Gus Fisher Gallery

The Gus Fisher Gallery is part of The University of Auckland’s National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries (NICAI), and is located in The Kenneth Myers Centre, an historic building restored in 2000 with the help of the gallery's patron, Gus Fisher (1920–2010).^[1]

It is operated by the University of Auckland Centre for Art Research, which was established in 2005 to support and develop the academic and research activities connected with the Gus Fisher Gallery, The University of Auckland Art Collection, and Window. The gallery aims to present a balanced and relevant programme of curated exhibitions of contemporary and historical art, which interrogates current visual arts knowledge nationally and internationally.

In 2008, The Gus Fisher Gallery was awarded Metro Magazine's Best Arts Institution in Auckland, from their annual Best of Auckland Issue.^[2]

The Gus Fisher Gallery is free, and open Tuesday to Friday, 10am – 5pm, and Saturday 12pm - 4pm.

Kenneth Myers Centre

The Gus Fisher Gallery is located in the former broadcasting building at 74 Shortland Street – now renamed the Kenneth Myers Centre to honour the father of principal benefactor, Douglas Myers'.^[3] The building was originally built in 1934 as a new home for 1YA, one of Auckland’s first two licensed radio stations in 1923 (alongside 1YB),^[4] making it the first purpose-built public radio building in New Zealand. The 1YA studios were commissioned by the conservative 24th New Zealand Parliament, led by the United Party, and designed by Norman Wade and Alva Bartley (Wade & Bartley), architects of De Bretts (also in Shortland Street) and the New Zealand Power Board building (Queen Street) - it was officially opened on 24 January 1935 by Postmaster General Adam Hamilton.^[5] It would go on to play an important role in the social programme of the first Labour government, formed from the November 1935 election and led by Michael Joseph Savage who was a strong advocate for public broadcasting.^[6]

Described as neo-Romanesque in style,^[7] and deceptively large, the structure presents a single storey façade to Shortland Street, but extends for another three levels down the hill to Fort Street at the back. Requirements of early radio broadcasting technology dictated that the building be solid and soundproof. Thick double brick walls block out noise, and copper framed arched ‘windows’ reveal a second layer of brick rather than a view of the interior.^[8] Bricks were supplied by Amalgamated Brick Brick & Pipe Company Ltd., the parent company for Crown Lynn Potteries, and designed to graduate from red to yellow in eight different bands of colour progressing up the face of the building - the brickwork plans are held by The University of Auckland's Architecture Archive and some of these were exhibited in 2011 for the Gus Fisher Gallery exhibition Crown Lynn: Pottery for the People.^[9]

The building was converted into a television studio, AKTV2, and was the site of the first official broadcast of television in New Zealand on June 1, 1960. It remained the centre of the nation’s television broadcasting from Auckland until 1990 when TVNZ relocated to its present Miles Warren-designed base on Hobson Street,^[10] sentimental regard for the old building, commonly known as the Shortland Street Studios, lives on in the titling of a certain long running hospital soap, Shortland Street,^[8] which was originally planned to be filmed in the building.^[11]

In the 1990s the building, with its purpose-built studio environs, became a natural base for a range of musicians and producers, including Dave Dobbyn, The Submariner and York Street Studio. The many recordings made in this period include albums from The Mutton Birds, Che Fu and Pitch Black. Parts of the Kenneth Myers Centre still function as recording and rehearsal studios and are regularly used by musicians from The University of Auckland’s School of Music.

Purchased by the University from TVNZ in 2000, the building was extensively and authentically restored and renovated. Downstairs are dance studios, music practice rooms, video edit suites and other facilities for teaching and studying the creative and performing arts, while the upstairs areas were refurbished with the help of art lover and fashion designer Gus Fisher’s generosity to become The University of Auckland’s art gallery. While most of the interior has always been very plain, the main foyer features a coloured glass dome lit from above, encircled by elaborately decorated plaster, originally painted in seven colours. This has been painted white to accentuate the pink, green and tobacco coloured glass in the dome. The original bronze 1YA entrance lamps at the building's entrance were removed when the building was refitted for television in 1959^[12] and ended up at a private home in Siota Cres, Kohimarama.^[13] To complete a condition of a city council resource consent (issued in 2000 with a 2005 deadline) that allowed the University to restore the building, at the prompting of artist Billy Apple, a new set of lamps were produced and installed on 23 October 2009.^[13]

Centre for Art Research

The University of Auckland Centre for Art Research develops, supports and promotes scholarship, learning, and community engagement in the visual arts. It is an important platform for research at The University of Auckland and provides a public interface for engagement with the wider Auckland and New Zealand communities.

Established in 2006, the Centre is entrusted to manage and develop the University’s extensive and valuable art collection, to coordinate the busy exhibition programme of the Gus Fisher Gallery, and to support and guide the student team that leads the activities of the online and onsite student-curated gallery, Window. The Centre also liaises closely with those other parts of the University engaged in similar or complementary activities with a view to maximising opportunities to profile key initiatives. The Centre was originally named the Centre for New Zealand Art Research and Discovery (CNZARD) but was renamed the Centre for Art Research in 2012.

The University of Auckland Art Collection

Established in 1966 by Keith Sinclair and Bob Chapman, The Art Collection is one of the University’s most valuable and cherished assets.^[14] However, its most poignant value lies in its use as a resource for teaching, learning and research. Available on loan to departments and faculties on all campuses, the Collection has been built up over forty years to include major works by significant artists such as Frances Hodgkins, Colin McCahon, Billy Apple and Ralph Hotere.^[15] Outcomes from postgraduate research on the Collection have included a thesis on its own history as an entity, monograph exhibitions on individual artists, and surveys of the impact of the evolution of the Collection on Auckland’s dealer galleries, resulting in the exhibitions and publications Vuletic and His Circle (about the Petar/James Gallery) in 2003 and New Vision Gallery in 2008.

References

External links

• Gus Fisher Gallery official website
• NICAI official website