very rare to be donated art, and the Wairarapa is fortunate to have this work in our region.”

'Nature – Design and the Cosmos’ is on display in Aratoi’s main gallery, until 27^th January, as part of ‘New Arrivals – Recent Acquisitions from the Collection’ an exhibition featuring art by Maud Burge, Anthony Davies, Bruce Foster, Kirsty Gardiner, Eileen Mayo, Rob McLeod, Barnard McIntyre, Tim McMahon, Julia Morison, Gregory O’Brien, John Pule, Michael Smither, Barbara Strathdee, Elizabeth Thomson, Robin White, and by members of the Print Council of New Zealand which has recently donated its entire archive to Aratoi.

“I remember the day when I visited Gavin Chilcott’s studio by the Waingawa River,” Shadbolt said.  “It was one of those beautiful Wairarapa days when everything seems to go right, and he kindly offered the ‘Nature – Design and the Cosmos’ for the window design.”

“Aratoi has a small operating budget and we must be creative to stretch our limited resources,” Shadbolt continued. “The window film is effective, adds colour to the building and to Bruce Street, shows a beautiful item from our collection to the public, and as the year 2019 marks our 50^th year, it is also a celebration.”

PHOTO:

Aratoi Director Susanna Shadbolt in front of window design featuring artwork by Gavin Chilcott: ‘Nature – Design and the Cosmos’ (2018). Mixed media on paper. Gift of Michele Hewitson.