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unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet.blog@gmail.com. the smart money is settling on ron mueck for the final of the christchurch art gallery’s five big sculptures project • the nz organising team are gearing up for crowd control management for lisa reihana’s opening next year at the venice biennale (#dreamon) • in more venice news, it has been floated that uk celeb chef peter gordon, partner of venice commissioner carruthers, is going to man a pop-up food stall near the nz venue • misal adnan yıldız is tipped to be off to join a project with serpentine’s huo when his term is up at artspace in may next year • wellington enjoys a mini-renaissance with rohan wealleans and andrew beck both now working out of the city • te papa is threatening to move its art exhibitions down a floor or two (#believeitwhenweseeit) •  it’s recently been confirmed that weta is definitely making a big bug show for te papa as predicted by otn in a spam five months ago • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud richly rewarded.

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unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet.blog@gmail.com: a turnaround at the govett-brewster where a number of len lye sculptures will now remain in place during 'emanations', the upcoming ‘all-galleries’ photographic exhibition • artspace’s director adnan yildiz duked it out on his fb page with eyecontact’s john hurrell declaring of artspace's audience that 'we are expecting them to have questions with us’ but then not seeming to much enjoy hurrell doing just that • when creative nz announced that ‘funding from our two principal sources – the crown through vote arts culture and heritage and the new zealand lottery grants board – could decline over the next four years they meant will decline • leo dicaprio has lined up with the aag when it comes to collecting contemporary photography having snagged his own copy of andreas gursky’s 'ocean iii' • twinkle-toed rohan wealleans danced right through richard frater’s scatter installation at robert heald’s gallery without stepping on a single item • after their success with giant ww1 personnel te papa is going the big-bug way preparing an internationally touring show with weta on giant bug duty • new zealand’s venice biennale commissioner alastair carruthers is leaving these shores to settle in london but no suggestion of the baton being passed on at this stage •  any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud rewarded with an increasingly rare otn painting horse badge.

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unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet.blog@gmail.com: in the tradition of creative nz the person with the most knowledge of how to organize nz representation at the next venice biennale is leaving the organisation • one of japan’s most prominent art collectors, founder of naoshima, the famous art destination island, and nz resident made a recent tour of auckland dealer galleries; any purchases have not been revealed • ngahiraka mason is leaving  her position of indigenous curator, maori art at the aag • missal adnan yildiz of artspace and robert leonard of city gallery had a very public spat and elizabeth caldwell told them to behave • the dom post no longer has any expertise on reporting the arts with the departure of tom cardy • the te papa out source cyber think tank is going to be called an ‘incubator’ • rhana devenport is the front runner in the race to be the next nz commissioner for the venice biennale • reuben friend ex city gallery is taking on the directorship of pataka in porirua • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud will be richly rewarded

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unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet: before her resignation post the chaotic unitec restructuring, head of design and contemporary arts deanne koelmeyer was holidaying on her boat the graft spee named after a german naval vessel scuttled by its captain • bambury v jensen nz’s jarndyce v jarndyce is waiting in the pen for a high court hearing in auckland • the len lye centre in new plymouth has secured full funding via another substantial grant from the lotteries board making their support a total of  almost three million of the ten million required • university of auckland's gus fisher gallery is going it alone and will not replace its sole curator • ann shelton and phil dadson have left starkwhite • te papa has begun bench marking prices paid for acquisitions after a run of record-breaking purchases • sounds like auckland art consultant trish clark has sealed the deal on the ex-hairdressing salon near the university for her new dealer gallery • a temporary installation in the auckland art gallery foyer will hold the space as negotiations with scottish artist martin creed continue • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud will be suitably rewarded

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet: the govett-brewster has gone off shore to get its new director • also from off shore a curator from germany has arrived with his family to take the g-b curator job • hopkinson mossman has scored a direct hit with 70 percent of the artists in the latest city gallery exhibition coming from their list • artists showing in the university of auckland’s porn show were each paid a fee of $5,000 • the director of the aag attended the sydney art fair last weekend and put an option on two works by an nz artist on show in the booth of an australian gallery • the te papa aztec exhibition that was looking like a no go has been saved at the last moment and will go ahead as planned • as of this morning christchurch needs only $7,000 to secure $400,000 via pledges and dollar-for-dollar support to help pay for michael parekowhai’s bull on a piano • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud will be suitably rewarded. 
(and thanks to L, T, I and P, you know who you are)

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have come the way of otn via its readers: rhana devenport the new director of the auckland art gallery was in new plymouth last week as a member of the panel selecting the new director of the govett-brewster  • applications from just about every curator you have heard of (and one who isn’t) have all passed to the next stage in the who-will-go-to-venice race run by creative nz • if you are anywhere near the hamburger bahnhof in berlin eight euro will get you in to see simon denny’s entry into the national gallery prize to be awarded 19 september • two and a half years after the departure of heather galbraith te papa has still not advertised for a senior art curator • when auckland university was out chasing up students to bulk up numbers at its  elam art school last week, it entertained the shanghai university delegation at dealer gallery starkwhite • francis upritchard has a work featured in the first exhibition held on new york’s high line • the auckland city council has launched a survey and the line of questioning suggests that a city artist in residence is in the wind • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud will be suitably rewarded.

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet.blog@gmail.com: at the govett-brewster they appear to have hired an offshore curator (thanks n) before a new director, well it worked well last time #deepsarcasm • also in np (thanks various letters of the alphabet) the battle between the gb foundation and the len lye trust has required formal mediation #whycantwealljustgetalong • meanwhile (n again) simon rees has been flagged as frontrunner for the director job #pokerface • in wellington another welshman has joined the exec of te papa • hamish keith has been decurmudgeoned from the listener • the new director for the aag has purchased an apartment within walking distance of the gallery #workaholic • oh, and apparently no one is meant to know that two aag patrons were key members of the selection panel for the new director of the aag #notawordtoanyone • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and for anything that makes us laugh out loud insane rewards.

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have come the way of otn via its readers: robert leonard has been secured as the city gallery’s senior curator and will start work in wellington at the beginning of next year • one prominent art dealer has taken up fencing (the touché kind) • jonathan mane-wheoki is back at te papa again this time bringing a marsden grant and a publication along with him • auckland art gallery is offering as little as $5,000 to nz artists making major installations for the 5th auckland triennial • the minister of the arts is off to join the fun at the venice biennale • john and jo gow's group has raised $80,000 so far for darryn george's participation in the palazzo bembo • in the last cnz funding round women artists got twice as much as men • waikato museum is advertising for a social media coordinator • maddie leach, local time, tahi moore, peter robinson, luke willis thompson and wayne youle  are included in the auckland triennial along with the 24 imports announced so far - five to go • the interview panel for te papa’s senior curator (a reader has suggested that this was in fact for the selection of a curator for NZ art up to 1970) included te papa’s acting senior curator sarah farrar and mary kisler from the aag. any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud will be suitably rewarded.

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have landed in our email: te papa has advertised four art curator positions to help them 'enter a bold new phase' and 're-organise for the future' • dealers and auction houses report a stampede of hotere resales being offered to the market just days after the artist’s death • want to know where the money goes? this year cnz has announced when grants will be published on their web site and next up are the quick response grants on 14 march at 5 pm • the aag search team for a new director is thought to be jenny gibbs deputy chair of regional facilities, robert domm chief executive of regional facilities and an ex art museum director from australia (edmund capon?) • peter robinson and fiona connor have been selected for the 2013 instanbul biennale • a nielsen quality of life survey found only 7 percent of aucklanders ‘agreed strongly’ that their city had a culturally rich and diverse arts scene • starting work on the len lye centre will be further delayed to later this year as the tender winning construction company finishes the new plymouth police station • webb’s are following art + auction’s temp exhib at 30 upstairs in wellington last year with their own temp exhib at the new the young • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us go into ‘wish we’d thought of it’ mode will be rewarded with an overthenet painting horse badge.

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet.blog@gmail.com snakepit closes mid show as bulldozers circle • word on the street puts the price of the gursky photo purchased by the auckland art gallery at around $800,000 • as the sole agency battles heat up ivan anthony instructs peter mcleavey to stop selling liz maw and andrew mcleod and to return their unsold works to him in auckland • in the meantime derek cowie has returned from london to front the peter mcleavey gallery for a while • the building that used to house the aag’s new gallery is going food court on the ground floor • hopkinson cundy have nailed a berth at frieze new york in 2013 • te papa also stumps up $86,000 for allen maddox’s painting ‘wanker’ at the les and milly paris auction • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud rewarded.

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unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have landed in overthenet’s email: the new building for an art gallery next to te papa has been given the green light with a retiring te papa board member to be actively engaged in the project • tony de latour has had his name pegged to one of the glittering arts prizes • simon denny has been dropped from the exhibition showcasing the 'best of aotearoa’s young, mid-career and senior artists' funded by the nz ministry of culture as part of the frankfurt book fair • the labour weekend walters prize dinner is creating engagement conflicts for some of its patrons • another auckland dealer gallery is about to join the move west. any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud will be rewarded with a rare limited edition otn painting horse badge.

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unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have arrived at overthenet.blog@gmail.com • a space has been finalised for bill culbert's venice biennale exhibition and becomes nz’s sixth different venue in the canal city • pbrf (performance based research fund) frenzy has struck the universities with the art schools vying for their staff to be 'A' listed as money-magnets • auckland art gallery looks like it will do the annual-atrium-art thing after all • alan gibbs has won the biggest-standing-upright-tall sculpture competition with a very tall sculpture by french artist bernar venet • the walters prize finalists have been decided so let’s hope the auckland art gallery announces the names soon before they become more common knowledge (our current estimate of knowledge-holders here) • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud rewarded with an overthenet painting horse badge.

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reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have turned up in otn's email: wellington’s city gallery had a tripartite resignation all in one day including the head curator • a flood caused by setting the sprinklers off didn’t stop the auckland art gallery opening on time • workers turned seung yul oh's public works in newmarket into light bulbs on behalf of the advertising industry (whoops) • objectspace is looking for new space and fortunately there's lots of it panting to be leased on k road • a troubling guy with a knife had to be escorted out of the parekowhai venice installation • any speculative additions, objections to outright lies, indignant denials or gratuitous embellishments gratefully received and rewarded in a typically open-hearted OTN style.

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reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have turned up in otn's email:  a wellington dealer ended up dancing on the bar at an art fair after match function owned and operated by two other art dealers • auckland art gallery was required to secure detailed arboreal permissions before tying a rooftop sculpture to a tree • rumours about that a senior position at the auckland art school has been advertised before the completion of the current contract • fisticuffs when an auckland dealer took offence at a damien hirst work being given as a gift • ronnie van hout is winging his way to lower hutt to measure them up for a giant robot sculpture • a growing maturity as police are not called to a full beaver photographic exhibition at an auckland dealer • art made from spit and sultana bran sells to australian collector at art fair • any lavish additions, changes to outright lies, indignant denials or embellishments gratefully received and always, and we mean always, rewarded.

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reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have turned up in otn's email: publisher of artforum knight landesman is coming to the auckland art fair because he’s been invited • anna schwartz isn’t even though she was • hopkinson cundy aren’t because they’re too young to be allowed in • john waters is one of the judges for this year’s venice biennale • seventy (that’s 70) new zealand patrons are attending the opening of the venice biennale • john reynolds has designed new art work for the packaging of the ecostore’s body care range • the edmiston trust is giving $500,000 to the auckland art gallery to purchase a major new artwork to mark the reopening of the gallery • the auckland art gallery is slated to reopen its new spaces on 3 september • any missing details, changes to outright lies, indignant denials or embellishments gratefully received and always lavishly rewarded.

SPAM: the exit files

reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have turned up in otn's email: ian wedde is off to teach curating in auckland • carla van zon head of the cnz international programme is bailing out of cnz in march after two years in the job • chris saines is set to decamp from the auckland art gallery soon after the opening of the new building, possibly to work for the mega-city • art consultant rob garrett is spearheading the exciting hairy maclary project in tauranga • the topline marketing consultant cnz brought in to secure sponsorship and funding for venice has already left the building with nothing much to show for her efforts • alan gibbs has ordered up more daniel buren fence posts for his farm sculpture park • any missing details, changes to outright lies, indignant denials or embellishments gratefully received and have been known to be lavishly rewarded.

The tipster

You only have to be in Auckland a few days to know that a lot of the art world’s attention is taken by the Artspace Stakes set to run early this month. As in past events, offshore horses are well represented on the card with the smart money being almost evenly divided between the Spanish filly Mercedes Vicente and New Zealand bred horse Simon Rees currently stabled in Lithuania. Both have been trained at Govett-Brewster, an outstanding stable that has brought many of its colts through to some big wins in meetings in Dunedin and Wellington over the years. The only other horse sparking any action at the tote is Heather Galbraith. Recently taken on by the Massey stables she is an unlikely starter, but as punters have discovered in the past, this horse can often be a surprise late entry in feature races and should certainly not to be ignored.

Image: the American horse B Butler winning the 2006 Artspace Stakes

Spam: Sales Department

reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have turned up in otn's email: in london, billy apple has had a work purchased by the tate (we understand it is young contemporaries 1962 and recently exhibited at the mayor gallery) • meanwhile across the atlantic simon denny has sold work to über collectors don and mera rubell at the miami art fair (the rubells collection is housed in miami and features artists as diverse as paul mccarthy, cindy sherman and luc tuymans) • any missing details, changes to outright lies, indignant denials or embellishments gratefully received and have been known to be lavishly rewarded.

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reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have turned up in otn's email: cnz has abandoned its hasty attempts to organise a “new zealand room” at the singapore art fair in January given a lack of dealer interest • four (count ‘em) female institutional curators danced together at michael letts gallery bash saturday night • peter stichbury has left the building starkwhite-wise • the last three large scale mccahons works put up at auction failed to sell on the night • whispers that one of sue crockfords senior artists is due to decamp • auckland art gallery’s opening exhibition for the new extensions is being radically revised • te papa is offering ‘a selection of delicious canapés and cocktails at te papa surrounded by our national treasures’ as a christmas treat • any missed details, changes to outright lies, indignant denials or embellishments gratefully received and the best of them lavishly rewarded.

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reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have turned up in otn's email: michael lett is moving to a large new space with twenty (count ‘em) car parks • tim melville is leaving the central city and off to help pay the rent in an established space in newmarket • andrew thomas ex-hamish mckay gallery and white cube is now working with michael lett • long-time finished justin paton's tv series how to look at a painting still languishes on the shelves at tvnz • neon parc’s comedy duo tristian and geoff are experiencing creative differences • the cnz venice web site is due to launch 17 november • 37 years after moma’s much panned primitivism exhibition te papa and the wellington city gallery are reviving the idea to run during the rugby world cup • any missed details, changes to outright lies, indignant denials or embellishments gratefully received and the best of them rewarded with one of our otn badges featuring chola the painting horse.