Exhibition tells books' story

BOOK-DRIVEN ART: Aaron te Rangiao, Renata Szarvas and Matt Dutton share an exhibition at Renata's Art and Framing. PICTURE: PAUL BROOKS

Renata Szarvas is celebrating a year in her riverside premises with an exhibition in which she finally gets to show her own work.
Teaming up with Matt Dutton and Aaron te Rangiao, On Paper shows a variety of work - paintings, drawings, assemblage - from three markedly different artists.
It all came about through an incident at the Resource Recovery Centre.
"It starts, literally, with me climbing into a rubbish bin," she said, in an impromptu speech to a large crowd at the exhibition opening on Saturday evening.
"We were doing our good citizens' recycling when I saw, at the bottom of the bin, some lovely, old, shiny things."
She tried to remove what turned out to be old books, but, to do so, she had to climb into the wire cage to get access.
"There were close to 100 really old books, and, after asking the guys there, it turned out someone had inherited a family estate and they were cleaning out the attic. Before anybody jumps to conclusions, the books were in really bad condition. Their decision to throw them away gave us the opportunity to rescue them, give them a new life and look at them in a different view. Through those books, we found a nice way to honour the history that came with them by creating a body of work around them."
Renata and Matt invited Aaron to contribute.
"And alongside Aaron and Matt, I was also brave enough and decided for the first time in my life I would like to show what I do when I'm not framing pictures."
The exhibition is also a good way to celebrate a year and a month in her new workshop and gallery.
"I made the big move and even the river came in to greet me," she said, referring to the flood that coincided with the relocation. "It was a really good year ... and I feel I have found my home in Wanganui."
To see what extraordinary works have been created using the books as inspiration and art material, visit the exhibition at Renata's Art and Framing at 17 Taupo Quay. The exhibition runs until December 20.
Among the books there were also some old family photographs. Renata and Matt would like to see them returned to their rightful home.