DEREK HENDERSON

Henderson's varied subject matter is united by an approach marked by a kind of democratic naturalism, where all phenomena is given equal attention. Although variously described as anti-heroic and anti-iconic, Henderson's interest in the ‘ordinary' can be deceptive and his narratives often reveal themselves to be more complex and unsteady than they first appear. There are photos of the bush. There are photos of Maori teenagers. There are bubbles, spaceships and abattoir workers. All of these are apparent in the work of Derek Henderson, but they do not define what his work is about. There is space in between these photographs, in between each frame, each dark slide, and it is this territory that Henderson chooses to mine. Suggestions of memories spark like struck flint, the brief luminescence of recognition, borne from a childhood spent looking through moving car windows. The indeterminate residue of past occupants, the closed history of an open landscape, the gaze held and the gaze..

Primary location: Newton New Zealand