SEVERAL BIRDS
featuring Brendan O’Brien, Anton Hart with Jenny Bornholdt, Noel McKenna, Shona Rapira Davies, Jenny Keate, Jo Braithwaite, Euan Macleod, Simon Ogden, Wendy Bornholdt, Kate Stevens West, Stephen Allwood, Esther Bosshard, Michael Kempson, Maiangi Waitai, Jeff Thomson, Gregory O’Brien, Raewyn Atkinson, Louise Purvis, Catherine Bagnall, Sam Duckor-Jones, Coco Waitai & Geoff Dixon
18 – 29 August 2026
In 2022, I took a leap of faith into the unknown, leaving my established career as an art valuer behind and enrolling in a master’s degree in Museum and Heritage Studies at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Little did I know that my final placement and end thesis, under the supervision of Ken Hall at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, would lead to an epic four-year journey together, culminating in the exhibition Bird Land Te Kāhui Manu, launched at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū this weekend, alongside a gorgeous accompanying book.
One of the hardest tasks Ken and I faced was selection. Hard choices had to be made, especially as we chose to be led ‘by the birds of Aotearoa’ and to let nature curate our space. As a result, many worthy artists’ works were not able to be included. In order to celebrate this achievement and feature some of those voices that are not represented in Ōtautahi, Bowen artists, which I became Director of last year, have flocked together in the group exhibition Several Birds.
Brendan O’Brien’s Fernbank Press timely publication, Bill Manhire, Several Birds, provided the perfect title. It is a collection of ten poems compiled by Manhire for Brendan, with only one previously published in book form. The exhibition is filled with intimate stories. It is quirky and disparate, just as in nature. Ultimately it has brought the Bowen community together as only a group exhibition can.
Helena Walker
Kate Stevens West, Piripiri 2026, oil on board, seven panels, 1400 x 600 mm overall $12 000
Raewyn Atkinson, And then you fall into the Masterpiece 2026, wild clay, porcelain, glaze, kanuka and metal fixings with found nests, of sizes $12 000
Louise Purvis, Overview 2026, cast aluminium, limited edition 1/7, 500 x 600 x 70 mm $4700
Louise Purvis, Overview 2026, cast aluminium, limited edition 1/7, 500 x 600 x 70 mm $4700
Brendan O'Brien, Still. Poem by Bill Manhire 2026, collage, antique engravings, pencil & ink, 300 x 380 mm $1950
Brendan O'Brien, A loop for the new music 2026, collage, antique engravings, pencil & ink, 300 x 380 mm $1950
Brendan O'Brien, Hope is the thing with feathers 2026, collage, antique engravings, pencil & ink, 300 x 380 mm $1950
Brendan O'Brien, Penguin befriends redundant worker 2026, collage, antique engravings, pencil & ink, 300 x 380 mm $1950
Euan Macleod, Flock of Seagulls (Scarborough) 2026, oil on canvas, 560 x 760 mm $9500
Euan Macleod, Penguin & Dinghy 2026, acrylic on paper, 370 x 460 mm $3300
Euan Macleod, Seagull, Scarborough 2026, patel on paper, 250 x 350 mm (framed) $1800
Joanna Braithwaite, Second Sight 2026, oil on canvas, 820 x 610 mm $6500
Noel McKenna, Budgerigar, Blue Sky 1998, oil on canvas, 270 x 340 mm $7500
Anton Hart with Jenny Bornholdt, Birdseye Blossom 2024, quartz sand, limited edition 4/4, 488 x 107 mm $3500
Critical Mass IV #1 20026 RHS black steel, stainless steel, stainless steel wire, found copper wire 1500 x 340 x 250 mm $10 000
Stephen Allwood, My Girls I, 2012, oil on canvas, 620 x 530 mm $3800
Stephen Allwood, My Girls II, 2012, oil on canvas, 620 x 530 mm $3800
Sam Duckor-Jones, Waiting Room #4 2025, 730 mm height $2200
Sam Duckor-Jones, Waiting Room #3, ceramic, 930 mm height $3200
Jenny Keate, Weather Station 2026, mixed media, 230 x 300 x 130 mm $2600
Jenny Keate, A bird of some type 2026, printer blocks, 280 x 220 x 20 mm $450
Maiangi Waitai, Tattooed Bird Mama! with Tattooed Bird Baby! 2026, mixed media 300 x 140 x 95 mm, 200 x 80 x 50 mm $1050
Michael Kempson, Apex Predators 2nd State 2024, etching & aquatint, 410 x 425 mm $975 (framed)
Brendan O'Brien | Fernbank Studio, Bill Manhire, Several Birds 2026, limited edition of 50, 250 x 185 mm $150 each
Gregory O'Brien with John Pule, Oka 2025, etching and aquatint, AP, limited edition of 24, 390 x 335 mm (framed) $1100
Gregory O'Brien, From the Library of Coastlines, Waikanae (for Bill Manhire) 2026, drypoint etching, limited edition 6/16, 470 x 380 mm $1025 (framed) / $675 (unframed)
Wendy Bornholdt, BirdPic 4 2006, inkjet on Epson matte, edition of 1 + AP, 220 x 305 mm $300
Wendy Bornholdt, CrowPic 19 2006, inkjet on Epson matte, edition of 1 + AP, 220 x 305 mm $300
Esther Bosshard, Untitled 2026, oil on board, 240 x 295 mm $1050
Catherine Bagnall & Julian Bishop, Night Garden 2026 mixed media, 430 x 360 x 120 mm $1200
Kerrie Hughes, Bird c. 2018, paper mache, mixed media $600
Jeff Thomson, Upokongaro hen 2005-2026, screenprinted steel, life size $2700
Geoff Dixon, Native Birds of South America 2007, oils and enamels on canvas, 6 panels, 1530 x 1900 mm $26 000
Simon Ogden, Prelude to a dance #28, 2025, found linoleum, glass, plastic beads, 205 x 160 mm $780
Simon Ogden, Prelude to a dance #32, 2025, found linoleum, glass, plastic beads, pearls, 205 x 160 mm $780
Simon Ogden, Inside the circle, outside the square 3, 2023, found linoleum, 205 x 160 mm $650