New Zealand invades Hyde Park
Image: Wayne Youle, 12 Shades of bullshit, 2003, laser cut acrylic and spray paint, 23 × 55 inches
If you encounter any people wandering around Hyde Park looking lost and talking with strange accents, introduce yourself - they might be the New Zealanders from the Hyde Park Art Center!
The Hyde Park Art Center is playing host to 6 New Zealanders: 4 artists and 2 Maori representatives, who will be arriving in the next week for Close Encounters, a project that will result in a 2009-10 exhibition at the Center. The New Zealanders will be joined by 4 US artists who are also involved in the project.
The group are converging for a hui (traditional Maori meeting) that will be held at the Maori meeting house at the Field Museum. They will be discussing some big issues - race relations, development of communities, and the relationships in social groups.
Bruce E. Phillips, who is co-curating the project with HPAC director Chuck Thurow, arrived in April with his partner Fiona Moorhead. Bruce may be familiar to HPAC regulars - he had a curatorial residency here last year. Bruce and Fiona have been busy organizing the upcoming events.
Wayne Youle, one of the New Zealand artists, arrived on Tuesday night. He’s busy soaking up Chicago atmosphere and is looking forward to going to a baseball game on Friday night!
Have a look here at the HPAC exhibition page for a description of the project and more information about the artists. We’ve also started a blog (http://closeencountershui.wordpress.com) that will be added to from 15 May onwards with updates on the project.