Hannah Beehre: Mures, et Terram

In collaboration with Jonathan Smart Gallery, CoCA presents Mures, et Terram by Christchurch-based artist Hannah Beehre.

This large, seven-panel drawing explores chance as both artistic strategy and subject.

Exhibition Sponsors

In 2010–2011, Rūamoko, the atua (god) of volcanoes and earthquakes, kicked and stirred in the belly of Papatūānuku, the earth mother, under Ōtautahi Christchurch. The city crumbled, and the swamp came back to the surface. We are still recovering. The seven panels of local artist Hannah Beehre’s Mures, et Terram -  Mice, and the Earth -  were created in response to her lived experience of this time. 

Animals are often used as allegory for human experiences - removed subjects that allow us to examine our behaviours or responses to events. Hannah’s mice, lizards, and frogs tumble in the darkness of a tumultuous inky background, the free flowing application of which determines and unifies composition. They have emerged, as we have, shaken from the experience, diminutive and fragile, comforting each other as the scale of events dwarf and overwhelm them.

A series of new drawings accompany Mures, et Terram. This time, Hannah’s lens of experience has expanded, responding to global politics as the Rattenkönig appears from the darkness. The Rat King is a repulsive phenomenon; a wheel of rats, their tails inextricably intertwined and forced to survive as a collective.  Different groups vie for power, emerging from the depths of loose brush strokes. The works incite introspection and consideration of the state of things. 

--

I te ngā tau 2010–2011, ka mahi nanakia a Rūaumoko te atua o ngā rū i te kōpū o Papatūānuku, i Ōtautahi nei.  I tanuku ngā whare me te reporepo haere o whenua o te tāone. Kāore anō kia tau te mauri mai i taua wā. Ko ngā paewhiri nā Hannah Beehre ko Mures, et Terram- He Kīore me Papatūānuku, i hanga e ia hei whakamārama i ōnā wheako tūturu i taua wā.

Ka whakatairite ngā karaehe ki ngā tāngata-ka whakawehe ngā kaupapa i ngā tāngata kia aronui ki ō mātou whanonga me te whakautu ki ēnei āhuatanga. Nā Hannah ngā kīore, ngā mokomoko me ngā poraka i tā kia kite i ngā mahi turupeke o ēnei kararehe i te taiao pōuri me te taiao whakamōti, hei honotanga mō tēnei mahi auaha ohia.

Kua puta mai i tēnei pāmamaetanga ōrite ki ngā tāngata, kua patua te wairua, ka āwhina ngā tāngata i a rātou anō,  ahakoa ngā aitūa, ngā mōrearea.

He mahi tā pikitia hōu hoki e whakaatu tahi ana ki Mures, et Terram. I tēnei raupapa pikitia kua whakawhānuihia te tirohanga hei whakautu ki ngā mahi tōrangapū o te ao i te putanga o Rattenkönig mai i te pōuri.  Ko Rattenkönig he āhuatanga mōrikarika; he hononga kīore ōrite ki te wīra, kua honoa ngā whiore me te oranga o te katoa kua herea pēnei. Ka puta ngā rōpū rerekē, whakataetae mana i ēnei peita paraehe. Ka tīrohia te tangata ki a ia anō me te āhuatanga o tōna oranga.

The Artist

  • Hannah Beehre
    Hannah Beehre
    Christchurch

    Hannah Beehre has exhibited in galleries, museums and events throughout Aotearoa New Zealand such as: Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu; City Gallery, Wellington; Blue Oyster Gallery, Dunedin; 2008 SCAPE Biennial, Christchurch; The Physics Room, Christchurch; Dunedin Public Art Gallery; The Dowse, Lower Hutt; Te Tuhi, Auckland; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. Hannah gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury in 2000. She has been an Olivia Spencer Bower Trust Award Recipient, Artist in Residence at Scott Base, Antarctica and recently won the 2016 Parkin Prize for drawing. Hannah is represented by Jonathan Smart Gallery in Christchurch.

Hannah Beehre
Christchurch

Hannah Beehre has exhibited in galleries, museums and events throughout Aotearoa New Zealand such as: Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu; City Gallery, Wellington; Blue Oyster Gallery, Dunedin; 2008 SCAPE Biennial, Christchurch; The Physics Room, Christchurch; Dunedin Public Art Gallery; The Dowse, Lower Hutt; Te Tuhi, Auckland; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. Hannah gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury in 2000. She has been an Olivia Spencer Bower Trust Award Recipient, Artist in Residence at Scott Base, Antarctica and recently won the 2016 Parkin Prize for drawing. Hannah is represented by Jonathan Smart Gallery in Christchurch.

View artwork
Mures, et Terram, 2016, Hannah Beehre
More about this artwork

Ink and charcoal on canvas, 1700 x 7000 mm. 

Heart (Cusp), 2016, Hannah Beehre
More about this artwork

Swarovski crystal, acrylic, dye on silk velvet, 1700 x 1200 mm.

"I was interested in creating an epic in which motion, chaos and instability were the main drivers. The narratives that surface within the work are based in situation and circumstance, describing actions and responses of those subjected to/overwhelmed by its violent nature . . .  it contains for me a very human story of fear, loss and recovery." - Hannah Beehre

Rat King, 2017, Hannah Beehre
More about this artwork

Ink and charcoal on paper, 760 x 1050 mm