Rugby has long been a hallmark of New Zealand’s identity, permeating our culture. Art can provide a medium to take a look at ourselves and the things that are important to us, from another angle.

Rugby has long been a hallmark of New Zealand’s identity, permeating our culture. Art can provide a medium to take a look at ourselves and the things that are important to us, from another angle.

The Blue Oyster, a project space dedicated to facilitating experimentation in art, will soon be presenting its take on rugby. Play Off, the Blue Oyster Art Project Space’s upcoming exhibition as part of the REAL NZ Festival, will engage with questions about the intersections and frictions between art and sport in contemporary New Zealand.

Play Off, will present three New Zealand artists - Scott Eady, Edith Amituanai, and James Oram - who will each provide different angles from which to examine the culture of Rugby in New Zealand. The exhibition will open on the 23rd of August and run through until the 1st of October.

The three artists come from various corners of New Zealand and have been chosen for their established practice of exploring themes integral to sport and the national psyche.

Scott Eady is a sculptor currently residing in Dunedin. His sculptural and photographic installation will take a playful look at the mythical status of the All Blacks through a wide-eyed and child-like perspective. Eady is fortunate to be sponsored by Adidas, who have given him 15 All Blacks jerseys to use in his photographs. He will be photographing children wearing the All Blacks jerseys – and his lucky models will get to keep the jerseys after posing for the photographs.

Edith Amituanai’s photography is informed by her Samoan heritage and upbringing in Auckland. Her work in Play Off will focus on the varying roles and impacts of sport in the lives of a wide group of young New Zealanders.

James Oram is a Christchurch-based sculptor who confronts audiences with subverted concepts of competition and masculinity, often mimicking the ritualistic ways in which these ideals are perpetuated.

Play Off is curated by former Blue Oyster Director Jaenine Parkinson and current Director Jamie Hanton.