Julia's Birds, Bugs, Bikes and Boats Blog: Taken Personally - Marianne Muggeridge's Exhibition at Shed 11

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Taken Personally - Marianne Muggeridge's Exhibition at Shed 11

The weather has finally broken. After an unusually dry, warm and windless summer rain has finally arrived to break the drought. Time to choose an indoor activity, I thought as over summer I had neglected the wonderful indoor opportunities Wellington has to offer.
I chose to visit 'Taken Personally', an exhibition by Marianne Muggeridge being held in The Portrait Gallery, Shed 11, which is in an old converted warehouse on the waterfront, making it easily accessible from the Central Train Station. I came in on the Johnsonville line, always a lovely if short trip as you travel through the Ngaio Gorge then emerge from tunnels to a vista of the Harbour.

I had a very pleasant hour in the gallery. Marianne Muggeridge grew up as I did, in Taranaki and her paintings resonate with me. The surroundings of her subjects are things I know and her subjects look familiar. When I looked out of windows I saw the dominating presence of Mt Egmont and so did she as a child. Later on when she returned to Taranaki Mt Egmont is often a part of her paintings, and at times is the subject.
Marianne Muggeridge also spent a part of her life in Wellington and her paintings of that time reflect the city I know.
The people she paints, their dress and their surroundings look all very familiar. She captures an essence of ordinary New Zealanders and their developing culture. Her eye for fabrics and incidental objects surrounding the sitter fascinates me. They never look staged but they are always somehow relevant.
I asked for permission to take photographs which of course do no justice to her work - you need to see it in person and I recommend that you do. The exhibition is running till mid June.