A great exhibition at the Oxford Art Gallery of tapestries, drawings and paintings by Marilyn Rea-Menzies. There is one more week of the exhibition in Oxford and it will be at the Toi Gallery, Pātaka Art + Museum in Porirua between 13 November and 13 December 2020.
Marilyn is an artist specialising in fibre art and the creation of beautiful tapestries, as well as painting, drawing and printing. She used photographs as her source material for this exhibition, generally her own but also images by Chris Jordan of Midway; Glenda Rees Photography and Don Parrish.
I first saw the Kokako tapestry in 2016 and found the imagery very powerful. It is even more moving in this larger exhibition to realise what New Zealand has already lost and how much more is threatened by humans today.
This exhibition reflects Marilyn Rea-Menzies environmental concerns for the flora and fauna of New Zealand at a critical time in history where species management of endangered birds and animals is of vital importance. Approximately fifty of New Zealand's native birds have become extinct since human habitation.
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| Official Arts in Oxford Exhibition poster |
The tapestries
The three main tapestries in Extinction is Forever show the birds in their native habitat as well as the dead birds complete with their name tags as per museum practice. These tapestries are 1560mm tall. They use a cloak shape to signify protection and mana. All three of these birds Kieke, Kokako and Hihi are rare and threatened and need our on-going effort to safeguard them.
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| Extinction is Forever - Kieke (Saddleback) Tapestry for sale $25,500 |
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| Extinction is Forever - Kokako Tapestry for sale $25,500 |
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| Extinction is Forever - Hihi (Stitchbird) Tapestry sold |
The two pictures below of the Hihi tapestry in progress are from Marilyn Rea-Menzies
Facebook page to illustrate the development of these tapestries.
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| Extinction is Forever - Hihi Tapestry in progress October 2017 |
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| Extinction is Forever - Hihi Tapestry in progress December 2017 |
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| Brown Creeper Tapestry (920 x 690mm) for sale $9,900 |
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| Shining Cuckoo Tapestry (310 x 235mm) for sale $1,950 |
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| Manuka flower Tapestry for sale $9,900 |
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| Tui on Kowhai Tapestry (310 x 235mm) sold |
The drawings and paintings
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| Protect our Forests 1 & 2 pastel pencil on paper for sale $2,000 |
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| Protect our Forests 3 pastel pencil on paper for sale $2,000 |
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| Where are the Birds 1-6 (300 x 300mm) charcoal and watercolour for sale $950 |
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| Plastic Kills (1500 x 800mm) charcoal and watercolour for sale $2,550 |
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| Silvereye and Baby (1000 x 760mm) acrylic on canvas for sale $2,500 |
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| Silvereye at Nest (1000 x 760mm) acrylic on canvas for sale $2,500 |
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| Forty-five drawings from the sketchbook (290 x 290mm) for sale $400 |
The Oxford Art Gallery main exhibition area and shop
This is a lovely exhibition space and a favourite place for us to visit on a Sunday, after a leisurely stroll around the farmers market.
Later in the afternoon I tried to do my bit to save the local fauna by attempting to revive a very lethargic lopsided bee with a bit of honey. Not sure I really improved its long term prospects but it seemed to enjoy its sticky treat.
