AUCKLAND.- A major programme of new exhibitions drawn from the world’s largest collection of New Zealand art is now on view at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Presenting works by the country’s art luminaries such as Michael Parekowhai, Colin McCahon, Fiona Pardington and Bill Culbert, these exhibitions explore the network of connections that have influenced New Zealand art from the early 20th century to today.

Spread across three levels, the rolling suite of shows, New Zealand Art: Insights and Connections, occupies the majority of the Gallery’s floor space.

Auckland Art Gallery Principal Curator Dr Zara Stanhope says the programme takes a fresh look at New Zealand art and will be regularly updated.

‘By exploring diverse approaches to creativity through multiple shows, we have given focused and deeper insight to New Zealand art and its place in our country and beyond,’ she says.

Developed over the last year by a team of five in-house curators, the exhibitions showcase artworks that have been carefully selected from the Gallery’s collection of more than 15,000 items.

With additional items on loan from local and international private and public collections, all the displays tell multi-layered and engaging stories.

The relationship between past and present in modern Māori art, appropriation and homage in New Zealand and international art, the disturbing power of landscape in inter-war art, Cubism and its impact on New Zealand artists, and reflections on Aotearoa New Zealand as depicted by colonists and 18th-century voyagers are themes explored.

‘These interlinked exhibitions reflect our changing cultural conditions and present creative perspectives on New Zealand life. Through them, we aim to offer memorable experiences that will inspire visitors to know themselves and understand their worlds,’ says Stanhope.

‘Audiences can select from these shows and works to create their own connections with New Zealand art,’ says Stanhope.

Auckland Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says the New Zealand Art: Insights and Connections programme highlights a quality and diversity of artworks that are specific to New Zealand’s culture, history and place in the world.

‘Alongside the current solo projects by leading Auckland-based artists Lisa Reihana and Billy Apple, these exhibitions reflect Auckland Art Gallery’s powerful commitment to the art of Aotearoa New Zealand,’ she says.

All exhibitions are free to visit.