Hongi, Nathan Homestead Pukepuke, Manurewa, Aotearoa New Zealand (solo),
December 12 2020 - December 13 2021

Hongi is an outdoor exhibition featuring new sculptures by Yonel Watene. The exhibition, which will be open from December 12, 2020 until December 13, 2021, will take place amongst a collection of Japanese cedar trees at Nathan Homestead Pukepuke, and will be the artist's second and largest presentation of outdoor sculptures (his first outdoor sculpture presentation occurred in Mexico City in October 2017). Watene's earliest Hongi sculptures were developed in Dunedin in early 2017, when he came across a group of wooden beams that were cut at a peculiar angle. As these beams were unable to stand upright on their own, he leaned one against another so that each beam supported the other's weight. In that moment he recalled a powerful image of his childhood - his father performing hongi. His late father, being an interpersonal and outgoing person, would often introduce himself to random people on the street. No matter their ethnicity or age, it was his custom to exchange hongi on introduction. Since many people were unfamiliar with hongi, he would often describe the traditional Māori greeting by instructing them to "rub nose", which would sometimes lead people to rub their own nose, or my father's nose. The artist reflects on these moments by stating "I always cherished these memories of my father because it was a happy and meaningful exchange." Therefore, Hongi is a representation of what the artist understands hongi to be, and in being such it is an opportunity for the public to reflect upon their own understanding of hongi, too.

One Year, Nathan Homestead Pukepuke, Manurewa, Aotearoa New Zealand (solo), December 12 2020 - March 25 2021


​One Year is an exhibition featuring new oil paintings by Yonel Watene. The exhibition will open on December 12, 2020 (a year and a few days after the first recorded symptoms of COVID-19, which is recorded as being December 8 2019 by WHO), and will be open until March 25, 2021 (exactly one year since Aotearoa New Zealand entered its first lockdown under Alert Level 4). In this sense, the exhibition revolves around two important milestones: the beginning of the exhibition marks one year since the world was devastated by COVID-19; and the end of the exhibition marks exactly one year since Aotearoa New Zealand experienced a nigh complete shutdown of its society and economy. The show's opening acknowledges COVID-19's first onslaught against humanity, and its closure acknowledges Aotearoa New Zealand's first nation wide attempt at eradicating it. So far, the world has been devastated by the deadly virus, and our nation's Team of 5 Million, under the leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, has been internationally applauded for its efforts against COVID-19. Watene's first painting from this series, Sick Wizard #1, was started a few weeks prior to Alert Level 4, and the remaining paintings were completed in-between Alert Level 4 and Alert Level 1. Other paintings in the exhibition, such as Pigs after Polke, pay homage to other events in 2020, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement. ​​

Remote studio dates #3 – Yonel Watene, Interview with Miriam La Rosa from CtC, May 4 2020

In conversation, Podcast with Corey Walden, May 20 2020​

Nervous Painter, PAULNACHE, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand (solo), March 6 - 28 2020

Photos by Thomas Teutenberg

Rebellious Modernities​, Te Tuhi, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand (group),
​December 8 2019 - March 15 2020
Sosefina Andy, Matt Coldicutt, Gordon Matta-Clark and Yonel Watene. Curated by Gabriela Salgado.

housewarming party, an installation commissioned by Te Tuhi for Rebellious Modernities, Iris Fisher Gallery, Te Tuhi

Photos by Sam Harnett
Immortal Dance, 2018–19
​HD video 14 minutes 4 seconds edition of 3 + 2 AP. Featuring recorded audio of a Mexican marching band from Pluma Hidalgo. Filmed in between María Huatulco and Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico (including footage from Western Springs Park, Auckland). 

Commoner, ST PAUL St Gallery 3, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand (group), March 2020

Photos by Sam Harnett

staff party, SAVOY GERACOPOL, Pristina, Kosovo (project), November 2019

Softly Spoken, Hastings City Art Gallery, Heretaunga Hastings, Aotearoa New Zealand (group), August 2019
Mata Aho Collective, Mark Braunias, Emma Fitts, Quishile Charan, Emerita Baik, Yonel Watene, Areez Katki and Clare Plug

Two Oceans at Once, ST PAUL St Gallery, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand (group), 
​February 14 - May 17 2019
​Ayesha Green, Ruth Ige, Rozana Lee, Nicole Lim, Jane Chang Mi, Talia Smith, Vaimaila Urale, Layne Waerea and Yonel Watene
Co-curated by Charlotte Huddleston and Cameron Ah Loo-Matamua

Checklist

​First iteration, February 14 - April 19 2019

Second iteration, April 19 - May 17 2019

On an island in the middle of the ocean that is the New World / without legs (walk), Old World magic invasion, power move and quest (2018-19)
E-publication focusing on the central ideas concerning  Zug Island and Fighting Island, a 3-dimensional artwork, on the occasion of Two Oceans at Once (group), ST PAUL St Gallery. Features an email discussion with artist Layne Waerea.
​Text, design and artwork by Yonel Watene. Edited by Charlotte Huddleston.

chido chico, SAVOY GERACOPOL, supported by Wallace Arts Trust, Mexico City & Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico (project), December 2018 - January 2019
chido chico I:  https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/12131823 (last-minute travel deal), ft. BENT and Kane Laing, Air BnB exhibition, Calle Campeche, Roma Sur, Mexico City, 14 - 18 December 2018


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chido chico II, ft. BENT,  Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, 30 December 2018 - 13 January 2019

​Immortal Dance, 2018–19
​HD video 14 minutes 4 seconds edition of 3 + 2 AP. Featuring recorded audio of a Mexican marching band from Pluma Hidalgo. Filmed in between María Huatulco and Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico during chido chico (including footage from Western Springs Park, Auckland). 

​A conversation about painting, 2018–19
​HD video 5 minutes 18 seconds edition of 3 + 2 AP. Featuring audio from interviews with artists Brice Marden and Chris Martin. Filmed in Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico during chido chico.

Watene Ah Um​, Firstdraft, Sydney, Australia (solo), August 2018

Five Years​, PAULNACHE, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand (solo), June 2018

​Llaves a Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead Yves (telekinetic Skype), 2017
​HD video 7 minutes 17 seconds edition of 3 + 2 AP. Featuring recorded audio of fireworks. Filmed in Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Mexico, on Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), 1 November 2017.
Photos by Thomas Teutenberg

How to say something with fewer words: Objects without Object, play_station, Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand (group), June 2018

There was a moment in time, maybe six weeks or so, when no one knew how to make a painting, 
​Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville, Aotearoa New Zealand, ft. Olga Krause (performance) (solo), April 2018

Alternate Realities for the Classic Art Fool (2018)
E-publication focusing  on 3-dimensional artwork, by Yonel Watene, shown in There was a moment in time, maybe six weeks or so, no one knew how to make a painting, Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville, Aotearoa New Zealand (2018). 
Text, design and artwork by Yonel Watene. 

Nowhere to Somehwere, PAULNACHE, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand (group), January 2018
1) left to right: Yonel Watene, Bill Riley and Ben Clement, 2) left to right: Robert Jahnke, Rhys Lee and Yonel Watene. ​

​The Spirit, PAULNACHE, Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa ​Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand (solo), December 2017

Photos by Thomas Teutenberg

rugby ball, Casa Lu, accompanied by The Chronicles of T-Pan: A Madman with the Pill II: Nimzo y Bogo (e-publication), Mexico City, Mexico (solo), October 2017

Chronicles of T-Pan: A Madman with the Pill II: Nimzo y Bogo (2017)
E-Publication documenting rugby ball, a Yonel Watene solo exhibition at Casa Lu, Mexico City (2017), at the completion of his artist-in-residency at Casa Lu.
Text, design and artwork by Yonel Watene. 

Mackie Boy, SAVOIE de LACY, offsite at Dunedin Community Gallery, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, accompanied by The Sun, Moon and Stars (publication) (solo), May 2017

The Sun, Moon and Stars (2017)
By Yonel Watene: published by SAVOIE de LACY; text, photographs, design and artwork by Yonel Watene; edited by Roberta Francis.
Publication Specifications: 78 pages; A4; 128gsm gloss art paper; full colour inkjet print; Laminated soft cover, 250gsm C1S artboard; +17,000 words, 21 chapters and 6 sub-chapters; ISBN: 978-0-473-40245-7; edition of 400.

Workx79, SAVOIE de LACY, Ravensbourne, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand (group), ft. Michele Leggot, Joel Rickerby, Anthony Low and Lee Ralph, March 2016

Untitled Project, Devonport Skatepark, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2011
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