Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is not in the business of placing outside bets. Inside Outside Upside Down: Five Contemporary New Zealand Artists—curated by head of contemporary art Natasha Conland,[1] and comprising materials held by the Gallery—is thus a showcase not merely of five contemporary NZ artists, but of five of the most celebrated practitioners to have emerged in recent years.[2] It is no coincidence that all are based outside Aotearoa, in places with larger, more prominent art communities and markets. Ruth Buchanan (born 1980, lives in Berlin), Fiona Connor (1981, LA), Simon Denny (1982, Berlin), Kate Newby (1979, NYC), and Ronnie van Hout (1962, Melbourne)—each of whom gets a room of her/his own in IOUD—are at once certified insiders of the NZ art scene (as winners of and finalists in the Walters Prize, holders of important local residencies, etc.) and global players (garnering frieze features and international honours aplenty). …
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[1] As appears to be standard practice at the Gallery, Conland is not credited as curator in the exhibition itself.
[2] Well recent-ish; van Hout emerged somewhat earlier than the others.
