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Michael Hight’s current exhibition From Waimarino to Red Jacks which opened on Tuesday 10th August has been hugely popular with many visitors and a number of the works already sold. The exhibition runs until midday on Saturday 4th September. For more information on this exhibition please contact the gallery.
John Leech Gallery is closed for re-painting and will re-open on Tuesday 10th August with:
Michael Hight
From Waimarino to Red Jacks
Greer Twiss Survey 1963 - 2002 Exhibition Opening
Congratulations Greer on a successful opening night. Greer Twiss Survey 1963 - 2002 is an amazing exhibition which shows the range of work Twiss has produced over the past four decades of art making. For further information on this exhibition please contact the gallery.
Hauaga: The Art of John Pule
Book Launch 
Book Launch John Pule and friends
Peter Simpson speaking Wendy Harrex speaking Purchasing the book
Last night we were delighted to host the launch for the new publication Hauaga: The Art of John Pule. As the first book devoted to the work of one of New Zealand’s best known contemporary artists it has generated a great deal of interest in the arts community.
The launch was held in association with Parson’s Bookshop, Otago University Press and Gow Langsford Gallery and John was in attendance to sign copies. If you would like more information on this artist or to purchase the book please contact John Leech Gallery.
Exhibition opening - Justin Boroughs: Auckland - Taranaki - Lake Dunstan
We had an excellent turn out last night for the preview of Justin Boroughs’ new exhibition, Auckland - Taranaki - Lake Dunstan. Featuring eleven new
paintings, all created with Boroughs’ signature precision, the show looks set to be a great success.
art PM - An evening of art in the heart of the city
In celebration of the Auckland Festival of Photography, the Auckland Art Precinct was open on Tuesday 8th June from 6 to 9 pm.
Each AAP business served boutique NZ wine from our sponsor &Co and we had Victoria Street Carpark discount parking vouchers available.
It was great for the Art Precinct to be able to support the Auckland Festival of Photography and the Gravity Festival Tuesday event.
For more information on the work of the Art Precinct please contact Georgina Barr at the gallery. 
The gallery will be closed for Queen’s Birthday weekend from Saturday to Monday (inclusive). We hope this does not cause any inconvenience and wish you all a happy and safe long weekend.
New to the Gallery: Artist Rodney Fumpston
Printmaker Rodney Fumpston has exhibited regularly throughout New Zealand since his graduation from Elam School of Fine Arts in the mid-1970s. Particularly known for his etchings, Fumpston’s work contrasts crisp-edged colour planes with the sensuality of gestural lines, deftly manipulating some of the most challenging printmaking techniques to create arresting and intelligent work.
For more information please contact the gallery.
Exhibition opening - Classic Hits (and Misses)
Congratulations Richard! The opening of Classic Hits (and Misses) was a big success. Many of the models attended opening night and it was great to see the inspirations beside the painted likenesses. 
Classic Hits (and Misses) runs until the 15 May and is a must see exhibition. For further information please contact the gallery.
Please note the gallery will be closed over Easter weekend. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and wish you a Happy Easter.
Gallery artist Martin Ball has been selected as a finalist in the 2010 Archibald Prize.
The final touches. The submitted work.
Ball’s submission of well-known artist Jacqueline Fahey seems to show a still moment just before movement and the energy of the subject's focussed gaze is enhanced by bright red lips and the hint of a black top.
The Australian-based Archibald Prize was first awarded in 1921 and is Australasia's oldest and most recognised art award supporting the genre of portraiture. This is the fourth time that Ball has been selected as a finalist. Congratulations Martin! We wish you all the best in the competition.
Auckland Art Precinct Art Sunday Success!!!
The Auckland Art Precinct is celebrating the success of the first Art Sunday - held on Sunday 14th March from 12-5pm.
Art Sunday was an opportunity to celebrate the Auckland Art Precinct, The 4th Auckland Triennial, the building of the Auckland Art Gallery and the fact that we live in a culturally and artistically thriving environment.
Visitors enjoyed good weather, a community atmosphere and a chance to sample boutique New Zealand wine from our sponsor &Co and of course some of New Zealand’s best art.
A big thank you to the people who made the day possible - the Art Precinct businesses for your hard work, &Co Wines for the generous sponsorship, and Briar Holland for generously donating her time to volunteer for the initiative.
Art Sunday coincided with the opening weekend of The 4th Auckland Triennial and it was great to see public enthusiasm for both the Triennial and the AAP initiative. This enthusiasm was picked up by ‘tagger’ Knitty Graffity who used the Art Precinct open day as an opportunity to add colour and interest to Khartoum Place and display work that included the themes of risk and adventure as promoted in the Auckland Art Gallery’s Triennial. 
For more information on the Auckland Art Precinct please contact the gallery.
Te Whao Pounamu The Greenstone Chisel
Te Whao Pounamu is a three day greenstone carving workshop taken by master pounamu carver Te Kaha.
The workshop, which can cater to ten participants, is generally held in different locations in the North Island and the course that took place at the beginning of March was held at a house near Piha in West Auckland.
The workshop teaches its participants more than just the physical process of carving greenstone. The entire process - from understanding the stone and the history of those who carved it and why, to carving wood with the finished chisel - was examined and discussed.
Language, as well as history, played a major role in the creation of the pounamu chisel. The participants had the strong feeling that these aspects were as important as the piece of high quality Kawakawa pounamu that each was given and indeed they became part of each other.
All materials needed in the workshop were provided and yet it was the process of carving the stone and the knowledge gained from that experience which has the most enduing value.
For more information on this workshop please contact the gallery.
New Zealand Masters: Cotton, Goldie, Gimblett, Walters, Hotere, Woollaston, Frizzell, Angus and Wero Taroi opened on Tuesday evening.
This exhibition featuring New Zealand's master artists runs until 20th March 2010. For more information please contact the gallery.
John Leech Gallery artist Peter James Smith is a 2009/10 Antarctica New Zealand Arts Fellow.
In January he travelled to Scott Base, Antarctica with fellow award recipient Owen Marshall (writer) and spent ten days travelling around the area.
Smith’s Antarctic experience began with a five hour plane flight in a US Air Force Globemaster cargo plane. The aircraft landed on the Hut Point Peninsula of Ross Island (a thick flat flange of ice that extends off the land and over the sea) on the seaward edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.
New Zealand's Scott Base is home to 80 people in the summer season and is a 40 minute walk away from the American McMurdo Station which looks like an Alaskan frontier town and is home to 1000 people Smith says.
The whole environment is pristine, white, unpolluted and very cold (and is not warming up). It is physically exhausting and intimidating - the clothing (all six layers of it) is needed at times, so that one feels a little like an astronaut. The environment is intimidating from the feel of the Dark Sublime: all across the landscape there are hidden dangers - from pressure ridges (fissures in the ice sheet), from deep crevasses, from whiteout and from the wind chill factor of the biting wind. The sense of foreboding is increased by the presence of memorial crosses to the era of great exploration 100 years ago and the dark and heavy-hearted huts that those explorers built, provisioned and sought shelter in over 100 years ago. Erebus stands forever in the background, both physically and historically. This sense of history is ever-present; one can stand on Observation Hill near the base and look due south, towards the South Pole, in a line between the sublime shimmering summits of Black Island and White Island, just as Scott's men had done as they strained their eyes across the white horizon, waiting for his return in 1912.
What a powerfully moving place. I am now embarking on paintings, photographs, and installations of objects based on the photographic and memory visual record that I captured. I look forward to creating these works over the coming year.
- Peter James Smith
Liam Barr joins John Leech Gallery
We are proud to announce the latest addition to our established stable of artists; Liam Barr.
Liam is scheduled to hold a solo show in 2011 and we wait in anticipation for his exhibition and look forward to a long standing relationship with him.
Pacific Creations: Spirituality meets Utility
The first exhibition of the year opened on Tuesday 26th January. With a range of work from around the Pacific on display, this is a must-see exhibition for those interested in the visual history and rich culture of this part of the world.
Please contact the gallery for further information.
Summer Exhibition 2009 / 2010
John Leech Gallery's Summer Exhibition runs from 8 December 2009 to 23 January 2010. This exhibition includes the Editions range held in conjunction with Gow Langsford Gallery.
Both galleries will be closed from midday 24 December 2009 to 4 January 2010 and will re-open on Tuesday 5 January 2010. Please contact the gallery for further information on the current exhibition or any of the artists.
Have a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous 2010.
Auckland Art Precinct Open Day - Sunday 22 November
The day was a huge success for the Art Precinct and it was great to see both return and new visitors to the gallery.
For more information on the work the AAP is undertaking please contact Georgina Barr on georgina@johnleechgallery.co.nz or on 09 303 9395.
Exhibition Opening: Peter James Smith / HISTORIES REPRISED from art and science
Congratulations Peter! Last night's exhibition opening was a hugely successful event with a number of works sold on or before the opening.
Peter has been in the Gallery over the past few days and has been of great assistance from writing an essay for the show and assisting in the creation of the Virtual Gallery to painting plinths with wife Mary.
Peter's attendance at the opening was a highlight. His work inspires discussion and he was definitely kept busy!
Art Auction: Artist For Tsunami Relief
On Tuesday 20 October at Webb's in Newmarket the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust held an auction to raise money to help support those affected by the recent tsunami in the Pacific. John Leech Gallery artists Michael Hight and Martin Ball had work go under the hammer and achieved good sales. Congratulations Michael and Martin. For more information on the works please visit: http://www.tautai.org/artists-for-the-tsunami-relief/
JOHN LEECH & GOW LANGSFORD GALLERIES - SPRING CATALOGUE 2009
EXHIBITION OPENING
The opening on Tuesday evening was a great success with energetic crowds at both John Leech and Gow Langsford Galleries. A big thank you to all our artists - the new works you created for this show are stunning.
Our Annual Catalogue Exhibition is always popular and there have been a number of sales already. The exhibition, which is accompanied by a full colour catalogue, runs until November 7. We look forward to seeing you at the galleries to view the work.
Aunt Concertina & Her Niece Evalina
Book Launch
The launch of the book Aunt Concertina & Her Niece Evalina at the gallery on Friday night was a huge success. The gallery was crowded with the friends and fans of writer Paula Green and artist Michael Hight.
The book, now available at Parsons Bookshop, is a masterpiece of written and visual poetry and the original paintings were popular. Many congratulations to Michael and Paula for a successful creation.
Auckland Art Precinct
The John Leech Gallery is proud to be a member of the Auckland Art Precinct.
The initiative, which launched in late September 2009, involves Parsons Bookshop and the art galleries in the block of Wellesley, Kitchener, Victoria and Lorne Streets in Auckland central city.
By working together the businesses of the Auckland Art Precinct will promote the area by engaging in joint advertising and exhibition opening nights. We will also put our voices together the make sure that Khartoum Place is looked after by the Auckland City Council and that the area is visitor-friendly.
Look out for the Auckland Art Precinct advert in the weekend's Herald supplement then come into the central city and take a walk around our block. Each Auckland Art Precinct business has a logo 'signpost' sticker on their premises and is happy to help you with any questions you may have.
The website www.artprecinct.co.nz is the central communication point of the initiative and a link to all businesses involved.
Exhibition Opening: John Walsh New Paintings
The opening on Tuesday evening was a huge success.
The artist was in attendance to answer questions and there was a lot of discussion about the characters and their journeys displayed in the eight paintings. Pare to my place was a talking point with the strong central figure over looking the gallery space and the dream like quality of the works appealing to all guests.
Congratulations John on a very successful exhibition.
Richard Wolfe discusses the life and work of Dennis K Turner
John Leech Gallery was proud to provide the location for Richard Wolfe to discuss the life and work of Dennis K Turner on Saturday 5th September.
The small but lively group who gathered at the gallery learnt about Turner's early work and relationships with other New Zealand artists as well as the reception his work received in New Zealand and the reasons he left for England in the early 1960s. Both Richard Wolfe and John Leech Gallery Director John Gow had met with Turner at his East London flat recently and shared their experiences of the artist.
Thank you Richard! Your comments and insights on the artist where informative and thought-provoking. We look forward to sharing in your continued study on Turner.