Andrew Ross - 'Driving Creek Railway, November 2023' - Photospace Gallery from 3rd April to 10th May, 2025

Andrew Ross - 'Driving Creek Railway' poster, Photospace Gallery 3rd April-10th May 2025

Andrew Ross spent November at Driving Creek, Coromandel,  in 2023 and made a number of large-format photographs. Andrew had the 3rd exhibition at Photospace Gallery, held in March, 1999, and he has exhibited annually here since. The gallery holds a large stock of his initial prints from large format black & white negatives. His work is in the collections of Te Papa, The Sarjeant Gallery, Wellington City Archives, Auckland Art Gallery, The Dowse Art Museum, the Eastern Southland Gallery, et al, and many significant private collections.
The exhibition will open at 5pm on Thursday 3rd April and close on Saturday 10th May, 2025.
Gallery hours are 10am-3pm Monday- Friday, 11am-2pm Saturday, closed Sundays and public holidays.

"Driving Creek Railway and Pottery was started by New Zealand potter Barry Brickell on the outskirts of Coromandel township in the late 1960s. In 1974 it moved to its present site, 80 acres of scrubby hillside that had been denuded of its native forest in the 19th century.
"Barry was legendary for his energy and enthusiasm. Besides pottery, his interests were engineering, railway heritage, architecture, geology and NZ native flora and fauna. He fused all of these threads into a unique overall aesthetic.
 The narrow-gauge track that snakes up the hill was originally to get clay down to the pottery, but was also an expression of its maker's creative vision. Over the years it has be elaborated with tunnels, viaducts and spirals, up to the 'Eyefull Tower' viewing at its highest point. With intensive replanting the forest, including thousands of kauri trees, is regenerating around the 3km of trackline.
"Much has been written about Barry's extraordinarily productive life. He died in 2016 but DCR/P lives on in the spirit of its creator, its three prongs being pottery, railway, and conservation.
"The residents programme allows for four or so visiting artists to be there at a time. I was fortunate to have a month in late 2023, in the company of two ceramic workers and two musicians. It was a fun time and an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of many great NZ photographers and add my little bit to the archive."
- Andrew Ross, March 2025

Photo: Andrew Ross - Driving Creek Railway series November 2023

Photo: Andrew Ross - Driving Creek Railway series November 2023