The Gus Fisher Gallery is about to present its most ambitious project yet: an NZ first exhibition of pioneering artist and gay rights activist Derek Jarman. Eda Tang talks to curator Lisa Beauchamp about his enduring influence and the important work of the Auckland gallery, while Tyson Beckett gets personal and takes a look at her Titirangi home and wardrobe.
Not many offices are adorned with racy nudes, but there is one on the peak of the hill on Auckland city’s Shortland Street. As the flagship gallery of Waipapa Taumata Rau, the Gus Fisher Gallery has all the nude paintings that the University of Auckland doesn’t know where else to put. When curator Lisa Beauchamp joined the gallery in mid 2018, her vision was to open up contemporary art to the widest possible audience without it feeling like “an elitist white space”.
But, she says, “sometimes that is a challenge because we look a bit like a castle.”
The gallery opened its doors in 2001 as a centre for contemporary art in Tāmaki Makaurau, and is housed in the historic Kenneth Myers Centre – a neo-Romanesque brick structure built originally in 1934 for one of Auckland’s first licensed radio stations. Throughout Beauchamp’s curatorship, the gallery has invited artists to provoke powerful conversations around themes like offshore immigration, queer ecologies and even witchcraft.
Now, Gus Fisher Gallery is about to present its most ambitious project yet: a New Zealand first exhibition of Derek Jarman, the pioneering artist and gay rights activist. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of his untimely death from an AIDS-related illness at the age of 52 (he was the first public figure in the UK to make his HIV positive status known).
If you’ve never heard of Jarman, Beauchamp describes his work as “incredibly witty”, courageous and having a “sense of humour that was almost punishing right to the end of his life.”
In collaboration with City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi’s senior curator Aaron Lister, and Auckland-based gallerist Michael Lett, the exhibition presents rarely seen paintings, films, photographs and archival material by and about the artist. There have been some amazing coincidences that have happened along the way, says Beauchamp. Through the curatorial process, the gallery has connected with some of Jarman’s descendants in Ōtautahi, including a woman who coincidentally nursed Jarman at St Bartholomew’s hospital. “Sometimes it kind of feels like he’s looking down on us,” says Beauchamp.
Personally, her connection to Jarman’s work started at the same time her interest and passion for art; Beauchamp was introduced to his work by an art teacher at school. At 15, she wrote an essay about Jarman’s garden, after reading his 1991 book Modern Nature and about his garden which he tended to until his death.
But it wasn’t until Beauchamp curated an exhibition in Birmingham including Morphine, a large Jarman painting, that she reconnected with his work. “I was immediately bowled over by this painting and you can almost feel the anger come off it.” Clippings of a homophobic headline from a British tabloid bled black and red paint. The words ‘MORPHINE’ were scratched over the canvas. She later came in close encounters with Jarman’s work for a large-scale retrospective exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery.
Beauchamp says bringing Jarman’s works to NZ for the first time gives her the chills. “I think what will be really astounding to the audience will be how relevant his work continues to be.” She says the galleries have brought together the powerful artworks that in particular show the relationship between his painting and films.
Accompanying the exhibition at Gus Fisher Gallery is a colourful public program including film screenings at the Capitol Cinema and events co-led by the Burnett Foundation. “Derek was a very important gay rights activist so a big part of the show is thinking how we can help educate people about HIV.”
Beauchamp says engaging in contemporary art means always learning alongside an ever-changing world. “I’m always thinking about how art can be meaningful but also how it can be fun.” Her goal is to make the walk up Shortland Street a worthwhile experience for anyone.
“Art doesn’t just exist in this bubble. It’s embedded in everything we do.”
• Derek Jarman: Delphinium Days is at Tāmaki Makaurau’s Gus Fisher Gallery until September 14, and The Dowse Art Museum in partnership with City Gallery Wellington from September 28 - January 26, 2025.
At home with Lisa Beauchamp
Curator Lisa Beauchamp has a colourful and creative style that’s all her own – Tyson Beckett wanted to know more.
How would you describe your own style – in terms of dressing and decorating?
Eclectic and colourful. I like 60s/70s colours and designs, which reflects my taste in music. My dress-sense has gotten more colourful over the years, black doesn’t do it for me. I like to look like a confused rainbow mixed with 60s girl group vibes. Decorating, I have lots of pictures and knick-knacks that I get from op-shops – paisley throws, far too many cat ornaments, and I went through a stage of collecting quirky tapestries. My favourite is from an op-shop in Waihi beach of a rough collie called Ray – he cost $1.
Art plays a pivotal part in your work life. How do you bring it into your home life?
I do have a few art pieces which I love as well as vintage pictures like my Tretchikoff Miss Wong. Whilst it’s a ubiquitous picture, I love the green velvet border and frame on mine. Her eyes follow you around the room – it’s like my very own Mona Lisa!
How much do you, and how do you, curate your own home environment?
I try to use my curation skills at home but to be honest, I just end up tidying and then taking things back to the op-shop I got them from and then buying more!
Colour is important to me, my lounge items are green and orange, perhaps a strange choice for some but I love it. It started with a now defunct orange vinyl sofa that I got here when I first moved which I’ve replaced with an awesome orange and cream armchair. The sofa didn’t survive my cat Buddy’s claws, but the orange was so cool I just started collecting things in the same colour. Like a cheap version of Mad Men but without the 50s housewife.
You clearly give a lot of thought to the way you present yourself in the gallery, can you tell us a bit about that? Does the way you dress differ when off-duty?
I’m not sure I put that much thought into it as I’m always in a rush, but I do love 60s-style swing dresses and bold patterns. I’m not in vintage everyday, I have Gorman pieces and what I wear reflects my mood.
Outside of the gallery my fashion doesn’t change as I’m always myself but perhaps I’ll wear a few more band t-shirts, crazy earrings and leopard print, so more of a casual vibe. My favourites are a pair of shark earrings I got at a car boot sale in the UK and my band t- shirts of The B-52’s and NZ band The Cavemen always make me feel good.
Your colourful eyeliner is so great. How do you express yourself through makeup?
I have a record with Diana Ross on the cover who has the most amazing blue eyeliner on, which inspires me. I suppose I never really learnt how to properly apply makeup – all those brushes and blending passed me by. I’m not keen on lipstick so I experiment with eye make-up – blue, green and turquoise – a giant sweep below the lower lashes. Eyeliner is my armour and I hope it’s helpful in distracting people from how tired I am, ha!
What’s your approach to entertaining at home?
Currently, I entertain mostly in the summer – on the back garden deck. Bring a plate and a bottle, listen to some tunes and have a good time. I’d like to entertain more and Buddy the cat will get used to having people over – at the moment he runs under the deck. Until any food appears, that is.
In the gallery you aim to use art to provoke powerful conversations. What are the pieces or objects in your home that people comment on or act as conversation starters?
I like a dramatic fireplace surrounded by pictures and treasured items – I think I got that from my nan who always had gorgeous ornaments above her fireplace. I get compliments on my Christmas tree; I collect vintage decorations, so the tree is continually weighed down with more baubles than it can manage. I’ve got some great leopard-print safari dinner mats – always a conversation starter, who wants the elephant or the zebra etc.
Derek Jarman was a keen gardener. Do you have green fingers? How much of a presence is nature in your living environment – the gallery is obviously in a very urban locale.
Gosh I wish I was a good gardener! My family love gardening and for years in the UK I would have to trek to the German Christmas markets in Manchester to buy sacks of flower bulbs as gifts. We currently have a giant rimu in the back garden, it’s beautiful. I like how there are so many evergreen plants here, even in winter nature feels abundant. I hope to visit Derek Jarman’s garden in Dungeness later this year – I’ve been dreaming about it for years and I know it will be a very special visit, one that I know I won’t forget.
