The Chartwell Commissions: Tim Wagg

Join us for a talk with New Zealand artist, Tim Wagg, whose work Youth Portrait, 2022 was commissioned for the Chartwell Show – Walls to Live Beside, Rooms to Own. This is the second of two Chartwell commission talks.

In conversation with the exhibition’s curator, Natasha Conland, Wagg will be discussing his video work, which centres on a young real estate agent, Jadyn Dixon, and the entrepreneurial ideology that underpins his working life. Wagg interviewed Dixon over a number of months, covering his professional approach and philosophy.

In 2016, Wagg (born 1991), made a video portrait titled 1991, in which he interviewed Ruth Richardson – the former minister of finance (1990–93) notorious for the 1991 ‘mother of all budgets’. This budget, renowned for its cuts to government spending and welfare, and support of private enterprise and a ‘user pays’ ethos, set the tone for the 1990s recessionary era. It is in this context that Wagg reflects on the home and the housing marketplace. In this work ‘youth’ is a metaphor of ambition.

The talk takes place in exhibition space and numbers are limited. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment.

Bio

Tim Wagg graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 2013. He works across several mediums including video, installation and digital printing. His work is concerned with the political ecology of Aotearoa New Zealand, with particular focus on identity, technology and the role archives and histories play in storytelling.

His recent exhibitions include: The Tomorrow People, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Wellington (2017); This Time of Useful Consciousness – Political Ecology Now, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (2017); Unrepresented Artists, Haydens, Melbourne (2018); Psychology For a Better World, Patara Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia (2018); Projects 2018, Auckland Art Fair (2018); The Order of Things, Hocken Collections, Uare Taoka o Hākena, University of Otago, Dunedin (2018); Working Towards Meaning, Te Uru, Auckland (2020); 1991 – Part 3, Haydens in conjunction with Neon Parc, Melbourne (2020)

 

Image courtesy of the artist