Anthony Davies, master Printmaker - 'Two Worlds' - 17 July to 1st August at Photospace Gallery, Wellington, Aotearoa NZ

Anthony Davies 'Two Worlds' exhibition of prints, 17 July to 1 August, 2026

Please note: the gallery will be closed on 31 July. 
There will be an artist talk near the end of the exhibition period. Details t.b.a.

I've been exhibiting Anthony Davies' prints under Gilberd Marriott Gallery since 2014, but since that gallery was put to bed last year, this exhibition is showing under Photospace Gallery . There is, as you can see, a relationship between documentary photography and Anthony's printmaking practice.
Loads of info on these series of prints and all his other work and background is on www.hotspurstudios.co.nz
And I still have a couple of copies of Anthony Davies' book 'As the Situation Unfolds - A Survey of Works, 2007-16'. Ltd Edition of 250 copies. $75.00.

In Land of the Long Dark Cloud: the Good the Bad and the Ugly Anthony Davies looks at groups and gatherings across New Zealand through the perspective of the immigrant artist. Inherent in this position is a sense of detachment, of being forever ‘outside,’ but what grows for Davies in this space between himself and his new country is a kind of fascination, allowing for work that is curious and non-judgmental.
Davies’ images give me that feeling of being out for a walk, and maybe it’s dusk - the sky is darkening and you go past a house lit warm, where a family is eating dinner with their curtains open. As the observer you imagine what it’s like to be inside that house, to be part of that family, but aware you can never actually know how it feels. That other life will always remain behind the window - somehow just out of reach but completely foreign. Through his work Davies seems desperately to want to understand, but also, I think, to be understood. He would like for someone, maybe the mum or one of the kids, to look up from the dinner table and to see him there, and to have the opportunity to see themselves as he does - beautifully grotesque, strange - strangers.
Printmaking is considered one of the great traditional fine art forms. Combining artistic vision with high-level technical mastery, Davies works within a lineage of politically engaged printmakers such as Käthe Kollwitz, whose work centred on ordinary people and working-class life, and Francisco Goya, who described some of his own images as representing ‘the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilised society,’ and ‘the common prejudices and deceitful practices which custom, ignorance or self-interest have made usual.’
Throughout history printmaking has also functioned as an accessible form of communication - a way of disseminating ideas and social commentary, both celebratory and critical. The photographs that Davies borrows from to create the details in his images line his walls like little windows onto the world. But seeing Davies creating his prints, what strikes me most is the physicality of the printmaking process; not how one generally imagines an ‘artist,’ and more like watching a mechanic or tradesperson at work. That physical relationship to his medium feels inseparable from the subjects his work returns to again and again.
- Abby Stewart, 2026

Anthony Davies - 'Destiny Church 1' giclee print of stone lithograph

The darkest collection in Davies' New Zealand series, the images in ‘Destiny Church’ highlight the ‘Us vs.Them’ mentality within cults which is so critical to protecting the group’s ideology.

The clothing in these images exemplifies the outwardly unified voice of the Church, all sharing the same messages like ‘Man Up,’ ‘Real Men,’ and ‘Enough is Enough’ - language which pushes others away but also limits the individual’s ability to express complex, nuanced, or critical thoughts, forcing members to conform, to stick to the group’s narrative. The notable absence of any women within the images is representative of the patriarchal views of the church, which promotes a "biblically compliant" model where men are the ultimate leaders in the home and church.
Here there appears to be no sense of the individual - the faces of church members share expressions which are simultaneously menacing and fearful, and bodies seem to merge into four or eight-headed hydra, making them monstrous, greater than the sum of their parts, and seemingly impenetrable to any outside influence or understanding.
— See the full 'Destiny Church' series here
Abby Stewart, 2026

Anthony Davies - 'Rainbow Communities' silkscreen no.2

In ‘Rainbow Communities’ Davies’ images celebrate the rare group that strives to be welcoming and inclusive.
Throughout his New Zealand series Davies work is interested in ideas of belonging. Where so many groups are exclusionary - membership depending on conformity in terms of dress, following rules set from the top, owning certain items - in the LGBT community it’s the differences in the individual that are appreciated and magnified. Unlike most of the figures across this body of work, the people in these images are generally facing the viewer, looking out toward us, inviting us in.
It is an especially optimistic note in the collection that a group which is composed of individuals so marginalised by society can rise up in the face of oppression and maintain such a positive ideology. It’s like: come in, here anyone can belong.
— See the full 'Rainbow Communities' series here

Text by Abby Stewart, 2026