This one hit our email yesterday and we were pretty stoked to see a new show coming up from this kiwi artist, and it looks to be something a little different from his usual work but we like what we see!

“Fresh from the completion of his second major cafe design project, Sole presents an exhibition of native New Zealand birds. Hearing the call of the land, Sole returns to the natural environment to pay
homage to our spectacular bird life, delivering a range of native birds within large scale postage stamps ready to be licked and sent around the world.

Having returned to his hometown of Westport just over a year ago, Sole has delved back into the roots of his native West Coast environment. Moving back from his second home of Wellington, he
has adjusted from the urban influences which once fuelled his work, initially Sole struggled with the disparities’ between the urban environment that had created his aerosol/spray based paintings
and his relationship with the natural environment. This resulted in a switch from spray cans to an air brush technique, making his process more environmentally friendly. Yet it wasn’t until he sat and
listened to the birds singing in the morning that he was able to connect his work with the natural environment he was now surrounded by.

Originally Sole developed a reputation for his Pacific/Urban fusionist design work and creation of intricate multi-layered stenciled posters and flyers for high-profile artists and organisations such as
Parihaka, Rippon, Upper Hutt Posse, Cornerstone Roots, Digital Mystiks, The Nomad, Sage Francis, The Black Seeds, Olmecha Supreme, Ladi6, Rex Royale (Wellington), Mandatory Clothing, Telecom and Loop Recordings. Sole is a name that has become synonymous with stencil art around New Zealand.

Birds of the Long White Cloud is Sole’s latest series of works. It reflects his move back from the urban to the native environment of the West Coast. It is a body of work that fuses his love of our unique bird life with the timeless design appeal of vintage postage stamps. Sole is joined in the main room of the gallery by Rory McDougall who is presenting his ‘Water Pill’ range of sculptures, along with Vanessa Cruse and Tim Reed with ‘Dialogue’ in the vault.”

“I am excited to be presenting a body of work that reflects the beauty of our native environment and bird life. Inspired by the classic appeal of vintage stamps I hope that these birds will deliver a wee piece of Aotearoa to homes through out the world” – Sole

Looks pretty fucking awesome. I mean, we love the subject, and this show will present an intriguing collection of work from an artist who has diverged into a new direction – something that we don’t see enough of!

Who: Sole
What: Birds of the Long White Cloud: An Exhibition of Paintings
Where: Left Bank Art Gallery – 1 Tainui St, Greymouth, NZ
When: Show opens Friday 24th February at 7pm, and runs til 20th March 2012