An Artist's Economy: Madden, Stevenson, Upritchard

Strongman here looks at the recent works of New Zealand artist Shane Cotton. Issues of transformation - of an ebb and flow of changes in form and meaning over time, of visions and revisions of and between cultures - have been central concerns of Cotton's work for more than a decade. Through extensive reference to Maori and Christian culture, Cotton explores what he describes as the 'collision and collusion' of New Zealand's two official cultures.

Interview with Brian Butler, the new Director of Artspace, Auckland. Questions are raised regarding Butler's decision to leave his position at the Los Angeles cutting edge art gallery 1301PE in order to direct a publicly funded space in Auckland and his visions for the future of Artspace.

Special Gallery is an activity centre at Level 1, 26 Customs St East, Auckland. Exhibiting artists have included Jason Lindsay, Tahi Moore, Fiona Conner, Seung Yul Oh, Nick Austin, Tao Wells, Daniel Du Bern, Helga Fassonaki, Alex Vivian, Chris Cudby, Dave King, Julian Dyne, Fraser Munro, Eddie Clemens, Richard Bryant, Patrick Lundberg, Simon Denny, Jennifer Mason, Robin Kydd, Fin Ferrier, Ben Tankard, Chris Fitzgerald, Stephan Neville, Lou Darlington and Nate Williamson.

This essay draws on some of the themes and issues raised by the 1997 report 'New Vision: A Critical View of the Visual Arts Infrastructure', commissioned by Creative New Zealand and the Chartwell Trust to document the state of New Zealand's visual arts infrastructure of the time. It is here used in reference to offer a series of (partial, personal and biased) snapshots that consider the state of the visual arts scene in New Zealand. Some key figures here referred to include Gordon H. Brown, Lee Weng Choy, Greg Burke, John Maynard, Cheryll Sotheran, Priscilla Pitts, John McCormack, Pae White, Sam Durant, Lee Bul, Peter Robinson, Ann Shelton, Fiona Clark, Giovanni Intra, Fumio Nanjo, Jonathan Watkins, Mercedes Vicente, Tyler Cann, Robert Leonard, David Hatcher, Louise Garrett, Simon Rees, Michael Stevenson, Ronnie van Hout, Francis Upritchard, Denise Kum, Yuk King Tan, Joyce Campbell, Hamish McKay, Andrew Jenson, John Gow, Gary Langsford, Michael Lett, Heather Galbraith, Jenny Todd, Brian Butler and others.

Enjoy was born out of transparency and openness and a focus on critical dialogue combined with some utopian ideals such as being 'Liberated from Commercial Constraints' and has been a place for dissent and discussion. Artists Ciaran Begley and Ros Cameron with administrator Rachel Smithies established enjoy in 2000. Exhibiting artists have included Caroline Johnston, Eve Armstrong and Violet Faigan.