radiata Miranda Bellamy & Amanda Fauteux
Opening preview: Friday 21 May, 5.30pm
Rāmere 21 Haratua, 5:30pm
Exhibition runs: 22 May – 19 June 2021
Rāhoroi 22 Haratua — Rāhoroi 19 Pipiri
radiata, a sculpture and sound installation, queers the constructs that have led to the othering of nature, of separating humans from non-human beings. Through the interruption of the plant-product supply chain, and collaborations with plants from the neighbourhood, we are drawn into a dialogue with plants that provokes reflection on material accountability, reciprocity, and worldmaking.
This exhibition runs parallel to A Wardian Case, presented by Bellamy and Fauteux at RM Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau. This multi-channel video installation introduces the unique flora of Kawau Island, tracing and unsettling the botanical legacy of Sir George Grey, who was instrumental in introducing many plants to Aotearoa including Pinus radiata.
radiata is accompanied by a text by Dr. Bridie Lonie, Becoming-timber, which is available online here and in the gallery.
Miranda Bellamy and Amanda Fauteux are partners and artistic collaborators whose practice of listening to plants enables the critical revision of human histories through interdisciplinary and site-specific projects. They have responded to the stories of plants from the overgrown urban berms of New York City and hollowed-out forests of Vermont, to Aotearoa where their practice has held the tension between endemic and introduced plants. Bellamy holds a BFA from the Dunedin School of Art and Fauteux holds an MFA from Concordia University in Montréal. In June 2020 they were digital artists-in-residence with Artspace Aotearoa. They have been collaborating since 2019 and live in Ōtepoti.
www.mirandabellamy.com, @_miranda_was_here__
www.amandafauteux.com, @amanda.fauteux
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Creative New Zealand and City Forests Ltd. The artists would like to sincerely thank Darryl Brewer of Brewer Timber Ltd, John & Pauline Bellamy, Manu Berry, Sam Fisher, Madison Kelly, and Dr. Bridie Lonie.