Identity Parade: {Suite} Wellington

For the Face To Face Portrait Festival (Suite} is pleased to present Identity Parade, featuring work by Are Hellendoorn, Simon Attwooll and Wayne Youle.

 Simon Attwooll's portraits derive from a set of negatives (c.1970s) of a young man in Hungary posing for his mugshot, from home, in his garden. The artist writes, "I found posing for your own mugshot amusing as it is normally something compulsory you must provide if you've been properly naughty. How strange to voluntarily surrender this but then again, nowadays we readily surrender personal information all the time - through social media. As we strive to make and do things to improve our understanding or lifestyle, I wonder what seemingly inconsequential traces we leave behind that just as accurately document who we are and how we lived. As I sat with these negatives of a stranger; from another time and another place on the other side of the world, I wondered what remaining traces there are of this person and if they were aware that what they were doing then would be seen by someone else in the future. Will pre digital photography become an image fossil of the future? Perhaps the traces of what I leave behind now may be a defining moment which illustrates who I was in the future."

Arie Hellendoorn's works explore the conventions of portraiture and representations of the human form. Arie is predominantly interested in the process of making and problem solving - the resolution of his works is determined by resolving a series of decisions throughout the painting process, rather than painting a predetermined idea. In this exhibition, the artist continues his exploration of the human face as a means of navigating notions of identity. With multi textured mosaic-like paint layers, his work often takes the form of head cross-sections, the inner workings and thoughts of the brain laid bare.

Wayne Youle's diverse practice is strongly influenced by his bicultural heritage. A keen observer of the ever-shifting dynamics of Māori and Pākehā culture, his works traverse issues of identity, race, and the commodification of cultural symbols. His work speaks to a fascination with the visual language of popular culture, and desire to question how history and identity are constructed. In Wayne's hands, simple forms and symbols take on a historical, metaphysical and psychological weight, navigating these exceedingly complex - and in some circles, contentious - cross-currents with a wry sense of humour and disarming honesty.