New things that have now suddenly appeared over the two months I was away continue to surprise me (i.e. everything for RWC including a shiny new McDonald's downtown!?). Last weekend I went to see what all the fuss was about Auckland's newly refurbished Art Gallery. To be honest, I had no expectations;... so with that in mind I went, and it was truly amazing. Like, there should be fuss made about it amazing.
The new Auckland Art Gallery includes its $121 million restoration which has meant flourishment into a beautiful old meets new agenda, allowing Auckland to show off something that could now in fact compare to world class galleries. The new architecture is respectful of it's history and surroundings (Albert Park), inspiring organic tree like canopies which now form the main entrance. Internally, parts of the old 1887 original has been restored and seamlessly integrated into the modern parts of the complex. The modern spaces seem relaxed and roomy with a sense of direction; with one lol-worthy shout out to the particularly MoMA-esque (in face it's less esque and pretty much the same) open atrium space, which is hovered over by Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa's Neo-Pop inflatable flowers.
A large amount of space is of course dedicated to NZ art, modern and indigenous works including Gordon Walters and amazing Maori portraits by Goldie, as well as the opening celebrating two months of hosting the Julian and Josie Robertson Promised Gift which brings out the big names - Dali, Picasso, Mondrian, Matisse to name a few (no photos, poos). Howie and I spent a good amount of time angling our confusion in Luc Peire's mirrored striped box.
Our visit was cut short by closing time, however we spent a good two hours in there and got our money's worth of free entry for sure. It's open late at the moment, till 10pm which was cool firstly because lit up things were of great impact, and also there was quite a peaceful non crowd of people, which equalled a cute scenario of about ten people at the end of the night sitting on the steps listening to the trio playing interesting whale-like but harmonious music. I highly recommend you go there!
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