Mair Gallery, 10th February–6th March 2010

Exhibitions of finely crafted wood furniture established a presence as serious art and design in Canterbury in the 1970s, with the opening of the Artists Quarter on Oxford Terrace and numerous solo and group exhibitions at the Canterbury Society of Arts gallery in Gloucester Street. During this period, furniture makers such as James Pocock, Paul Deans, Graham Frazer, Colin Slade and Jim Dowle, crafted work that challenged the mass production of readily available industrialized furniture, with unique, high quality pieces in Rimu, Matai and Kauri. In 2010, the principles that informed their work are no less relevant.
Over the past three years, the Centre for Fine Woodworking has exhibited in Nelson at the Refinery Gallery, receiving such acknowledgement and high praise for its work, through affirmative media reviews and large visitor numbers. The Trust’s exhibition in the Mair Gallery at the Centre of Contemporary Art provides a welcome opportunity to view work by emerging furniture makers and fine woodworkers involved at the Centre since 2007. The exhibition encompasses selected work from previous and current graduates, as well as pieces by the Centre’s tutors.
Principal tutors John Shaw, David Haig and Richard Ash are internationally acclaimed furniture makers as well as skilled and committed teachers and mentors of their craft. The school has firmly established its reputation as the premiere furniture making and woodworking school in New Zealand offering tuition and skills to both New Zealanders and visitors from overseas. Currently, the school is moving into a new phase, training new generations of fine furniture makers with a nucleus of graduates setting up an additional workshop space under the guidance of John Shaw, to undertake an ever-increasing number of requests for commissioned work.