Picking up the Pieces

Picking up the Pieces presents a combination of new and previously exhibited artworks by Pōneke artist Todd Atticus.

A sister show to the recent Sala Alas, this exhibition finds Todd Atticus probing further into blue states of being: fragility and the fruitlessness of despair. The works in Picking up the Pieces straddle responses to tragedy and woe, highlighting the power of resilience in the face of adversity.

Extending his visual vocabulary, Atticus further integrates shapework into his practice. Previously, where the single word 'alas' spelt out in a linguistic answer to hardship and catastrophe, here a broader range of signs and signifiers hint at warnings to be heeded, means of survival, and the seesaw between order and chaos in our lives.

These pieces are bold, playful interventions in the heritage rooms and the thoroughfares of Inverlochy House. The paintings inject colour and pattern amidst to word wood trim and ornament of this grand Victorian mansion. 

Amongst the works in Picking up the Pieces are two movements: Handling Instructions, a large, three-panelled painting of symbols denoting fragility; and Sixteen Doses, a suite of small canvas works exploring the geometry of three white circles against blue. 

Both of these works, exhibited for the first time, ask whether vulnerability can be flipped on its head, or made into an opportunity. As Churchill famously said during World War II, never let a good crisis go to waste. If a pill is hard to swallow, chop it up first. 
 

Todd Atticus is a contemporary British artist. He was born in Yeovil, England in 1991 and studied at Falmouth College of the Arts in Cornwall. After graduating, he moved to London to develop his design skills before travelling to New Zealand, where he currently practices. His rigorous, idea-driven works straddle many fields of art and have been exhibited in the UK, New Zealand and internationally.