[TALK] Nell x Colin McCahon: I AM and Other Connections

For the exhibition Nell X Colin McCahon: Through the Wall of Birth and Death, renowned Australian artist Nell selected McCahon paintings to be in conversation with her own works. Join us at The Dowse to hear from Nell and Curator of Modern Art at Te Papa, Lizzie Bisley.

Repeated throughout the exhibition in works and as titles is McCahon’s ‘I Am’. This is an opportunity to hear about the use of this significant motif that has been reframed and recontextualised by Nell as both a homage to her New Zealand counterpart and a claiming of a universal personhood. They will also explore other themes such as the use of text, symbolism and spirituality.

Gadigal Sydney-based Nell was born in 1975 in Maitland/Wonnarua, NSW, Australia. She studied at Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, The University of California, Los Angeles and École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Across two decades, Nell’s work has been included in over 300 exhibitions in Australia and abroad. In 2016, Shepparton Art Museum presented an eponymously titled survey exhibition of Nell’s works, NE/LL. A monograph on her work, published by Thames and Hudson, was released in 2020. Nell is represented by STATION, Australia.

Lizzie Bisley is the Curator of Modern Art at Te Papa. She has curated a number of exhibitions relating to histories of modernism including, at Te Papa, 'Surrealist Art: Masterpieces from the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen' and 'Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist'. Her research is focused on the close relationships between art, design and architecture in the twentieth century.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Dowse Art Museum, 45 Laings Road, Lower Hutt, New Zealand