First Thursdays July – Join Queenstown’s favourite late night art crawl

First Thursdays Queenstown is a free and family-friendly event that celebrates the diversity of arts and culture in Queenstown. Join in the art crawl across six exhibition spaces all located around Earl Street and Marine Parade.

July brings new exhibitions to Queenstown including Surface Tension at Starkwhite. Featuring the work of high-profile Australian painters Sally Gabori, Michael Zavros, and Jonny Niesche alongside leading NZ and international artists, the exhibition presents works that interrogate surfaces, how they’re formed and the power they hold. Exploring the medium of painting in an expanded sense, several works also trouble the traditional understanding of painting.

Milford Galleries are opening a solo exhibition by Yuki Kihara that features six new photographs in her ongoing Aotea’ula series. Depicting native seaweeds harvested from the Kāpiti coast and woven into a series of ‘ula, or Sāmoan style garlands, the works explore the vital role seaweeds play in the ecology of the ocean. Kihara’s work also explores ʻula as powerful and traditional symbols of friendship and welcome, yet now often reduced to the level of tourist kitsch.

First Thursdays is also the opening night for two Artbay exhibitions. Sydney-based New Zealand artist Gareth Barlow’s work at the cottage explores how birds populate places special to us and how when we revisit those places they remain waiting to greet us again. Be sure not to miss Barlow’s artist talk at 6pm on the night. Also opening is a solo exhibition by Issac Petersen at Artbay’s upstairs exhibition space. Petersen’s paintings of water scenes, still life, and rugged coastal waters show his love for the coast and New Zealand’s unique landscape.

Coinciding with Matariki, Lightworx offer a group exhibition including work by leading Māori artist Robert Jahnke. Jahnke’s use of light, mirror, and reflection has created a distinctive body of sculpture that references both technology and traditional practices. He often draws on a cross form, this being the basic stitch in tukutuku and the building block for several traditional patterns each of which plays a metaphorical role in Te Ao Māori.

Head to Romer Gallery for large format landscape photographs by Stephan Romer that capture the wild places and remote locations of our beautiful Te Wai Pounamu/ South Island.

Bringing together Starkwhite, Milford Galleries, Romer, Artbay, and Lightworx, First Thursdays Queenstown seeks to connect people with creativity across our town centre. Based around Earl Street and Marine Parade, First Thursdays sees six art spaces offer exhibitions, talks, and opportunities to engage with the region’s creative community during a special late-night opening from 5–7pm. Thanks to the generosity of Akarua, join us for a glass of some of this region’s finest wine as you look at the art work. Maps are available at participating galleries and on the First Thursdays Queenstown instagram – @firstthursdaysqt – and facebook page.

First Thursdays Queenstown
from 5–7pm on Thursday 6 July
Artist Talk: Gareth Barlow at 6pm. Artbay, 13 Marine Parade.