Indigo Blues Ana Terry and Don Hunter

Indigo Blues is a collaborative project by artists Ana Terry and Don Hunter will install a video and object based work derived from their residency in Beijing last year that included an exhibition in Beijing at Platform China Contemporary Art Institute.

"We were based in 798 Arts District where we were surrounded by artists, art dealers and galleries. The contemporary art environment in China is very competitive and driven by the mass production of art works. The West is hungry for any Chinese art, which is seen as exotic and desirable," says Hunter.

Terry says they decided to make the focus of this project the art gallery environment itself and the behind-the-scenes activities that support it.

"The 798 Arts District was formerly the Dashanzi Factory complex built in the 1950s and its architecture embodies the military and industrial collaboration between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. These huge cavernous gallery spaces echo the industry, and its socialist history. These now set the scene for another form of industry that dances to a capitalist tune," she says.

The artists say Dunedin's strong historical connections with China make this an ideal location to show the work. There is also an interesting tension between very competitive commercial gallery environments in Beijing and an experimental, not-for-profit space like the Blue Oyster.

14 May 2011: Discussion Session ‘Contemporary Art in China’ with Bridie Lonie

Click to download the exhibition text (PDF)

Presented alongside Angela Lyon Boy Love – Dummy Heart and Ben Pearce Nervous System.