OLDSCHOOL NEWSCHOOL

 

This anniversary exhibition is a great opportunity to give public recognition to the contribution design has made to the profile and fabric of New Zealand and the global reputation this has established. 

With funding support from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board, the exhibition is part of the REAL New Zealand Festival, celebrating all things kiwi during the International Rugby World Cup.

The list of contributors to the College’s anniversary exhibition OLDSCHOOL NEWSCHOOL reads like a roll call of some of New Zealand’s most respected designers, artists and educationalists.

Robert Stout. Arthur Riley. Lynley Richardson. Len Lye.
Avis Higgs. Gordon Walters. Don Ramage. Bill Toomath.
Kate Coolahan. James Coe. Mark Cleverley. Peter Tasker.
Mark Pennington. Grant Alexander. Jane Ussher. Murray Pilcher.
Julia Morison. Don Peebles. John Drawbridge. Ray Labone.
Michael Smythe. Sir Richard Taylor. Kate Sylvester. Fane Flaws.
Grant Davidson. Murray Pilcher. Joe Bleakley. Manos Nathan.
Collette Dinnigan. Jurgen Waibel. Matt Holmes. Danny Coster.
Rebecca Taylor. Catherine Griffiths. Peter Trevelyan. Tony Parker.
Alexandra Owen. Kathryn Wilson. Mark Elmore. Gavin Bradley.
Adrian Hailwood. John Brown. Alexandra Owen.

From the School of Design established by Arthur Riley in 1886 to the Technical School of Art and the Wellington Polytechnic that followed, for 125 years the College of Creative Arts has been producing designs that work. While some designers may not be known by name, their products will be recognised, and indeed are probably used daily across the globe, without reference to the creative intelligence that produced them.

Featured in OLDSCHOOL NEWSCHOOL:

On display will be Radio With Pictures, the video animation for TVNZ’s iconic television show of the 1980s, by artist and musician Fane Flaws. This unique and strikingly surreal piece won him a gold at the Best Design Awards.

Special effects guru Richard Taylor went from clay modeling to co-director of the Weta Studios, winning 5 Oscars, 4 BAFTA’s and a Knighthood for his services to the Film Industry. See footage of some his many projects.

Kate Sylvester may not have liked the business papers during her studies here but this has not held her back from international stardom in the fashion world. See her latest designs straight from the catwalk.

Avis Higgs is 92 but with the help of Laurie Foon from Starfish Design, her textiles are as fashionable today as they were in the 1940s.

Jane Ussher, renowned for her portrait photography, takes us on another journey to the far reaches of Antarctica in Still Life: Inside the Antarctic Huts of Scott and Shackleton.

40 years ago, Mark Cleverley was taking New Zealand in new graphic directions with his postage stamp designs. Do you remember them?

As a student, Len Lye was convinced that motion could be part of the language of art. View his film Free Radicals to explore this notion further.

You may have taken the Type Walk along the Wellington Waterfront many times. At the exhibition Catherine Griffiths shows us the first examples of her environmental typography, synthesizing the strong threads of Wellington's literary prowess and site responsive design.

Formway is a company driven by design. Mark Pennington’s Hum Workstation and classic chairs illustrate why this is such an internationally renowned commercial success.

Ceramics by Manos Nathan. Manos, who trained originally in graphic design, has been at the forefront of Maori Contemporary Art for more than 25 years, creating rich and unique ceramic forms that draw on traditional ideas while exploring new materials.

Studio Alexander’s Archivist Table is a perfect example of the marriage of graphic and industrial design. Allied to business branding, the table has technology imbedded in it (Fletchers suite of services are accessed here) resulting in a superbly crafted object with a utilitarian end result.

Matt Holmes has been design director at Nike Footwear in Portland, Oregon for more than a decade. He brings home a suitcase full of his design work to share with us.

For queries contact: creativearts.events@massey.ac.nz