Five of our cutting-edge MARS stars are landing on Aotearoa! With our show The New Now, these five innovative voices speak meaningfully to our global present.
Telly Tuita
Navigating diaspora and cultural memory, Aotearoa-based Tongan artist Telly Tuita presents for the first time internationally his performative portraits embodying and celebrating the figure of Mai, the first Polynesian to visit Europe in 1774. Known for his charm and sophistication, Mai challenged European stereotypes of Polynesian people. Telly styles Mai as an influencer, exploring the connection of past histories to the present delving into the ideas of celebrities and myth-making.
Kenny Pittock
Uncovering unexpectedly poetic everyday moments, Melbourne’s Kenny Pittock uses ceramic to memorialise discarded shopping lists found in New Zealand. Kenny finds both the humour and the human in the seemingly mundane—collecting and recasting these discarded moments, These hand sculpted ceramic shopping list sculptures are an intimate time capsule, creating a permanent tribute to a fleeting moment. Despite their anonymity they’re extremely intimate, providing a unique insight into the people we pass in the aisles
Miranda Hine
Brisbane-born, London-based Miranda Hine dissects systems of memory through flowing oil paintings for her debut in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Returning to nature in our erratic world, painter Tony Lloyd presents work from the series Deep Time, capturing through his structured compositions the monumental beauty of mountains and nature across the South Island of Aotearoa.
The Huxleys
Globally celebrated artist duo The Huxleys use photography to champion joy as a radical act, two queer flowers blooming in a dark world.
Together, these MARS artists form a dialogue with our contemporary moment—globally fluent and urgently attuned to The New Now.
