The Blue Room
Curated by artist Pippa Sanderson, The Blue Room features artwork from Andrea du Chatenier, e l. august and l. a clifton, Lonnie Hutchinson, Saskia Leek and Violet Faigan, Louise Menzies, Dane Mitchell, Rebecca Pilcher, Johanna Sanders and Stuart Shepherd.
The Blue Room was a house in Dunedin where Spiritualists Clive Chapman and his niece Pearl Judd conducted séances in the 1920s. Spiritualists believe that the spirit of a person exists beyond their body and that the living can communicate with the dead.
This exhibition presents work of 12 artists who were invited to respond to the idea of the Blue Room and the psychic activity that took place there. Through their individual reflections, the artists also offer a wider view on perceptions of the paranormal in the contemporary world. Some of the artists have approached the topic as believers and some as skeptics.
Today there is a proliferation of television programmes featuring psychics, ‘Ask a Psychic’ magazine columns, and growing communities of spell sellers and psychic mediums online and performing on stages around the globe.
Does all this suggest an increasing belief in psychic phenomena? Could it be that in a time of global economic crisis and all manner of other potential crises, it is comforting to believe that there is more to this world of ours than the physical and rational?
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Member Profile
TSB Bank Wallace Arts CentreThe TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre is Auckland’s exciting new cultural destination. Located in the historic Pah Homestead in Monte Cecilia Park, Hillsborough, the arts centre opened to the public in August 2010.
Pah Homestead was fully restored by the Auckland City Council together with the generous support of TSB Bank from 2009 to 2010 as the new home of the James Wallace Arts Trust and its collection.
The arts centre hosts a changing programme of free exhibitions curated from the James Wallace Arts Trust collection as well as regional touring exhibitions. The arts centre will also run ongoing community education programmes targeting Auckland schools and the wider public.
An artist in residency programme in association with Otago University is an important component of the arts centre. This partnership also provides for exhibitions curated from the extensive collections of the Hocken Library.
Many thanks to the Auckland Decorative and Fine Arts Society and its members who provide ongoing support to the centre through the provision of volunteer docents.
