NZ gothic on show

The Queensland Art Gallery’s Gallery of Modern Art is showcasing its substantial collection of contemporary New Zealand art — the largest outside of this country — with an exhibition called the Unnerved: The New Zealand Project, the second in a series of country-specific exhibition projects focusing on its contemporary collections. According to the Queensland Art Gallery’s website, “Unnerved explores a particularly rich dark vein that recurs in New Zealand contemporary art and cinema. Psychological or physical unease pervades many works in the exhibition, with humour, parody and poetic subtlety among the strategies used by artists across generations and genres.” The exhibition features the work of over 30 artists including Michael Parekowhai, Lisa Reihana, Yvonne Todd, Michael Stevenson and Anne Noble — covering everything from film and photography to installations and works on paper. Most pieces are from the collection, underlining the QAG’s commitment to Pacific art, but most eye-catching are two borrowed works: Parekowhai’s enormous blow-up bunnies — one upright, the other couchant — shown together for the first time. Unnerved: The New Zealand Project is at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, until July 4, and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, from November 27. Image: Yvonne Todd LIMPET (from ‘Vagrants’ reception centre’ series) 2005. Collection: Queensland Art Gallery