We are delighted to present a solo exhibition by Mt Maunganui artist Kelcy Taratoa (Ngai Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Raukawa) who is showing in the gallery for the first time. Taratoa has produced a major new body of work, marking a significant and exciting new direction in his practice.

The paintings in this exhibition reference tukutuku in Taratoa's marae on Rangiwaea Island in the Tauranga harbour. Te Kore-te wiwia translates as a space without boundaries and in moving beyond customary materials and practice into the gallery space, Taratoa creates a suspended space which allows for both customary and non-customary to conceptually coexist with past and future held in the present. It is also a space for visual and conceptual dialogue and experimentation.

Exploring the complexity of cultural identity in the 21st century, Taratoa's new vibrantly-coloured super-flat paintings deconstruct the structural elements of traditional pattern re-presenting them to speak to the space between culture and meaning.

Taratoa, who has a Master in Maori Visual Art (1st class honours) from Massey University, has exhibited nationally and internationally and has had several public gallery exhibitions throughout New Zealand. A mid-career survey opened at Tauranga Art Gallery in October and includes work from the past 20 years borrowed from a range of private and public collections as well as his most recent work painted in a site-specific installation on the gallery's 7-metre hight atrium walls.

Press release courtesy Bartley & Company Art.