The Diversion Gallery

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The Diversion Gallery The Diversion Gallery exhibits contemporary New Zealand art, representing leading senior artists

Also happy to open on request other days and times, just call or text 0274408121.

The impacts of the proposed Santana mine on Central Otago landscape fired up Gregory O’Brien and Euan Macleod to create ...
14/10/2026

The impacts of the proposed Santana mine on Central Otago landscape fired up Gregory O’Brien and Euan Macleod to create these powerful paintings - Monument to Human Folly, Bendigo (with illegal communications tower), and The Good Citizen of Bendigo, negotiating a perilous path. On show now until 23 October at The Diversion, Picton waterfront.

New creations in from the inimitable Elfi Spiewack… stunning contemporary take on pearls, along with jasper, carnelians ...
25/09/2026

New creations in from the inimitable Elfi Spiewack… stunning contemporary take on pearls, along with jasper, carnelians and more.

The Good Citizen of Bendigo - perilous, breathtaking protest over the Santana mine in Central Otago, collaborative paint...
23/09/2026

The Good Citizen of Bendigo - perilous, breathtaking protest over the Santana mine in Central Otago, collaborative painting by Euan Macleod and Gregory O’Brien anchoring the exhibition As It Happens.

An energised floor talk as always with Euan Macleod and Gregory O’Brien discussing working collaboratively on the painti...
23/09/2026

An energised floor talk as always with Euan Macleod and Gregory O’Brien discussing working collaboratively on the paintings in As It Happens. Powerful show, always pushing boundaries. On now until 24 October.

Floor talk 11am today Saturday - looking forward to hearing detailed insights and inspiration from Euan Macleod and Greg...
18/09/2026

Floor talk 11am today Saturday - looking forward to hearing detailed insights and inspiration from Euan Macleod and Gregory O’Brien behind their powerful collaborative paintings.

Barry Cleavin (1939-2026)Such huge sadness at the passing of this witty, accomplished master of the printmaking craft. B...
09/09/2026

Barry Cleavin (1939-2026)

Such huge sadness at the passing of this witty, accomplished master of the printmaking craft. Barry Cleavin was regarded by many as New Zealand’s most important and influential printmaker, and he received critical acclaim internationally. He used labour-intensive age-old techniques to produce artworks of extraordinary precision – and political/social incisiveness.

Barry Cleavin’s etching/aquatints always showed a finely honed sense of humour and the bizarre, and a love of wordplay, laid over more serious perspectives on human frailties, absurdities and our place in the world. Double meanings, sometimes triple, abound. “How many shags can you have on the head of a pin?” he asked, in one series. Another more serious, The Kiwi with a Shadow of Doubt, 2009, was inspired by the Global Financial Crisis and concern about the potential impact on New Zealand of the international issues playing out at the time – the possibility of capitalism or countries like the USA taking over our vulnerable economy… a theme which echoes today. The Kiwi (taken from an earlier museum drawing) stands on the precipice alongside a shadow of itself.

Barry Cleavin participated by invitation in numerous biennales and exhibitions of printmaking around the world, as well as solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. Although he was one of NZ’s most collectible printmakers, his work remained very affordable – in the true spirit of printmaking.

Given a computer for his 60th birthday, Cleavin (after a few years’ hesitation) discovered a whole new world of possibility in disseminating ideas through digitised art and social media – he used digital imagery to transform his own earlier etchings and drawings and merge them with images from photographs, drawings, and internet material, even superimposing images from advertising catalogues to emphasise the absurdities of a materialistic world driven to war and violence by commercial and corporate imperatives.

Barry Cleavin’s influence undoubtedly continues, but he will be greatly missed.
Image: The Kiwi with a Shadow of Doubt IV, etching/aquatint T/P, 2009, c Barry Cleavin

Address

10 London Quay
Picton
7220

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+64274408121

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