Catherine Mitchell Centre Life Drawing Group 2026 Exhibition
16 Oct - 29 Nov, 2026
Waiheke Art Gallery
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10am - 4pm everyday
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Free
Artists from the Catherine Mitchell Life Drawing Group present a diverse selection of recent work celebrating the enduring art of drawing the human figure.
The exhibition brings together 14 artists from the group, with each exhibiting two or three works. While all the works originate in the shared experience of drawing from a live model, the results reveal a remarkable diversity of individual approaches, styles and techniques.
Life drawing is one of the oldest foundations of artistic practice, yet it remains as immediate and challenging today as it has been for centuries. Working directly from a live model requires close observation, rapid decision-making and an understanding not only of anatomy and proportion, but also gesture, weight, movement and character.
The Catherine Mitchell Life Drawing Group meets twice weekly at the Catherine Mitchell Arts Centre in Ostend. The sessions are untutored, with artists of different backgrounds and levels of experience working independently in a relaxed and supportive environment.
This year's exhibition reflects that diversity. Rather than presenting a single interpretation of the human figure, the show demonstrates how the same subject can generate very different responses, from careful observation to loose, expressive interpretation... and the legendary “artistic licence”.
The 2026 exhibition marks the third year in a row that the group has been invited to show at Waiheke Art Gallery, following exhibitions in 2024 and 2025. This continuing collaboration provides an opportunity for the public to see and acquire works normally created in the intimate environment of a life drawing session.
Above all, the exhibition celebrates life drawing as a living and contemporary art form: direct, spontaneous and deeply human.
The exhibition brings together 14 artists from the group, with each exhibiting two or three works. While all the works originate in the shared experience of drawing from a live model, the results reveal a remarkable diversity of individual approaches, styles and techniques.
Life drawing is one of the oldest foundations of artistic practice, yet it remains as immediate and challenging today as it has been for centuries. Working directly from a live model requires close observation, rapid decision-making and an understanding not only of anatomy and proportion, but also gesture, weight, movement and character.
The Catherine Mitchell Life Drawing Group meets twice weekly at the Catherine Mitchell Arts Centre in Ostend. The sessions are untutored, with artists of different backgrounds and levels of experience working independently in a relaxed and supportive environment.
This year's exhibition reflects that diversity. Rather than presenting a single interpretation of the human figure, the show demonstrates how the same subject can generate very different responses, from careful observation to loose, expressive interpretation... and the legendary “artistic licence”.
The 2026 exhibition marks the third year in a row that the group has been invited to show at Waiheke Art Gallery, following exhibitions in 2024 and 2025. This continuing collaboration provides an opportunity for the public to see and acquire works normally created in the intimate environment of a life drawing session.
Above all, the exhibition celebrates life drawing as a living and contemporary art form: direct, spontaneous and deeply human.
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