Pandora's box - Hastings Community Arts Centre

The exhibition is on in April - May 2012 in beautiful Hawkes Bay Hastings.

Crowded Heads Exhibition Opening Tues 26 March

I will exhibit some of my paintings in the "Crowded Heads: Exhibition at Auteur House, 555 Victoria St.!! 

If you cannot make it this time, you could always catch up at another one of my upcoming exhibitions:

Perspectives, The Big Event, ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane: 5 - 6 April 2013

Pandora's Box, Hastings Community Arts Centre: 21 April - 6 May 2013

New Zealand Landscapes, The Depot Artspace, Devonport: 24-31 Oct 2013

Just painted and.... Left to Alaska!!!

UNESCO resource

My book 'Changing the World - One Painting at a Time' has been nominated by UNESCO APAH (Asia Pacific Art Hub) as a teacher resource! Read on at: http://apah.info/?p=2355

Dec 2013 Wallace Morrinsville Festivities, group exhibition

Photos of the art exhibited.

The last of my 22 New Zealand landscapes: Hamilton, Acrylic on Canvas, 76X76 cm.

The bridge leads on to the street that is called Bridge St and it crosses the Waikato river.

Fight child poverty!

Good on John Campbell and team for putting the pressure on the poverty issue when it is so easy to focus on "events"! Poverty is ongoing does not make the news otherwise.

My painting below is about how isolating and alienating poverty is - the day is long without sun...

John - I will donate the painting below for your team to auction it and raise both awareness and money for this cause.

Yaniv Janson, Fight Child Poverty! Acrylic on Canvas, 120 X 70cm

I really enjoyed the interview with Mackenzie and Shannon for their article in the Waikato Independent!  

New Zealand in The Mind's Eye Virtual Exhibition

A new exhibition in planning.


The project title ‘New Zealand – In the Mind’s Eye‘ has multiple meanings. Firstly it acknowledges that as a person with autism, my mind observes and communicates in a different way. Secondly my work reflects an interpretive rather than literal reflection of the current landscape as well as a question mark about the future of coastal landscapes that will change as a result of present and future sea levels rising. This works extends my research on the environmental and social consequences of climate change. I am nearly finished creating  these 22 Acrylic on Canvas paintings (76 X 76 cm each) on potential local impact of unsustainable practices on NZ landscapes. 

This is a natural extension of my 3-year research. In 2008 I started reading up on environmental sustainability. This led to an inquiry process into the potential impacts of climate change and other sustainability factors on natural landscapes in general. The scientific literature predicts that global warming could result in extreme changes to weather patterns in both directions. These changes would cause unprecedented plant and pest species decreases/increases, mutations and multiple flooding or droughts. Sea level rises in turn could result in sea and coastal ecosystem damages. Potential environmental consequences would go hand in hand with social and political hardships. As I started painting these general themes, I received more and more feedback from audiences sharing these concerns. I also noticed that scientists who had vast knowledge about these topics were unable to stir audiences using their usual visuals such as temperature graphs or professional articles inaccessible by the wider public and decided to raise awareness using aesthetic channels.

Thinking about Houses of Rich and Poor people

In 2011 my French agent, Aude Fosset sold my "Houses of Rich and Poor" work. This painting represents the fact that people often get to buy houses according to their financial success... and so it is unfair that the rich people get the best opportunities, houses and views... In my painting there is a middle row from the top of the coloured houses to represent the fact that other than the two extremes of rich and poor, there should be more people in the middle row, second from the top... more fairness in the world!!!!

Weather the storm!

This painting celebrates big storms... and the fact that we don't have any control over some parts of our lives.

LOVE the Auckland Art Gallery!!!

My best was the moving growing flowers in the forum!!!

www.aucklandartgallery.com

Stewart Island, Acrylic on canvas (76 X 76cm)

Matamata, Acrylic on canvas (76 X 76cm)

Ashburton, Acrylic on canvas (76 X 76cm)

Wellington, Acrylic on canvas (76 X 76cm)

The words of my mentor live on to remember him by...

I participate in this exhibition to honour Joe La Grouw who passed away recently and who personally encouraged and empowered me to carry on with my work on environmental sustainability - just as he had persevered in building the Lockwood success! His interview from the screenshot below is at: http://leadership.rsnz.org/assets/88 

In the Auckland City Library

"Changing The World" book in the Auckland City Council library - three copies of it!!

Also to follow up ... in December the Documentary "Yaniv Saves the World" will be presented at the AUT Expanding Documentary Conference.

New Zealand - In the Mind's Eye collection

                                           Waiheke Island, Acrylic on canvas (76 X 76 cm)

                                 View away from Auckland, Acrylic on canvas (76 X 76 cm)             

Coromandel, Acrylic on canvas (76 X 76 cm)

I am in the process of putting together the Minds Eye - New Zealand landscapes collection. Other works from this series can be viewed together with the other paintings I have for sale at the moment.

LATITUDE Group Exhibition Oct-Nov Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, California

Please join us for the October 7 Vernissage at the Creative Growth Art Center, 355 24th St. Oakland. I will be exhibiting two works on paper.

More details at: http://creativegrowth.org/exhibitions/outside-self-taught/
The monoprints I exhibit there are:

  

This event is part of the Oakland Art Murmur Events that take place first Friday of each month...

Finalist in "Eat Your Art Out" Uxbridge Centre

"Eat Your Art Out features food-inspired artworks by artists from around New Zealand which celebrate the important role food plays in our society. The preparation and eating of food are significant cultural signifiers and throughout history the ritual of sharing a meal with others has symbolised a sense of community and social understanding". Sophie Keyse the exhibition's curator contributed the photo below.

My contribution (on the low plynth) is "Sweet As..." -  the outcome of ongoing experimentation with materials that were once 3-dimensional – M&M sweets – dissolving onto a 2-dimensional surface.

I investigated the capacity for theM&Ms to act as a medium and how they reacted with the fabric as they disintegrated. For now, the surface has resisted the colours in parts, leaving white areas.

Exploring how media other than paints intervenes with the surface of a canvas led to questioning the life of an artwork and the durability of pigment. The design was then transferred on Perspex – so a light could shine on how M&Ms travel through our bodies!

See all the vernissage photos on the Uxbridge Center FaceBook page
Noting here the Make / Believe exhibition curated by Stuart Shepherd at Bowen House (July - Aug 2011) and organised by Arts Access Aotearoa.

Right Bright White Light Night

Finalist in the 2011 National Youth Art Award - opening on Sunday 14 August, 2pm at the Lido Cinema, Centre Place, Hamilton.

Acrylic on canvas, 100 X 80 cm. To remember the title Write Right Bright White Light Night!
Right is about the opposite of left - not about the opposite of wrong... it is about noticing that the right side of the landscape is slightly brighter than the left side. This is about paying attention to very small changes in our environment.

Two new showrooms opening in the USA

Following the Canada tour, two new showrooms open in the USA:

1. Downtown Boston: Perkins Eastman, 50 Franklin St. Suite 402, Boston MA 02110
Contact John Pears, Principal (857 334 1403): "Yaniv's works on sustainability and environmental protection fit well with our firm's goals"

One of the works on show is Water That Was Once Clean And Is Now An Algae Pond (below).

2. West Los Angeles: Mobshop Corporation, 10326 Ashton Ave., Los Angeles CA 9024
Contact Romy Itzigsohn, Principal (415 713 3877): "The Mobshop Corporation is pleased to introduce Yaniv's works to the West Coast. Yaniv's work will be traveling with our shows and be available for sale by appointments."

A selection of the works available is show below:

Stanstead Canada exhibition opening - and invitation to exhibit in Montreal !!

Janson Exhibition Opens Stanstead Gallery; Excerpts of Review by Madeline Mulholland for the Stanstead Journal (June 2011)

The collection featured the bold canvasses of an award winning teen artist visiting from New Zealand. On display were 30 paintings and 15 monoprints focusing on the theme of climate change.

The opening was well attended and most guests remained for the duration of the show, wandering through the gallery for second and third looks at the colourful exhibition....


The works were emotionally stirring, there was no doubt. There was a raw spirit in the paintings that was reminiscent of the Naïve movement... unhindered self-expression, but ordered and detailed in the delivery, Janson’s style weaves geometric themes with youthful impulsivity. The result is a unique effect that is neither borrowed nor tired, but appealing for its’ essence of dynamic simplicity...   

Artists who make their own rules because they have something to express, not something to prove... can make us appreciate the uncomplicated and simply enjoy it. I really enjoyed this exhibition, as it was very colourful, fun and didn’t try too hard. Janson talked about the paintings and it was clear he didn’t take himself too seriously, which is likely what lends the joyful quality to his work. And because it is joyful, it will earn its’ title as art, for is pleasure not art’s purpose?

See the full article here.

Movie trailer from Damon Cox, Instead.

For more photos of the opening, click below: 

Stanstead exhibition opening 23 June Canada

For Nancy Nourse's article click here.

Oakland exhibition invitation for October 2011 !!

Center for Creative Growth Tom di Maria invited me to exhibit in their next show!!! They have an amazing space in Oakland (http://creativegrowth.org) - hopefully I can come back for a longer stay and work with them soon.

Update - paintings for sale

I have sold more than 100 paintings in the past 36 months. Those still for sale are exhibited in this slide show. You can either view the slide show or click on one of the pictures to see more details about it. When the Picasa window opens, click on the Photo information button on the right and in the filename are dimensions and media. 

Canvas prices start at NZ$750. Contact yaniv.janson AT egl.ac.nz or via the contact form on the left banner of this website for any other details about paintings or sales. Prices on request.

In the post below is another slideshow with the 30 paintings on their way to Stanstead, Canada for the Exhibition opening 23 June 2011 which are also for sale.

Stanstead, Canada show preview - - - 30 paintings

Use player buttons at the bottom of the screen to see the images. The exhibition opens 23 June in Stanstead, South of Quebec.

The greatest Auckland Art Fair - 13-15 May 2011

The Original Art Sale TelstraClear Pacific Events Center, Manukau

New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts - Fall Show Opening

It was an awesome series of events: Friday 29th lunchtime Friends of the Academy event, Friday evening opening and Saturday morning Guest Artist Talk. I found out I am the youngest invited guest artist at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. Thank you to all who came!

New Zealand Clean Energy Centre - Project update

CAD rendition (Photo from Antanas Procuta Architects) of what the artwork would look like onsite.

Invited as guest artist for the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts April Members Exhibition!

... stoked to be asked! I will be the guest artist at the 29 April New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, 1 Queens Wharf, Wellington (http://www.nzafa.com) exhibition (opening at 5:30pm)! On Saturday 30 April at 10:30am the guest artists will talk about their works - so come and join us.

They have already hosted discussions and shows about artists as activists, so this will be my chance to bring the climate change topic to the fore again.

Finishing the documentary "Yaniv saves the world"

Preview below some of the pictures from the last shooting at my ArtsPost gallery exhibition. Ending the movie here is a symbolic act - closing a full circle from where we began at the Trust Waikato Contemporary Art Award 2008 selection as a finalist. Two 2 years later, almost to the day, I came back as a principal exhibitor in the ArtsPost gallery across the same esplanade...

Opening of December Paris exhibition

The CHEMINS CROISES (Crossroads) exhibition opened in the Celal gallery in the heart of Paris - between the Louvre and Centre Pompidou. See the artist link for the exhibition on the gallery's website.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Greenpeace auction in Auckland

I have donated a painting for the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior 3 construction (see http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/auction). Contact me for more information on how to purchase the painting!

"The world according to me" Wallace Gallery Morrinsville exhibition opening Friday 12 November

"Climate Chains" is about the fact that our survival as human beings is dependent on everyone making serious efforts to change to more sustainable ways. The "Climate Chains" exhibition is about the feelings of frustration that people who care about the environment have about not being able to help others change their behavior.

 

See more details on the Wallace Gallery Morrinsville Website including more photos of the paintings and the curator write up.

ArtsPost "Visualising Climate Change" Exhibition in the Media

The ArtsPost exhibition "Visualising Climate Change" was noted by Radio New Zealand "Our Changing World" programme, the Hamilton Press, Hot-Topic - Global Warming and the Future of New Zealand website, the Hamilton News, MSN New Zealand, ArtSpace Hamilton Community Radio programme and will be on TV7 News mid Sept. For more details, see the Media Page on this blog.

More pictures of the exhibition opening on FaceBook for those who have a FaceBook account.

Planning the 2 September ArtsPost exhibition...with Sketchup

Finalising the writing on the wall... 

Thank you Google for this amazing CAD program!!!

Take out your diaries and mark Thursday 2 Sept 5:30pm ArtsPost, 120 Victoria St. Hamilton - if you have not already done so.

Massey University College of Business Sustainability Conference November 2010 Exhibition!

I have been invited by the organisers of this year's Sustainability Workshop to participate by exhibiting my work during the conference. This is a great opportunity as an artist in residence to add a visual and aesthetic dimension to a recognised academic event. I plan to send work to spur discussions and make a contribution to the talks that will be in the areas of: Business cases and responsibility claims, Business experiences, Measuring and reporting responsibility performance and Expanding business case boundaries.
More info at: http://sustainabilityworkshop.massey.ac.nz

Thursday 2 September, 5:30pm ArtsPost Exhibition opening

Please join us at my upcoming exhibition opening - there will be some surprises! The left screenshot is from the NewZealand.com website where my event is listed (click on screenshots to enlarge).

 

URLs for CNZ Application

PART A. URLs in the application body

Section 1. The idea

Massey University Albany Sustainability 2010 Program and Abstracts http://sustainabilityworkshop.massey.ac.nz/documents/Conference_Program_and_Abstracts.pdf

The Conference Programme includes on p. 8 my Artist Statement and Bio as adjunct to the narrative accompanying the paintings exhibited throughout the conference.

The Variety Gold Scholarship ($5000) awarded towards the costs of the commission for artwork for the New Zealand Clean Energy Centre (http://www.variety.org.nz/2010-scholarship-recipients-xidc72784.html)

Section 2. The Process

Please note that the paintings mentioned in this section are included in the Artistic Support Materials.

Exhibiting to French audiences: http://www.egart.fr/yaniv-janson: Yaniv is the first New Zealand artist to be represented by the European Association Eg-Art (Equal Access to Art) based near Paris. Yaniv's last exhibition organised by this association  (http://www.galeriecelal.com/janson_oeu_00.html) took place in the Paris Galerie Celal near the Centre Pompidou. To see articles published in the French media in reaction to the exhibition, click on "Dossier de Presse" for the French Press Kit with 11 articles on http://www.egart.fr/objet 

Evaluating the work via community arts participation 

Evidence of public interest on the topic addressed by John Hudson's TVONE SUNDAY programme aired July 17: http://tvnz.co.nz/sunday-news/july-17-autism-spectrum-4304715/video (timecode: 11.55)

Social Media reactions to the programme: http://www.facebook.com/SundayTVNZ (mid July)

Professional commentary: New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts Director

"The gallery’s longstanding Autumn Show will again bring together a wide range of pieces from a variety of artists. The exhibition will feature a number of Academy artists, as well as two guests: Anneke Borren and Yaniv Janson. Borren who was made a life member of the NZ Society of Potters last week is an experienced, self-taught sculptor who strives for simplicity; conversely, Janson is a young, up-and-coming painter who focuses much of his work on social and environmental issues. Both have had their works broadly shown at national and international levels. "It is a real privilege to be presenting works from these two truly talented artists who both share their thoughts on the world, its landscape, cultural being and current state of flux with a stunning combination of 2D and 3D works,” said Justin Morgan, Academy Director." (http://events.nzherald.co.nz/2011/apr/wellington/autumn-show and http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/connect/events/2011/apr/84933-autumn-show)

Please note that additional professional reviews, invitations and 3 letters of support are provided in hard copy with the application pack.

Documentary "Yaniv Saves the World", WINTEC Moving Image, John Mandelberg

Introduction of the movie (background and family): http://www.vimeo.com/14379503

Art and Sustainability: http://vimeo.com/channels/docopreview#16738121

PART B. URLs for Artistic Support Materials

Photos of paintings mentioned in Section 2 (these photos have been also supplied in A4 hard copies with the application pack)

1. "Two out of two" - if the sea level rises, how will this affect the Auckland skyline? This work is on loose canvas hanging in a stand alone frame, Acrylic on Canvas, 1150 X 600 cm.

2. "Hurricane", Acrylic on Canvas, 150 X 120 cm; Highly Commended at The Great Waikato Art Show; weather extremes urban landscape (sold for $700).

3.  "Houses of Rich and Poor People", Acrylic on Canvas, 122 X 91 cm; represents the social trends and lifestyles ... (exhibited in Galerie Celal, Paris and sold for $2500 by Eg-Art Association).

4. "Yelling for Help", Acrylic on Canvas,  the unheard voices of those who are already loosing their houses as the sea levels rising - for them this is not a distant threat yet no one is listening...

5. "Yellow Autumn Reflection", Exhibited finalist Trust Waikato National Art Award (2008) sold to Janet Knighton on the opening night.

6. "RE:flections", Acrylic on Canvas on Corrugated Iron, 150 X 70 cm, Exhibited Finalist, 2009 National Youth Art Award; blurring the border between reality and reflection of reality and the denial we can be in when it comes to environmental concerns.

7. "Sea Fish Triptych", Acrylic on Canvas, 267 X 92 cm, Exhibited in the Wallace Morrinsville Gallery.

8. "Yellow (Where did the river go?)", Acrylic on Canvas, 85 X 60 cm, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts Permanent Collection.

9. "Pristine... when again?", Acrylic on Canvas, 59 X 50 cm.

10. "Turbulence", Acrylic on Canvas, 120 X 70 cm, Exhibited in the Wallace Morrinsville Gallery sold for $1000.

Reviews of works by Yaniv Janson

ForeWord review http://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/changing-the-world/

Media clippings
RSNZ website 2010, SciBlogs, Science Media Centre, Royal Society of New Zealand http://sciblogs.co.nz/hot-topic/2010/09/09/paint-it-bleak

Newspaper articles http://y-artist.blogspot.com/p/media-file.html

VOTE FOR MY AMP PROJECT TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE!!!

Who's afraid of Climate Change?...many people! But few people act on it. Here is my drawing of climate change Pandora - an ugly bird that is hard to notice in the forest. That is why I fight to make people think in pictures - to make people face the vision of what climate change would do to their shores, to their cities, to their landscapes.

 Please VOTE FOR MY PROJECT to support raising awareness about climate change!! Go to http://www.doyourthing.co.nz/2010-00066/yaniv-janson and click on the orange button above my picture! My AMP project is about creating a very large climate change installation to send around the world as an ambassador from New Zealand with climate change messages. It is about education FOR action because amongst all the talk, it is only action that will change the path of self destruction we are going down now...

Raising awareness - let's get emotional

I recently found a book Chapter by Jo Thakker about psychological responses to climate change:
“psychological approaches offer a range of interesting insights into the issue of climate change. Similarly psychology offers a range of possible responses to the problem”…“we need to design strategies that take into account what we know of human behaviour rather than expecting human beings to behave in radically different ways. If people are generally focussed on their own and their children’s wellbeing then strategies that are designed to ameliorate climate change need to incorporate this. For example, people need to know how global warming will affect them, their children, and their grand children and the effect needs to be made clear and palpable. If people can see how a malevolent trend will directly affect them then it is more likely that they will make any necessary changes in their behaviour. Such an approach is likely to be more effective than an approach which requires people to think beyond their own small world” …”if the future is easily able to be discounted because it remains abstract and uncertain then it needs to be clarified”

Above is the painting I created People Yelling for Help to express the plight of islanders whose houses are disappearing under water but have no voice because they are too far from the centers who create the problem in the first place (Acrylic on canvas, 120 X 70 cm). See image here.

Thakker proposes to distribute information to clarify the future and inform audiences about the “possible adverse outcomes, in detail, so that they can develop an understanding of the information. This is not to be confused with scaremongering which seeks to use a person’s fear response as a motivator for behaviour change. Rather information should be presented in a clear and readily digestible fashion so that individuals can form reasoned opinions.”

This is where I offer a different contribution: I feel there is already a lot of information out there, but it has failed to result in significant action. I want to create an emotional response with images of the future. What will happen when the sea level rises? Houses and land will disappear under water for ever! 75% of the world population lives within 10 km from the shores... I especially drew a thin line for the earth on this painting - to show how fragile this balance is.

(Ref. Thakker, J, 2008). The role of Psychology in the Response to Global Warming. Some Preliminary Observations, in: Beyond the Global Village: Environmental Challenges Inspiring Global Citizenship, Eds: Hillerbrand, R and Karlsson, R: Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp. 215-226. The book can be downloaded at this link.

See the interesting post on the sustainability blog from Michael Field, North Shore Sustainability Manager about the role of cognitive dissonance and behaviour change.
Post written in collaboration with Annick Janson

2010 Variety Gold Scholarship

This Award will go towards my environmental aim to raise awareness about sustainability issues and clean energy alternatives - to create a piece of public art for a Research and Development Energy Centre. The idea is to represent in an installation the basic elements of earth, wind, fire and water and how they combine to form ecosystems - details will be announced here as soon as they are finalised... 

In the research I do now, I ask myself what will an art installation look like that represents the energy sources we can tap into - renewable and non renewable? How to convey the message that there is a huge difference between them? This is the topic I am researching now. Heartfelt thanks to Variety - The Children Charity Award for their support! It is much appreciated!!! The Miss World New Zealand pageants liked my paintings and I have donated a work of my to be auctioned in September for the Variety Fundraising... they told me the last painting auctioned raised $4500 - I hope to raise more than that to help children with disabilities and awareness about climate change at the same time!

Planning the exhibition opening Thursday 2 September, ArtsPost, Waikato Museum: “Climate Change - Face our Changing Landscapes NOW!”

My ArtsPost exhibition will be about Visualising Climate Change. 

Media campaigns based on science rely on images of graphs - for instance those of rising temperatures. These visuals are strong - but only affect some people. These campaigns have failed to create the massive action needed to mitigate climate change. It is time to actually come face to face with the future images of our cities and landscapes! It is time to create emotional reactions in our audiences that will be created by facing images of sinking houses and disappearing communities! 

What will your city look like after the sea level has risen? What might fertile lands look like once destroyed?

(The notice above is from www.eventfinder.co.nz)