{"id":626549,"date":"2026-10-10T17:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T17:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626549\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T17:02:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T17:02:15","slug":"wellingtons-city-gallery-opens-with-explosive-new-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626549\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellington’s City Gallery opens with explosive new exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wellington’s City Gallery Te Whare Toi has reopened to the public for the first time in more than two years after a $12.3 million refurbishment.<\/p>\n

The works of world-renowned British artist Cornelia Parker are being showcased as the first exhibition in the newly renovated building. <\/p>\n

Gallery director Charlotte Davy told 1News the exhibition is fitting for the reopening. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn’t have exhibited Cornelia Parker in the old building, so it feels fitting to do a show that’s challenging in terms of showing off all our beautiful new space,” Davy said. <\/p>\n

\"British<\/p>\n

British artist Cornelia Parker’s piece Cold Dark Matter. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

The exhibition features more than 50 artworks across two floors, exploring themes of destruction and reconstruction. <\/p>\n

One of the artworks, titled Cold Dark Matter, sits in a wide room with objects suspended from the ceiling around a ball of light, mimicking an explosion. <\/p>\n

“This was a piece I made in 1991, so quite a long time ago now, and I collaborated with the British Army, who blew up a garden shed for me and all these objects that I’d collected,” Parker told 1News. <\/p>\n

\"British<\/p>\n

British artist Cornelia Parker. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Other highlights include a room of steamrolled brass instruments, the deconstructed barn from Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s Psycho and a work called Blue Shift, which hasn\u2019t been shown in public for the last 20 years. <\/p>\n

The council spent $12.3 million on strengthening the gallery after it was designated earthquake prone in 2024. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The deconstructed barn from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

It follows the reopening of the Central Library next door in March this year.<\/p>\n

Some installations in the new exhibition took weeks to put together. <\/p>\n

“We have to borrow works from major institutions like the Tate in London, like la Caixa in Spain, but also Cornelia’s works are in private collections around the world,” Davy said. <\/p>\n

\"Wellington's<\/p>\n

Wellington’s City Gallery Te Whare Toi. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

When asked what she wants Wellingtonians to take out of her artwork, Parker said they don\u2019t have to fill it up with her ideas. <\/p>\n

“I want them to come and experience it the same way they would a concert or a piece of music, that they\u2019ll be moved by it and have their own associations with it,” she said. <\/p>\n

The exhibition is now open and will run until March next year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wellington’s City Gallery Te Whare Toi has reopened to the public for the first time in more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2567,156,111,139,69,52],"class_list":["post-626549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-wellington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}