Current exhibitions
Past exhibitions
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Body and Soul by Llew Summers
28 Aug - 27 Sep 2020 Llew Summers Body and Soul 28 August - 27 September 'What's important to me is to get a balance between the physical and the spiritual in life. We're given... Read more -
Out on the Plain - synthetic cubism by Elizabeth Thomson
23 Jul - 23 Aug 2020 Aerial views of Canterbury landscape feel like the subject matter here as Elizabeth Thomson channels luminaries including Bill Sutton and Rosalie Gascoigne in this new body of photographic and sculptural... Read more -
Sustaining the Local
18 Jun - 19 Jul 2020 Due to unprecedented and unforeseen circumstances of a countrywide lockdown, Aotearoa New Zealand has turned to Sustaining the Local, our local. The Central’s annual group show welcomes an array of... Read more -
Inheritance by Hannah Kidd
7 May - 14 Jun 2020 In this exhibition, Hannah Kidd muses upon the nature of inheritance. What do we learn about ourselves from the objects left behind by others? You will find in the 'Installation... Read more
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Ātaahua by Karl Maughan
5 Mar - 5 Apr 2020 Ātaahua is a state of being, of being beautiful, good-looking, gorgeous or lovely. Ātaahua is the title of Maughan’s new show at The Central. Maughan paints garden views, rhododendrons, camellias... Read more -
Avant-Garde Fatigue by Pete Wheeler
31 Jan - 1 Mar 2020 Pete Wheeler brings us his first project, back from a decade in Berlin -'Avant Garde Fatigue'. Wheeler is playfully exploring the idea of inspiration, that moment of creative spark behind... Read more -
Show #28: The Intimates: Part II by Reuben Paterson
21 Nov 2019 - 26 Jan 2020 Reuben Paterson’s new works will irradiate The Central’s spaces with colour from late November to late January. The flowers of his glittering botanicals will be accompanied by radiant cloudscapes and... Read more -
Show #27: Borderlands by Simon Edwards
3 Oct - 17 Nov 2019 Simon Edwards’ new exhibition Borderlands ranges from mountainside to the inlet of sea, from the moody atmosphere of sky to the crystalline patchwork of rock. There is the colour and... Read more
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Show #26: INDEX by Martin Poppelwell
30 Aug - 29 Sep 2019 The Gallery will teem with life during September. Martin Poppelwell’s eponymous exhibition Index will have the floor. Infact it will probably take over the floor. Objects and paintings of those... Read more -
Show #25: Leigh Martin & Michael Hight
25 Jul - 25 Aug 2019 Lush poured resin paintings by Leigh Martin will sit alongside carefully brushed realist works by Michael Hight at The Central through the month of August. Two very different bodies of... Read more -
Show #24: NEW WORKS SHOW
20 Jun - 21 Jul 2019 We welcome winter with The Central Gallery’s first group show dedicated entirely to new work. Exciting! You will see a new painting of Karamea by Stanley Palmer, and woodcuts by... Read more -
Show #23: Under a Night Sky by Bing Dawe
16 May - 16 Jun 2019 This show calls on and develops a number of previous sculptural and conceptual concerns. Included in the show are three older works from 2010 and one from 2018. The new... Read more
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Show #22: NAVIGATION LINES by Fiona Van Oyen
11 Apr - 12 May 2019 ‘You are here’ brings context to the navigational line you are about to follow on a map. In this show line is the tool Van Oyen uses to reacquaint herself... Read more -
Show #21: Clouds and Feathers by Neil Dawson
8 Mar - 7 Apr 2019 Clouds and feathers, quite possibly in couplets, re-appear in this new exhibition of Neil Dawson’s in Christchurch. Objects will fly in sky and space. And possibilities will gently open up... Read more -
Show #20: Object Show
31 Jan - 3 Mar 2019 The modern gallery exhibits so much more than painting and sculpture. So through the month of February, The Central is show-casing its object-makers. Out come pounamu heads by Jon Jeet,... Read more -
Show #19: Stanley Palmer & Company
13 Dec 2018 - 27 Jan 2019 Stanley Palmer comes to town. He is showing 6 new paintings and prints also, at The Central through the summer of 2018. Views of Akaroa, Otago Peninsula and Hauraki are... Read more
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Show #18: Relativity and The Structure of Things by Elizabeth Thomson
8 Nov - 9 Dec 2018 Elizabeth Thomson’s second show at The Central in November continues her explorations of the natural world. You will see photos with contoured forms beaded for sculptural effect; and painted bronze... Read more -
Show #17: Ann Robinson / John Walsh
4 Oct - 4 Nov 2018 Through October The Central is delighted to present exhibitions by Ann Robinson + John Walsh – established NZ artists who have not shown in Christchurch before. Ann Robinson’s cast glass... Read more -
Show #16: Finding The Way by Simon Edwards
30 Aug - 30 Sep 2018 Simon Edwards upcoming exhibition ‘Finding the Way' at The Central, showcases his wonderful drawing talents – in framed works of charcoal on paper. Edwards recently returned from research in China... Read more -
Show #15: Something To Behold! by Dick Frizzell
27 Jul - 26 Aug 2018 Something To Behold is Dick Frizzell's tribute to self - this is his hero show. From a vocabulary in painting built up over the last 50 years, he has curated... Read more
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Show #14: Time+Grid+Now by Veronica Herber
21 Jun - 22 Jul 2018 The joy of the grid - exploring edges horizontally, vertically and the spaces between; along with structures built through the meditation of repetition - these are some of the concerns... Read more -
Show #13: You were Blue and I was Purple by Reuben Paterson
17 May - 17 Jun 2018 With the last Autumn colours just hanging on, it will be the perfect time for Reuben Paterson to come to town. All will shimmer and glitter. Exuberant, evocative and always... Read more -
Show #12: The Gardens by Kirstin Carlin
12 Apr - 13 May 2018 Twelve small framed paintings each coloured and titled with a hint of the changing seasons, comprise Kristin Carlin's first solo exhibition at The Central. She won the Molly Morpeth Canaday... Read more -
Show #11: Absolutely! by Hannah Kidd
7 Mar - 8 Apr 2018 Absolutely! the exclamation is now part of the Kiwi vernacular, affirming a national sense of self in a way not dissimilar to the All Blacks brand, hunting in the roar,... Read more
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Show #10: EFG by Martin Poppelwell
1 Feb - 4 Mar 2018 Martin Poppelwell was born in Hawkes Bay in 1969 and currently resides in Napier. He studied at Otago University, and at the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University until... Read more -
Show #9: Glimpse Panorama - Landscape aspects in contemporary New Zealand art
7 Dec 2017 - 28 Jan 2018 Read more -
Show #8: A Memorable Fancy by Heather Straka
3 Nov - 3 Dec 2017 Born in Auckland, Straka studied sculpture at Elam Art School but has largely made paintings since graduating. She looks from a different point of view. Her second major body of... Read more -
Show #7: Cheeky Things by Lonnie Hutchinson
29 Sep - 29 Oct 2017 Lonnie Hutchinson is an artist of mixed descent, with Samoan, Ngai Tahu and Celtic bloodlines. Very often her practice reflects this, commenting astutely on aspects of indigeneity in the contemporary... Read more
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Show #6: One Moment Please - Still Life in Contemporary New Zealand Art
24 Aug - 24 Sep 2017 Read more -
Show #5: On Reflection by Neil Dawson
20 Jul - 20 Aug 2017 On Reflection is a new series of sculpture that is intriguing, playful and nostalgic in equal measure. Like much of Neil's work, it responds to site - using the windows... Read more -
Show #4: Landskin by Fiona Van Oyen
16 Jun - 16 Jul 2017 Landskin When the land is neither secure ground on which to stand, or a familiar feast for the eyes, one’s sense of scale in place is felt as an internal... Read more -
Show #3: Navigating the Zone 2002-2017 by Elizabeth Thomson
12 May - 11 Jun 2017 The zone could be seen as Christchurch’s post earthquake trauma of disconnect and renewal, but here it is more about the clear receptive inventive space that Louise Bourgeois calls between... Read more
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Show #2: Ivory Towers by Simon Edwards
7 Apr - 7 May 2017 Read more -
Show #1: The Return
4 Mar - 3 Apr 2017 Opening works by: Stephen Bambury, Neil Dawson, Simon Edwards, Dick Frizzell, Chris Heaphy, Lonnie Hutchinson, Jon Jeet, Hannah Kidd, Fiona Pardington Rueben Paterson, Peter Peryer, John Pule, Heather Straka, Elizabeth... Read more