JustUs
Chevron Hassett, Scab, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist.
JustUs
Chevron Hassett
Enjoy Contemporary Art Space
211 Left Bank, Te Aro, Wellington
11 December 2020 – 13 February 2021
Opening Thursday 10 December, 5.30pm
For his new exhibition JustUs, at Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Wellington, Te-Upoko-o-te-ika based artist Chevron Hassett has created a photographic installation that explores the live realities and representation of Māori men in contemporary Aotearoa.
The exhibition includes a series of large-scale images of pixelated, cuffed and uniformed figures. The clothing worn by these figures makes reference to the uniforms worn by inmates at Rimutaka Men’s Prison.
Hassett’s images work with photographic tropes seen in news media, art historical and ethnographic portraits, layering visual codes that have shaped how Māori men have been perceived in the past and present.
In his work, Hassett hopes to highlight how systems of oppression and visual representation have impacted Indigenous lives, sovereignty and autonomy.
Review of Chevron Hassett’s previous show Children of Maui
About Chevron Hassett
Chevron Hassett born Te Awakairangi/Lower Hutt, Aotearoa is an early career artist of Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rongamaiwahine) and Pākehā (Irish) heritage. He graduated with a Bachelor of Design from Massey University, Wellington in 2016, and was a recipient of the Ngā Manu Pīrere award from Creative New Zealand. Recent exhibitions include Commoner, ST Paul St Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau, 2020, Strands, The Dowse Art Museum, Te Awakairangi Lower Hutt, 2019, Home is where my heart will rest, Toi Pōneke, 2019 and The Children of Māui, MEANWHILE, Pōneke, 2019.
About Enjoy Contemporary Art Space
Established in June 2000, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space is a leading independent contemporary art space located in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Located on Left Bank, just off Cuba Street, Enjoy generates and facilitates contemporary art projects to support the development of new work and promote critical discourse around contemporary practice in Aotearoa.
This kaupapa is carried out through exhibitions, an annual residency, an open call for proposals, offsite projects, public programmes and publications. Enjoy provides both emerging and established practitioners with opportunities to develop new and innovative work.