abnormal mass delusions? brings together twenty years of paintings, sculpture, films and installations by the acclaimed New Zealand artists now known as et al., at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery from 26 July.

The exhibition is one of the most significant contemporary art projects in New Zealand this year and takes its place alongside other serious retrospective reviews of major New Zealand artists.   

The exhibition features most members of et al., including the dynamic figure l budd who features alongside contemporaries such as merit gröting, marlene cubewell, p mule, and artists’ groups such as the blanche ready-made trust and popular productions.

“Et al. comprises a network of artists, identities and collectives that are recognised as key figures in contemporary New Zealand art history,” said Gallery Director and co-curator Greg Burke.

“Members of et al. are represented in all major public collections in New Zealand and have represented New Zealand in major overseas exhibitions, such as Headlands in Australia in 1992 and Toi Toi Toi in Germany in 1999,” said Mr Burke.

The et al. collective was also featured along with seven artists in the book Pleasures and Dangers: Artists of the ‘90s published in 1991.

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery’s presentation of abnormal mass delusions? differs from standard retrospective exhibitions. Et al. have been actively involved with the presentation and interpretation of their work including the updating and regrouping of older works to form new installations.

“In line with the Gallery’s consistent programme of showing cutting edge contemporary art et al. has worked with us to produce this major show. The collective have taken work produced in the 80s and 90s, for example popular production’s film and video footage, and reconfigured them to create new displays. The project displays their practice from the group’s early film works through to their most recent installations mixing discarded electronica with hurricane fencing and other industrial flotsam,” said Mr Burke. 

The 2003 installation serial_reform_713L is a major work referencing derangement, abnormality and dysfunctional behaviour. Rows of grey chairs and outdated technology create a Cold War era training room environment that reeks of brain washing and mind control.

“The realisation of this project has been challenging simply because et al. challenge accepted standards of museum practice. For example, the authorship of the artists’ works vary depending on the time when they were produced. This means cataloguing their work with accuracy becomes next to impossible and, in this way, conventionally accepted lines between fiction and reality are blurred,” said Mr Burke. 

et al.’s subterfuge and play with institutional norms is also reflected in large scale photocopies of old art reviews absconded by a member of the collective. Key words within the articles are corrupted, turning the articles into reviews of current works.

The exhibition has been co-curated by Gregory Burke with Jim Barr and Mary Barr, Wellington based independent curators, writers and collectors of contemporary New Zealand and Australian art, and long time supporters of et al.

The work in the exhibition is like an extended poem, said Jim Barr.

“Over the years Mary and I have come to rely on the members of et al. as acute recorders of the pulse of New Zealand’s emotional heart. While the work is often obtruse and sometimes dubiously honest it always resonates long after the monitors are turned off, the exhibitions close, and the installations are packed away. Et al.’s work is like the creation of a new set of memories - mysterious, humorous and poignant,” said Mr Barr. 

Accompanying the exhibition is a lavish 128-page publication titled arguments for immortality featuring new writing by Jim Barr, Mary Barr, Gregory Burke, Tessa Laird, Ewen McDonald, Gwyneth Porter and Hanna Scott, and a chronology of the artists’ work history. The catalogue, edited by curators Jim Barr, Mary Barr and Gregory Burke investigates the activities of this loosely associated group of artists like l budd and merit gröting and how they have grown into the identifiable collective, et al. The catalogue is dedicated to the late Giovanni Intra and will be available from the Gallery’s Art and Design Store.

A feature of the Gallery’s opening weekend is the Teststrip Reunion to be held 2.00pm Sunday 27 July. Teststrip was an innovative Auckland exhibition space that ran from 1992 to 1997. The Gallery was formed by a group of eight artists, including et al. and the late Giovanni Intra, a principal force behind the Gallery’s inception. This special event brings together a number of the Gallery’s founding members and examines its lasting impact on New Zealand contemporary art and pays tribute to Intra.

Et al.: abnormal mass delusions? runs 26 July to September 14.

The exhibition has been generously supported by Aalto Colour, and the publication arguments for immortality by Creative New Zealand.

ENDS

For further information contact:
Greg Burke, Director
06 758 5149

Antony Rhodes, Marketing and Audience Development Manager
06 759 0852