Accidental artist’s one night stand

Marc Moore has a lot of support for his first show. Picture / Carolyn Elliott

There's a smart revolution quietly emerging in Auckland's gallery scene. The artist doesn't have to pay any commission to the gallery for sales of work, the gallery's costs for a show (mainly nibbles and booze) are covered by sponsors, the show runs for one night only and, best of all, it's a good excuse for a party.

The concept of fashion and lifestyle PR firm Showroom22, the one-off, one-night shows have been spread around a number of galleries, including the Bath St Gallery and Superette.

The next one, at hip High St fashion outlet Modus Operandi, will feature 15 acrylics by Marc Moore, the 29-year-old son of former Dragon singer Marc Hunter.

The Stolen Girlfriends' Club is Moore's first solo exhibition, and interest in his work is high. His style is confident and assured, his subjects - in this case a very loose "theme" of rescuing damsels in distress - cool and appealing.

But 29-year-old Moore has only come to painting by accident, literally.

Born and bred in Raglan, where he lived with his mother, Victoria Moore, he studied art at school. But post-school, his life was devoted singlemindedly to surfing. He was good enough to make national finals, and attracted top-level sponsors such as Subaru.

Then he got cocky, and took up snowboarding - "really fast. I thought I was invincible".

He wasn't. Last year Moore seriously injured his back, and had to stop surfing completely. Unable to sit or stand in one spot for long, he decided to start painting.

"When surfing stopped I felt there was something else for me to be doing. A couple of friends were into painting and my mother has always been a painter so I went and bought some paint and canvases and started. It's been about a year."

An operation has corrected his injury and Moore has been given the all-clear to go back on a board later this month. But in the meantime, painting has been good for his back.

"It's been soothing, kneeling on the ground, nice and straight."

Moore has little to say about his dad, simply because he didn't have much contact with him until two years before the singer's death from throat cancer in 1998.

"I remember getting home to my little shack in Raglan and there was a message from him. It was so bizarre hearing his voice. We talked on the phone a couple of times and I was going to go over and visit. Then he got ill and I didn't want to interfere too much. I had a good life with my mother."

Moore is confident about his first show, which is being sponsored by Stella Artois, Trinity Hill wines and the ultra-hip style magazine Oyster. "I kind of feel I could sell most of the work in one night. I've got a lot of support, a lot of friends."

Where some might have been bereft at the loss - which has turned out to be temporary - of the thing in life they loved most at the time, Moore is positive. "The injury has been good for me. It made me realise there's more to life than surfing."

Exhibition

* What: The Stolen Girlfriends' Club, by Marc Moore

* Where and when: Modus Operandi Gallery, 51 High St, Mon Dec 6, 7.30pm