Atom1746 meets the O Gallery at the Arts Centre

UPDATE: If you like Lichtenstein then you’ll love this new Artsy page with a huge collection of his works.

What might have been an ordinary Wednesday night turned extraordinary (as opposed to extra-ordinary which is just an evening that is spectacularly boring, following me here? I didn’t think so) when we headed into town to mingle with arties at the Atom1746 Endless Fallen exhibition at the O Gallery.

The O Gallery is upstairs at the Christchurch Arts Centre, near Beadz Unlimited. I have it on reliable source that the room used to house the animal psychology department when the Arts Centre was a university. The story goes on to say that one day the Ferrets escaped and eventually were located inside the walls, and had to be cut out. Yep, just add that to the stuff you didn’t know about Christchurch but now do. Every little bit helps to cement your position as a local.

I did promise Aaron that I would publish his photo after the whole Tony Cribb exhibit incident when our picture ended up in the Bay Harbour News and his didn’t. So here they are, published!

I really like Aaron’s work as it rides that line between cartoon and serious art, there’s an element of fun and lightheartedness but also an underlying seriousness that maybe the picture is only half the story. Aaron says that the titles don’t relate to the picture at all (except for Searching for Ben – the attempt to perfect Ben-Day dots) but I suspect that may be the classic artist ruse to promote the swirls of speculation and connect what is otherwise a tenuous link.

The Ben-Day dots (made famous by artist Roy Lichtenstein) are used mostly for skin tone and faces in Aaron’s work and I found this meant the dots didn’t overpower the piece or detract from the rest of the artwork.

Aaron could easily draw for Marvel Comics with his flair and imagination. Who knows, perhaps he is secretly working on the next Captain of Nothing? Or is Ben actually the codename for his secret-squirrel project?

Thanks for a really nice evening Aaron and Kym, you guys did fantastically and we look forward to the next one.

Feel free to visit the Atom1746 blog if you want to look at more of Aaron’s work or purchase some for yourself.