Chris Yri Connolly is an artist from Whanganui, and in 2022 he won the annual Whanganui Arts Review, an open-entry art programme run by Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery. His work: Past Possessive, Future Possessive – Umpire Chair in Six Parts, an enigmatic sculpture crafted from poplar, playing on the idea of the Roorkhee Chair which was invented by British troops in India in the 19th century.
Previously unknown – or rather unrecognised – as an artist, Connolly was awarded the opportunity to develop a solo exhibition project as part of the prize thanks to the support of Pattillo, which sponsors both the award and the Pattillo Project. The result is What We Take With Us, a compelling, and ambitious, installation showing at the newly opened gallery until 1 February.
It is a work of strange calm, and contemplative beauty: lengths and planes of gracefully turned and honed poplar, with some components carefully laid out as if ready to be assembled; others suggest actors in a performance. The work considers “both literally and figuratively what we might carry with us into the unknown”, as senior curator Greg Donson puts it. Along with the elegant, ethereal timber works, Connolly cast pieces in lead from both his own objects and those close to him.
But the work also reflects on movement through time, both physically and in memory. There’s a sense of suspended action to it, which fits with Connolly’s grandmother, a lifelong dancer. “For Connolly, this is collective memory but also physical,” writes Donson. “[He] has cast out multiple lines of enquiry that converge in a light and thought-provoking installation about memory, objects and materials.”
What We Take With Us
Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery
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