VAANA MURAL 2
THE NEXT GENERATION
 
Young visual artists promote peace and social justice

The second stage of renewal of the anti-nuclear Mural on Karangahape Road's reservoir wall made great progress in June when 10 young artists met with original VAANA (Visual Artists Against Nuclear Arms) artists, Miriam Cameron and John Nicol, at Disrupt Gallery to show their rough sketches for the next six panels.  The design teams represent organisations from the greater Auckland region and the Pacific.
 
The six new works have been created by Kate Millington and Miriam Cameron (VAANA 1985), the Auckland Girls' Grammar School Maori unit, students from Media Design School, Disruptiv artists and Samoan artist Andy Leleisi'uao.
 

This comprises six works by the current generation; Auckland Girls Grammar School Maori Unit, Media Design School and the Disruptiv team and established artists Kate Millington, Miriam Cameron and Andy Leleisi áuo, all works are on the theme of peace and social justice.
 

Title:   Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves and dreams of

          trees untold
Media: Digital Vector Art
Artists: Paul Bayley, Kate Collins - Media Design School
 
 
 
 
 
VAANA 2
 
VAANA 3
VAANA 3
VAANA, along with eight new artists, have created a further eight panels for Stage 3 of the mural. John Pule, Seraphine Pick, Dick Frizzell, Charlotte Graham, Alexis Hunter, John Reynolds, Emily Karaka and Julian Hooper have created original works which were displayed at an exhibition at John Leech Gallery, while the digitally reproduced images of the works were enlarged to continue the triumphant display of artworks along the K. Road site. 
The eclectic combination of artworks that will form part of this exhibition are as dramatically different from one another as are the view points on the subject matter of peace. And although the works find themselves contrasting with each other, they all have aspects in common; passion, honesty and personal commitment. From Emily Karaka’s explosion of layers and colour to John Pule’s uncomplicated and effective use of space and text, to the organic and positive feelings of Julian Hoopers piece; this exhibition falls nothing short of extraordinary, packed with enough controversy and debate for many years to come. Recent events in global current affairs remind us that the subject of peace is still relevant and urgent today, marking this show as one of the most important occasions within the visual arts scene of 2009. 
 
Title:   Peaceful Innocence
Media: Digital Vector Art
Artists: Mel Johnson, John Christall, Selina Wu - Media Design School
Andy Leleisi'uao
Charles Southwell Award 2006
Andy’s paintings are extremely powerful and deal head-on with uncomfortable social issues.  Whitespace