Dumb Spit

Jamie Rhiannon Howse

13.06.24 – 13.07.24

Dumb Spit is the groan of the moral universe as it bends, or perhaps falls, towards love. Surrounded by texts preoccupied with descent, obelisks pierce the gallery with an LED glare that looks skyward. 

Continuing her practice of text-based works, Howse reimagines the colonial form of the obelisk memorial as a point of interpersonal conflict - Instead of engravings dedicated to the spoils of war, the obelisks are characters in an intimate argument of misunderstanding and suffocation. This emotional incongruence reverberates throughout the show; from the victory of bull riding and the tragedy of the airplane crash to the adoration of the dog and the contempt of the boot kicking it.

Jamie Rhiannon Howse (Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāti Kahungunu, Pākehā) is an artist and writer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. She graduated from Massey University Toi Rauwharangi in 2021 with a BFA(Hons) and has previously exhibited at play_station in Music Video (2022). Concerned with intimacy, language and posting online— Howse uses LED signs as a point of contact between what we say and how we feel.

Design by Harris Wilson

Photography by Belinda Whitta

Thank you to our sponsor Parrotdog beer

Our 2024 programme is generously supported by Creative New Zealand