Sculpture

George Shaw and his wife Shannon have been collecting urban art for eight years and made a lifestyle move to Nelson from the UK in 2009, bringing along their 23 Banksy limited edition prints and originals that will make up the core of the Oi You! exhibition, plus work by other exponents of Urban Art including Faile, Antony Micallef, David Choe, Adam Neate and Os Gemeos. Alongside these will be the best of Kiwi urban art including work by Auckland’s Cut Collective, and the top works from the Oi You! Urban Art Competition.

The 2011 Oi You! exhibition will be staged in the cavernous interior of an old gasworks that’s part of Nelson’s Founders Heritage Park. An easy walk from the city centre, the Energy Centre is a 650 sq metre 10-sided building with an industrial feel that ideally lends itself to a show of urban art.

The exhibition’s three major components are: Over 70 works by the world’s most famous Urban Artists. The 40 finalists (20 from both the youth and open sections) of the Oi You! Art Competition, the best of New Zealand Urban Art featuring The Cut Collective.

Marc Lenton, a student at NMIT was asked to submit sculptures depicting an apocalyptic city scape. Buzzards made from petrol holders, steel body frame with hand dyed fabric feathers. Upturned broken cars placed within the exhibition space.

Very personal commission for a friend – kohatu maumahara made from hinuera stone, hand carved by Marc Lenton, designed by Henriata Nicholas.