ALEX MONTEITH

Through her work, Monteith penetrates the physical and psychological space of individual and collective performative action. Her empathetic ability to work alongside high-performance practitioners in so many fields results in art works of tremendous beauty, power and magnetism. (Davenport 2010)

Throughout the late ‘90s she was arguably one of New Zealand’s most prolific contemporary experimental filmmakers, and her technically sophisticated video installations continue to gain momentum internationally, particularly in Germany where her work has recently been shown in two major public institutions. Her large-scale works in video and performance often involve collaboration with technical or cultural specialists – ranging from Air Force Pilots, sheepdog trialists and racing motorcyclists to internationally recognised surfers. Monteith is also a member of the Local Time collective (2008-current) of artists and writers with Jon Bywater, Danny Butt and Natalie Robertson.

Highlights of her career to date include the major survey exhibition Accelerated Geographies at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (2010), solo exhibition at the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Germany (curated by Leonard Emmerling and Bernd Riess, 2012) and inclusion in Contact: Artists from Aotearoa/New Zealand at Frankfurter Kunstverein (2012). She was a nominated finalist in the 2010 Walters Prize and in 2008, Monteith was awarded an Arts Foundation of New Zealand New Generation Award 2008, as the fine-arts recipient in a pan-arts biennial award (spanning fine arts, theatre, film and music).

Of the exhibition Accellerated Geographies: Alex Monteith 2010, curator Rhana Devenport commented that it was a “major survey exhibition featuring mesmerising, ambitiously-scaled video installations by one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most arresting younger generation artists. This was only the third time in the Govett-Brewster’s 42-year history that the entire Gallery has been dedicated to a single artist. Monteith followed Leon Narbey in 1970 and Peter Robinson in 2008 in offering a Gallery-wide encounter. Monteith’s time-based works offer a direct and real-time encounter with speed, slowness, endurance and high performance using a visual language of remarkable compositional clarity and powerful scale. Motorcycle racing, free-surfing, aerobatic flying and actions related to Tino Rangatiratanga are all investigated. Monteith brings an interest in these activities that seek a balance with the dynamics and geopolitical potencies of air, sea and land. The artist herself explained: My practice is essentially post-object and post-studio in orientation. Simultaneously it often reflects on the politics, limits and freedoms of contemporary human activity at the threshold of geographical or territorial extremes. In particular, I am interested in cultures whose activity-base is sensitive – radically sensitive – to the physicality of larger landscapes. (Alex Monteith, 2010)

Monteith is also a competitive surfer. She won Irish National Women’s title in 2001, competed in both the New Zealand national circuit and the European championships in 2001, and the world championships in Durban in 2002.

She emigrated from Northern Ireland to Aotearoa in 1986 where she is currently based. Monteith holds a Doctorate in Fine Arts, from the Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland, where she is currently a Senior Lecturer.

Text courtesy Gow Langsford Gallery.