Gathering Rust
at Whangārei Art Museum

“The flotsam and jetsam that fashion our lives, thought Yvonne as she sat dreaming on the bank of the Mangakahia River. She had returned to the place of her birth and was watching a piece of bark, a cigarette butt, a slither of silver paper, and a kauri twig meander past. It was her nature to follow the kauri twig which had started to gather speed.
...
It's very like life, thought Yvonne. What is it that carries you through life? Luck? She raced to keep up with her twig; decided it was her own energy and life's energy. They have to recognise each other to plug into the mainstream. It's the electricity within you that recognises the electric force of the universe. When the time is ripe you must leave the backwater, and float with the mainstream to reach the international sea, a fusion of ways.”

from Yvonne Rust: Maverick Spirit by Theresa Sjoquist

Gathering Rust is the first major retrospective exhibition of the painting and pottery of artist and educator Yvonne Rust since 2002. Born in Whangarei, Rust spent much of her working life as a high school art teacher in Canterbury and the West Coast. Later, she would be an important figure in the development of Northland’s art community, as the driving force behind the foundation of the Northland Craft Trust in 1979 and the subsequent establishment of the Quarry Arts Centre in 1980. Despite her prominent role in the creative industries of the region, she has remained comparatively underappreciated by the wider public, and her work is largely held in private collections.

Rust was part of a broader tradition of mid-twentieth-century New Zealand modernists who gravitated towards craft media, particularly ceramics, continuing the Bauhaus tradition of blurring the lines between purely aesthetic and functional objects. Amongst the works on display can be seen drinking vessels, vases and fountains, as well as a drum, a lamp and a baptismal font. Despite having been trained as a painter, Rust did not begin to paint seriously until later in life, producing a small but substantial body of work. These paintings reflected in some ways the regionalist modernism of her era, but infused with her own non-conformist spirit and disregard for dominant artistic trends.

The aim of this exhibition is both to celebrate Rust’s oeuvre and to attempt to collate, document and preserve as much of it as possible, something that has previously never been attempted. Works will be cycled in and out of display as they are discovered, added, catalogued and returned, meaning that the gallery is also a working space during this time.

Gathering Rust has been designed to acknowledge this dual function. Ceramics are placed on easily accessible wooden shelving, while paintings are hung on steel mesh racking normally used for storage rather than display. Viewers are invited to consider the factors outside of raw creative endeavour that go into the establishment of the art historical canon, and what roles and responsibilities institutions might have in preserving and honouring the creation of art.

This exhibition would not have been possible without the support of the many individuals and groups who have generously contributed paintings and pottery. While we are still actively seeking to find owners of Rust’s work who are willing to lend, and more will hopefully be added while the exhibition is in progress, we would like to extend a special thanks to the initial group, including the Rick Rudd and Simon Manchaster collections from the Quartz, Museum of Studio Ceramics: Paula Ford, Katheryn Barry, Driving Creek Railway Potteries, Chouli Stone, John Ecuyer, Colin Underdown, Robyn Robinson, Maude Cook Davis, Alex Jones, Jenny Bennett, Chris Booth, P.Millington, Annette Johnson, Nan Parker, Chris Wilkie, R and JV Pierce, Ros Cole-Bakes, Rupert and Wendy Newbold, Cherry Hermon, Tony Richardson, Pru Lees, Maryjane Bell and John Williamson.

Ko Hiato Waikura te whakatūranga anga muri matua o te ringa toi waituhi me te uku a te kaiwhakaako i a Yvonne Rust mai 2002. I whānau ki Whangarei, ko te nuinga o ana tau koiora mahi hei kaiwhakaako toi ki te kura matua o Waitaha me Te Tai Poutini. whai muri mai he tangata matua ia ki roto i te whakatūwheratanga o te hāpori toi o Tai Tokerau, hei tangata hihiri i te wēku o te tumu o te Northland Craft Trust i te tau 1979 me te whakatūwheratanga a muri mai o te Quarry Arts Centre i 1980. Ahakoa tōna tūranga rangatira ki roto i ngā ahumahi auahatanga o te rohe, kua noho āhua whakangākaukore, ā, ko ana mahi e pupuritia ana e ngā kaipupuri tūmataiti.

Ko Rust he wāhanga tikanga whānui o ngā toi pūkare o Aotearoa waenga rau tau rua tekau i whakaaweawe ki a hunga pāpāho toi, inā koa ngā toi uku, hono tonu ana i ngā taonga tuku iho a ngā Bauhaus o te ataruatanga waenganui i te tūturutanga o te rerehuatanga me te āheinga hoaketanga. Wawaenga i ngā mahi hei whakaatu ka kitea he ipu hei inunga, he ipu putiputi me ngā puna torotī, me te taramu hoki, he rama me tētahi ipu tohu. Ahakoa i whakangungua hei kaiwaituhi, kāhore a Rust i timata ki te waituhi mārika, ā, taihoa, koiora noa, whakaotihia he iti engari ko te tino whai tikanga o tēnei tinana mahi. Ko ēnei waituhi ka whakatohu ki ētahi momo te whakarohenga morokitanga o tōna wā engari ka tapiritia atu tōna ake wairua Matakana me te arokore ki ngā ia mahinga toi matua.

Ko te whāinga o tēnei whakaatūranga rāua, rāua ko te whakanui i ngā hua puta a Rust me te kohikohi, te tuhi me te pupuri i tōna nui ka taea, he mea kāhore i whakamātauria i mua. Ko ngā mahi ka hurihia ake ki roto, ki waho whakaatūranga ka tuhuratia, ka tāpiritia, ka whakarārangitia me te whakahoki, he mea aronga ko te huarewa anō hoki he wāhanga mahinga ki tēnei wā.

Ko Hiato Waikura kua hangaia kia aumihi i tēnei āhuatanga rua, e rua. Ko ngā toi uku ka whakanohoa ki runga paenga wahie he māmā kia āheitia, ko ngā waituhi ka whakataretia ki runga whata tarawa ka whakamahia hei pātaka, ehara i te whakaatūranga. Ko ngā kaimātakitaki ka pōwhiritia kia whai whakaaro ki ngā āhuatanga ki waho atu i te kaupapa auahatanga mata ka tomo atu ki roto i te whakatūwheratanga o tētahi kēnana hītōria toi, ā, he aha ngā tūranga me ngā tikanga kei nga whare whakakaupapa tērā pea kei a rātou hei pupuri me te whakanōinore i te orokohanga o te mahi toi.

Kua kore noa iho tēnei whakaatūranga inā te kore tautoko o te takitahi tinitini me ngā roopū nā rātou i tohatoha marae ngā waituhi me ngā taonga uku. I a mātou e āta whai tonu nei i ngā kaiwhiwhi o ngā mahi a Rust ka puaki ki te tuku mai, ā, he maha atu pea ka tāpiritia i te wā e haere nei te whakaatūranga, e hiahia nei mātou kia whakamihi whakahirahira ki te roopū timata, kohi katoa mai i te kohikohinga a Rick Rudd rāua ko Simon Manchester mai i te Quartz, Museum of Studio Ceramics: Paula Ford, Katheryn Barry, Driving Creek Railway Potteries, Chouli Stone, John Ecuyer, Colin Underdown, Robyn Robinson, Maude Cook Davis, Alex Jones, Jenny Bennett, Chris Booth, P.Millington, Annette Johnson, Nan Parker, Chris Wilkie, R me JV Pierce, Ros Cole-Bakes, Rupert me Wendy Newbold, Cherry Hermon, Tony Richardson, Pru Lees, Maryjane Bell me John Williamson.

Credits
Director: Simon Bowerbank
Photography: Nimmy Santhosh
Design, development, art direction: Son La Pham