After four and a half years, artist-run space Enjoy Public Art Gallery has moved across the road and down Cuba street to a brand new location. Rent increases and a lack of amenities such as running water had made the old location untenable, leading the Enjoy Trust to decide it was time for an upgrade.

Image: Campbell Kneale of Cicada Shrines fame (right) fuses a combination of 60s minimalism, lo-fi post rock and drone in Humdrum - at Enjoy's new space soon.After four and a half years, artist-run space Enjoy Public Art Gallery has moved across the road and down Cuba street to a brand new location. Rent increases and a lack of amenities such as running water had made the old location untenable, leading the Enjoy Trust to decide it was time for an upgrade.

Image: Campbell Kneale of Cicada Shrines fame (right) fuses a combination of 60s minimalism, lo-fi post rock and drone in Humdrum - at Enjoy's new space soon.The new Enjoy is located at level one of 147 Cuba street, just across the corridor from Peter McLeavey gallery. Idiom Studio, a Wellington dealer gallery, will shortly be opening upstairs in the space vacated by Bartley Nees. This new cluster of art spaces is hoped to bring a diverse, cross-pollination of visitors, while still allowing each to retain their own unique identity.

The new Enjoy has a long history as an exhibiting space. It was first opened as Bett-Duncan Gallery in 1968, a gallery renowned for first exhibiting work by the likes of Phillip Clairmont and Toss Woolaston. It underwent several changes of name and directorship becoming variously Elva Bett Gallery and Louise Beale Gallery, until it closed in 1991. More recent history has seen the space used as the offices for a Wellington architecture company.

Although the regular lay-out and architectural symmetry give the space a more traditional gallery feel, there is still much scope for exhibiting installation artists to respond to the site.
'Enjoy's aim is to facilitate work which reflects an awareness and responsiveness to site and the politics of being a non-profit, non-commercial space' says Enjoy Writer/Publicist Jessica Reid. 'The move will benefit artists by providing new challenges and superior facilities. The larger floorspace and improved accoustics will also suit the number of sound installations and music performances Enjoy hosts.'

A good example of such shows is the upcoming installation HUMDRUM by Wellington artist Campbell Kneale. Best known for his 'drone' and 'noise' work under the name Birchville Cat Motel, Kneale has for the last decade successfully fused a combination of late '60s minimalism, lo-fi post rock and drone into shimmering walls of transcendent fuzz.

HUMDRUM picks up on many of Kneale's favourite themes, translating them into a physical space. Described by the artist as 'An ever-shuffling collection of glacial drones, cutlery clunks, and mysterious incantations of malfunctioning consumer electronics' recorded around the house and played back in random, ever-shuffling sequences.
HUMDRUM opens on Tuesday June14 at 6pm with a rare live performance by Birchville Cat Motel.

For more information go to:
www.enjoy.org.nz

Enjoy Public Art Gallery
Level one, 147 Cuba Street
Wellington