Judy Millar, Untitled, 2019. Acrylic and oil on canvas, 180 x 125cm. Courtesy: the artist, Tim Melville Gallery and Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland. Photography: Sam Hartnett.

An exhibition can simmer under the surface for a long time before a chance meeting or an unexpected conversation brings it to life. 2 in 1: Alberto Garcia-Alvarez & Judy Millar, which will be presented simultaneously at Tim Melville Gallery and Gow Langsford Gallery, has an interesting back story.

Gallerist Tim Melville writes “Auckland Art Gallery’s Colin McCahon exhibition, A Place to Paint, was one of the highlights of last year’s art calendar. Judy Millar gave a powerful speech at the opening and I remember talking with her afterwards about Alberto Garcia-Alvarez, and especially about his influence on her practice during the 1970s at Auckland University’s Elam School of Fine Arts. Later, continuing our conversation by email, Judy wrote: ‘It was great to talk the other night – it would be wonderful to work on a project with Alberto. I often wonder what I would have become without his teaching.’

By chance, the following week, Gary Langsford and I found ourselves sitting next to each other at a café. When I told him about my conversation with Judy he immediately said, ‘Let’s have a show.’  He checked with his fellow Directors and the touch-paper was lit.

Finally, as the icing on the cake, Stephen Bambury offered to curate the exhibition across both gallery spaces.

Like Judy, Stephen is a New Zealand household name with an international art career… and he too was one of Alberto’s students. Stephen’s curation includes a group of paintings produced by Alberto during his time in California in the late 1960s which will be shown alongside works made more recently in his Auckland studio. The selection of works by Judy includes a series of paintings made in 2020 as well as work made in 1981 during her time at Elam.”

An illustrated catalogue, including a dialogue between the three artists, has been produced to accompany the exhibition.

The gallery is open and adhering to social distancing measures.

Opening Preview at Gow Langsford Gallery: 5pm Tuesday 4 August 2020

Opening Preview at Tim Melville: 6pm Wednesday 5 August 2020