Star Gossage, Christina Pataialii, Kathy Ramsay and Salome Tanuvasa; This is Tomorrow
Star Gossage, Christina Pataialii, Kathy Ramsay, Salome Tanuvasa
This is Tomorrow
Tim Melville
4 Winchester St
Grey Lynn
Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland)
4 November - 28 November 2020
Salome Tanuvasa, Untitled, 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Tim Melville
When an artist has a cultural background or ethnicity that is ‘other’, or even a gender that is not male, it can sometimes become their defining label.In fact, there's often an expectation that cultural identity will be at the centre of these artists' practices.But is this helpful? Or even fair?On the one hand, in a crowded art world, it could be argued that ‘otherness’ is an advantage since it differentiates non-European artists from the Pakeha majority. But on the other, if an artist is being defined by the narrative of their cultural label rather than by their artistic qualities isn’t this a career obstacle?It is an interesting aspect of the art world that viewers and collectors will sometimes expect a Samoan or Tongan artist to make art about the Pacific … or that a Maori artist’s paintings will feature koru. But shouldn’t it be the artist’s decision to make whatever work they're inspired to make?In an attempt to open a line of discussion Tim Melville is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by four female artists of Samoan, Aboriginal, Tongan, European and Maori descent: Star Gossage, Christina Pataialii, Kathy Ramsay and Salome Tanuvasa.