Coastal Signs is pleased to present Winter Skies, an exhibition of work by Ruth Buchanan, Ammon Ngakuru, and Shannon Te Ao.

Winter Skies brings together three major works: a falling aluminium chain curtain by Ruth Buchanan; a set of five photographs by Shannon Te Ao of an apparitional body spinning through space; and Ammon Ngakuru’s Night (2022), a large scale painting of the night sky on collaged newspaper with incised stars. Through these works Winter Skies reflects on a constellation of ideas: light, touch, transformation, belief, and how the mundane and metaphorical fold in on one another.

Ruth Buchanan (b. 1980) is an artist of Pākehā, Te Atiawa, and Taranaki descent, who lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Buchanan has exhibited widely nationally and internationally. Recent work includes the exhibition Heute Nacht geträumt at Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart (2021); the online publication Evacuation Tapes (2020) and Where does my body belong? From institutional critique to infrastructural transformation Or Mothers and Standards, published by Artspeak in 2021. Ruth is currently Kaitohu Director of Artspace Aotearoa.

Ammon Ngakuru (b. 1993) lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. He holds a BVA from Auckland University of Technology and a MFA from Elam School of Fine Arts. Recent exhibitions include: The long waves of our ocean (curated by Hanahiva Rose), National Library of New Zealand, Te Whanganui-a-tara Wellington (2022); Misere, Coastal Signs, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (2021); Pumice, Coastal Signs, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (2021); Cutouts, Enjoy, Pōneke Wellington (2020); Uncomfortable Silence, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Ōtautahi Christchurch (2020); The Tomorrow People, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Pōneke Wellington (2017).

Shannon Te Ao (b. 1978, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Wairangi, Ngāti Te Rangiita, Te Pāpaka-a-Maui) holds a BFA from University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts and an MFA from the College of Creative Arts at Massey University Wellington. Te Ao has exhibited widely nationally and internationally. He has recently completed commissions for The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10) QAGOMA Brisbane and 13thGwangju Biennale: Minds Rising Spirits Turning. In 2021 Te Ao presented solo exhibitions at REMAI Modern (Saskatoon); Oakville Galleries (Toronto), and Te Uru (Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland). In 2016 Te Ao was Awarded The Walters Prize by international judge Doryun Chong.