This pamphlet accompanies Edith Amituanai’s exhibition The Hand you were dealt, which looks at the artist’s critical approach via some of her most enduring working relationships. The exhibition takes the form of a card game, bringing together eight pairs of photographs made between 2004 and 2023. Each pair features a perennial subject; some were made around the same time, others span a long period. Amituanai has employed a veritable array of formats in the course of ‘wrestling with the single frame’. This exhibition includes such examples as digital prints on organza and Instax Polaroids — a ‘readily shuffled’ form she likes to refer to as her ‘talent book’.
‘Subject’ is a barely adequate descriptor of the role of the individuals — Nive, Ioka, Isaac, Shiloh, Lema, Epi, Christian, Dason — who animate these images and have contributed to Amituanai’s shifting method. Early on in her career, the artist says she was, “very much an insider.” In recent work she takes on different roles: Journalist, quasi-social worker, Ranui Flâneur. ”There is something in me that within the roles I make up for myself, I always have to vary.” Timing and a willingness to hang around are also crucial. “Why don’t you photograph more rugby players or photograph the Lai family again? — It’s a long game. I’ll circle back eventually, when we’re ready.”
For the exhibition, Edith interviewed her sister-in law, Ioka Amituanai, collaborator and subject of Ioka (2004) and Miss Amituanai, (2005). Ioka reflects on what it means to have been one of Edith’s subjects and asks if anyone has ever turned her down? Edith contemplates the exhibition’s title. “Thinking about the people I’ve included in this show, some might say they were not dealt a fair hand.”
This pamphlet accompanies Edith Amituanai’s exhibition The Hand you were dealt, which looks at the artist’s critical approach via some of her most enduring working relationships. The exhibition takes the form of a card game, bringing together eight pairs of photographs made between 2004 and 2023. Each pair features a perennial subject; some were made around the same time, others span a long period. Amituanai has employed a veritable array of formats in the course of ‘wrestling with the single frame’. This exhibition includes such examples as digital prints on organza and Instax Polaroids — a ‘readily shuffled’ form she likes to refer to as her ‘talent book’.
‘Subject’ is a barely adequate descriptor of the role of the individuals — Nive, Ioka, Isaac, Shiloh, Lema, Epi, Christian, Dason — who animate these images and have contributed to Amituanai’s shifting method. Early on in her career, the artist says she was, “very much an insider.” In recent work she takes on different roles: Journalist, quasi-social worker, Ranui Flâneur. ”There is something in me that within the roles I make up for myself, I always have to vary.” Timing and a willingness to hang around are also crucial. “Why don’t you photograph more rugby players or photograph the Lai family again? — It’s a long game. I’ll circle back eventually, when we’re ready.”
For the exhibition, Edith interviewed her sister-in law, Ioka Amituanai, collaborator and subject of Ioka (2004) and Miss Amituanai, (2005). Ioka reflects on what it means to have been one of Edith’s subjects and asks if anyone has ever turned her down? Edith contemplates the exhibition’s title. “Thinking about the people I’ve included in this show, some might say they were not dealt a fair hand.”
Pages -
Binding - Paperback
Publisher -
Publication Date -
ISBN - 9780473677114
Weight - 500 grams