Murals for Christchurch Art Gallery's Populate! Exhibition

Bringing art to the streets with Christchurch Art Gallery's Populate!

Christchurch Art Gallery might have been closed, but that didn't mean nothing was happening. One exhibition, Populate!, celebrated the Gallery's 10th birthday by bringing artwork into public spaces around the city. Our involvement was producing murals on buildings, including the two examples below. In the Gallery's own words:

"On 10 May this year, Christchurch Art Gallery turns ten. To celebrate, the Gallery is inviting a vivid cast of characters to town. Populate! is a new wave of artworks in the public spaces of the city, from painted cartoon figures stampeding across a wall and an enigmatic face on a billboard, through to a sculpted figure standing high on a rooftop and a very heavy metal gnome. As well as marking the birthday occasion, Populate! responds to the post-quake setting, bringing faces and figures, along with some bursts of humour and strangeness, to the depopulated inner city."

The murals were digitally printed 3M graphics, produced specifically for application to textured concrete. Our sign team had the task of adhering the large Frizzell drops to the wall of the CoCA Gallery, which required specific tools and techniques suited to that environment. Bad timing meant one of the worst storms to hit the South Island rolled through during install, but the team came through and delivered a great result, as the photos show.

Dick Frizzell: Contacts

"Dick Frizzell is often described as one of New Zealand's most popular artists. His whopping new mural on the back of CoCA is about the perils of wanting popularity. Plucked from a sappy love comic, a handsome artist holds a painting and dreams of cracking the art world big time. The mural's position on the back of the CoCA gallery might not make him any happier. He's close to a space where art was shown and sold, but still emphatically outside. To add insult to injury, Frizzell has snuck one of his own paintings into the aspiring artist's hands. Oh, if he only had some good contacts."

Christchurch Art Gallery

Elizabeth Kelly: Margaret

"Born in Christchurch, Elizabeth Kelly was the leading local portrait painter of her generation. She frequently exhibited her works overseas to considerable recognition and acclaim. This portrait, one of Kelly's typical society portraits of fashionable young women, was shown in London in 1937 and 1939. The subject is Margaret Hatherley, who modelled several times for Kelly. Oil on canvas, circa 1936."

Christchurch Art Gallery

FAQs

Can murals be printed for application to textured concrete surfaces?

Yes, specific digitally printed materials can be produced and adhered to textured concrete for large scale exterior murals.

What kind of challenges come with large scale exterior mural installation?

Weather conditions, surface texture and scale all need to be factored into materials and installation technique for outdoor murals.

This is a look back at a past project from 2013, during Christchurch Art Gallery's earthquake closure. Exhibition and building status have since changed.