Hamish Coleman & Michael Mahne Lamb
Short Memory
19 August - 12 September, 2020
19 August 2020 - 12 September 2020
Available Works

Artist Pages
Short memory represents a conversation between two Wellington artists: painter Hamish Coleman and a photographer whose work he admires Michael Mahne Lamb. Across the different mediums, the two artists share an interest in the abstraction of figurative detail which can serve to move us away from a worldly ‘sea of chatter’ to a quieter place which allows fleeting moments to be seen, savoured and recalled.

For the photographer here, this is an act of subtraction, a removal of excessive detail to deny the importance of subject or place, to place our focus entirely on the image. For the painter, addition, through the building up of layers of paint, is the critical act. Both approaches invite the viewer to create their own narrative and response.

Across both practices, we see recurring spheres of light and dark, a soft focus which creates a sense of vibration, and a dance between the ephemeral and the indelible.

Hamish Coleman, who has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) in painting from Ilam School of Fine Arts at University of Canterbury, has been showing with the gallery since 2015. We are pleased to introduce Michael Mahne Lamb who holds a Bachelor of Design (Honours) from Massey University and is currently pursuing an MFA in photography at the University of Hartford in the US.

Please note that the interference paint used by Coleman creates a surface effect within his painting and, to varying degrees across the works, the surface colour and sheen changes in line with the viewing angle. Coleman’s use of this paint and his creation of surface mobility generates a dialogue with conventional expectations that painting is two-dimensional, flat and stable.
Installation view 2
Installation view 2
Asunder
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Asunder
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Asunder (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Asunder (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Gifts of the Nor'west
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
505 x 505mm
Gifts of the Nor'west
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
505 x 505mm
Gifts of the Nor'west (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
505 x 505mm
Gifts of the Nor'west (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
505 x 505mm
Installation view 1
Installation view 1
The surface, not the point
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
1140 x 760 mm
The surface, not the point
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
1140 x 760 mm
Sea of Chatter
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
710 x 710mm
Sea of Chatter
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
710 x 710mm
Sea of Chatter (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
710 x 710mm
Sea of Chatter (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
710 x 710mm
As Does the Sun
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
635mm
As Does the Sun
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
635mm
As Does the Sun (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
635mm
As Does the Sun (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
635mm
Installation view 4
Installation view 4
Agitator
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Agitator
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Agitator (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Agitator (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
605 x 605mm
Never referred to
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
1140 x 760 mm
Never referred to
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
1140 x 760 mm
The most minute matters
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
The most minute matters
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
To forget a difference
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
To forget a difference
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
A glass at three-fourteen (in profile)
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
A glass at three-fourteen (in profile)
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
Installation view 3
Installation view 3
Ambiguity is a richness
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
Ambiguity is a richness
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print, timber frame with Artglass
700 x 525 mm
Places
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
227 x 227mm
Places
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
227 x 227mm
Recall the corners
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print mounted on aluminium
1130 x 750 mm
Recall the corners
2019
Michael Mahne Lamb
C-type print mounted on aluminium
1130 x 750 mm
Postscript
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
575 mm
Postscript
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
575 mm
Postscript (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
575 mm
Postscript (alternate angle)
2020
Hamish Coleman
oil on linen
575 mm