| Communications and Development |  |
Published by Communications and Development
A portrait of a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canterbury will get its first public viewing at a SOFA Gallery exhibition which opens next week.
Martin Ball: Selected Portraits 2000-2005 showcases a series of works by Auckland artist Martin Ball, which represent both a continuation and an extension of Ball's portrait works of the last 30 years.
The works' photorealist style engages with notions of realism and representation, while the portraits' large size allows Ball to explore ideas surrounding the ‘appropriate' scale for portrait works.
The paintings are based on photographs taken by the artist, and his reproduction of the qualities and quirks of the photographs themselves allows him to comment on photography's role as a mediating process.
Over the last five years, Ball has completed a number of New Zealand artists' portraits, including Lisa Reihana, Ralph Hotere and Stanley Palmer, which are included in this show.
One of his most recent portraits is that of Daryl Le Grew, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canterbury. The Le Grew portrait was one of a number of commissioned works Ball has produced, which indicate a continued public interest in this art form.
The selection of works that will be on show at SOFA over the next month represent an excellent sample of Ball's carefully observed and hauntingly evocative photorealist style.
Martin Ball attended Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the early 1970s. He returned to complete his Master of Fine Arts in 2000. Ball has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and also in Australia over the past 30 years. In 2005 he was one of 32 finalists in the Archibald Portrait Award. His work is represented in public collections in galleries throughout the country. Ball is currently Head of Painting, at the School of Art and Design, Manukau Institute of Technology.
The exhibition opens next Tuesday 7 June and closes Sunday 10 July.
SOFA Gallery is located in the Arts Centre, Christchurch.
Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday 11am-5pm, Saturday-Sunday 12noon-2pm.
For further information please contact the Gallery office :
Tel. +64 03 365 0192
Fax. +64 03 365 0058
E: info@sofagallery.ac.nz