500 people pop in as exhibition opens

A pop-up exhibition organised by Lenny Murupaenga shows off the work of local artist Paul Harris at the John Street studio. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Combine 16 talented local artists, one central city studio, a pinch of creative thinking and you have a highly successful pop-up art exhibition.

That recipe has proved rewarding for organisers Lenny Murupaenga and Haydn Harding of the Cause & FX exhibition.

It opened on May 8 to a "completely packed" audience of 500 people at the studio on John Street.

"It was unreal," Mr Murupaenga said. "It totally surpassed my expectations."

It was a mixed-media exhibition featuring painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture and ceramics.

About 20 pieces were sold on opening night, with at least five sold more since then.

Mr Murupaenga had been renting the space as his studio since February but had been thinking about putting on a group art exhibition for a while.

Between himself and Mr Harding, another local artist, they came up with a list of artists and things just happened "organically" from there, Mr Murupaenga said.

Half of the artists whose work was displayed had connections to NorthTec. Two were current students, one a NorthTec tutor, the five more were graduates. Mr Murupaenga graduated from NorthTec with a Diploma in Applied Arts in 1998.-The exhibition will run until Friday, May 22. The gallery is open from 10am-1pm, Monday to Saturday.