Nanette Lela'ulu's new exhibition Passing Glimpses opens the 2013 BCA exhibition
calendar, 6pm, Tuesday 26th March. The artists brilliantly detailed small scale
lanscapes continue her analysis of a contemporary polynesian society.
Pictured: Blue Socks, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 30x30cm.

The biggest contemporary art show on New York's calendar, Armory Arts Week, runs
March 5 -10. Home to the renowned Armory Art Fair and its off-shoot, VOLTA, Armory Arts
week attracts tens of thousands to the famed city, involves every major art musuem as
well as a further 5 independant art fairs. It is a veritable feast of visual art, from the most
famous to the hottest emergent artists!

New Sylvia Marsters Work, Acrylic on Canvas, 1050x1050mm

Young New Zealand Artist Sam Thomas is BCA Artist in Residence. Thomas,
formerly of Snakepit Gallery in Auckland is a graduate of Auckland University's
Elam School of Fine Art. Thomas's residency and show is entiltled Hellfire and
will explore the transitory nature of traditional building materials in a contemporary
polynesian society. MORE

Giveaway's opening night at BCA Gallery Tuesday 13 November.

Pictured above; digital media specialist Jerome Shedden, exhibiting artist Tabatha Forbes
and BCA Gallery Director Ben Bergman.
Photo: Victor Bond www.cookislandsarts.com   

Copyright issues continue to dog the broader art world and it would appear that the USA is
about to set new precedent! MORE

NEW YORK — Like many parts of the city, the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan —
home to some of the art world’s best-known galleries — was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.
Yestereday, ARTINFO’s Tom Chen and Terri Ciccone went to survey the damage,
finding dealers focused on recovery and still cleaning out deluged spaces. MORE

It took three generations to turn Cartier into a name synonymous with luxury jewelry. Louis François Cartier opened the first shop in 1847 in Paris. Twenty-seven years later his son, Alfred Cartier, took over the business. Alfred then handed down the family-run operation to his sons, Louis, Pierre, and Jacques Cartier, whose creations managed to gain the admiration of Princess Olga Paley of Russia, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, and King Edward VII of England, who cemented the house’s reputation as a royal jeweler, calling Cartier, “king of jewelers, jeweler to kings.”

MORE

Tabatha Forbes
Giveaways

Limited Edition Prints/Sculpture
November 13-29
BCA Gallery, Rarotonga
Opening November 13, 6pm

In November, Tabatha Forbes returns to BCA with the exhibition Giveaways. The artist states 'my first show at BCA last year, Takeaways, was predominantly concerned with the early barter between the indigenous Pacific Islanders and the early European ships: specifically the taking away and the leaving behind of certain objects /plants /animals in the South Pacific.

Giveaways continues with the idea of historical introductions within both nature and culture, this time taking the very current UKULELE icon and creating a project that attempts to reposition it as an artefact of both cultural and historical value in the making.

After designing the ukes (with reference to their musical origins in Portugal, Hawaii and Tahiti) I commissioned an Atiuan craftsman to make 6 in the ‘Polynesian Ukulele’ style, using three different native timbers.  The works act in reflection, illustrating the plant of the timber but also demonstrating the shift in perception by use of materials, application and context.  The painted ukes are my attempt at a contemporary representation while their wooden pairs are in a way a tribute to the craftsman’s beautiful work, and to the timber and plant itself which I have tried to highlight by burning the drawings into their wooden surface.

Once again, it’s about how we value culture and environment, and how the changes in those values are influenced by the popular thought and trends of the day.  I strongly believe that the practice of art and craft in the pacific, while perceived by many visitors as ‘souvenirs’ are hugely significant in representing the time, place and people working and living here today.  Significantly, the ukes in this exhibition are not presented here as instruments for sale as they are in the shops and market around the Cook Islands.  They are presented as ‘artefacts’in an attempt to shift the view a little and state clearly that this is not another appropriation but rather an outsider’s interpretation of a practice worth celebrating and valuing here and now.'

Giveways marks BCA's final presentation for 2012. The gallery will operate normal hours with revolving stock shows in December and January. On March 26th 2013, BCA's domestic season begins with a new solo exhibition by Nanette Lela'ulu.