Can I Sit Next to You

31 July – 24 August 2024

REECE KING

"When I paint, I think about a lot of things: conjuring people from the past, different times, traditions, temperaments, modes, and mediums. I sit them side by side on a weaving bus ride where, at first, the energy is going in all directions with no particular destination in mind. Then, as things start to slow down and the passengers get to know each other a little, connections start to form, new figures emerge, and the old and new spirits settle on a common heartbeat before arriving at solitude." Reece King, 2024.

Reece King was born in Tāmaki Makaurau, New Zealand, in 1989. He grew up on the west coast at Te Henga and completed a Masters in Painting at Unitec Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka in 2021. Last year, he was the inaugural recipient of the Church Rd Art Initiative, an award made by the winery in partnership with MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri, Art News Aotearoa magazine, and Semi-Permanent. His work is included in Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s Aotearoa Contemporary exhibition which opened July 6.

In 2020 he was one of the founders of Sanc Gallery, a ‘painter-run’ space on Upper Queen St that has 22 exhibitions so far. In 2020 he was the supreme winner of the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award, administered by the Waikato Society of Arts. In 2021 he was awarded the Eden Arts Karekare House Residency. His work is in public and private collections worldwide, including those of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and MTG Hawke’s Bay Tai Ahuriri.