In The Studio, Julia Holderness uses her research and practice-based approach to explore the history of an all-woman art studio and exhibiting space in Ōtepoti Dunedin (1939-40) that was shared by Doris Lusk, Anne Hamblett and Mollie Lawn.  Considering the ‘group studio’ as a site of practice, shared resources and social connection, Holderness extends this narrative by imagining historical artist Florence Weir’s possible interactions in this context, alongside work by contemporary artists Julia Holden, Kirstin Carlin, Richard Orjis and Tatyanna Meharry, to explore the possible influences of this collective environment.

Julia Holderness has worked with both Scape Public Art and the Christchurch Art Gallery on project that engage with the history of modernism as it materialised in New Zealand from the 1930s to late 50s,  working across a range of arts practices and materials.  These have ranged from sculpture and installations,  and the applied art and design in its various manifestations, all informed by the rigour of the questions she has raised about New Zealand’s art history - ‘Combining several influential design archives, both local and international, as sources for contemporary fabrication and re-presentation, her research traces alternative and sometimes imagined histories of modernism in New Zealand.’ (The Christchurch Art Gallery on Holderness’ practice)

DETAILS

Julia Holderness and Invited Artists, The Studio

The National

249 Moorhouse Avenue

4 May - 4 June 2022, 

IMAGES

1. Julia Holderness, The Studio(detail). 2021. Mixed media. Courtesy of the artist.