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ANN SHELTON
THE STRIP An exhibition of new photographic work by Auckland-based artist Ann Shelton. With the assistance of the artist, a full-colour, diecut, bifold catalogue was produced with a text by Chris Chapman. Visiting Auckland based artist Ann Shelton's conceptual take on urban space was stylish and subtle. There was a definite clarity of conception in her installation of 24 metres of 1960s carpet on the longest wall of the EAF gallery. The carpet was lit to suggest the cosy ambient lighting of a cocktail lounge, or boudoir, balanced by the focussed illumination of a pair of circular lightboxes resting on the floor, displaying aerial photographs of a section of Auckland's Karangahape Road. The carpet's curving pattern in chocolate brown, burnt orange, and beige related to the form of the roadways sweeping around and under K' Road. There was a kind of subdued eroticism in the languid expanse of plush pile (the work was called 'Pin Up'). The lightboxes offered another perspective on social space, and also evoked a range of corporeal allusions (they were like dancing platforms, they were joined like twins or lovers by the electrical flex that ran from the same power source). The installation had a particularly interesting architectural effect: the expanse of carpet seemed to stretch the gallery space, some visitors thought it made the wall appear curved, and it changed the acoustics of the space. The 1960s California jazz and hors d'ouvres on toothpicks served at the opening (prepared by Ann & EAF staff) added an additional stylish touch. |
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above: documentation from the exhibition 'THE STRIP' |
image: Ann Shelton | Documentation Photography by Alan Cruickshank |