Stuart Forsyth

17 Feb– 17 Mar

The Hand of Dog explores the influence and contribution pets can have on their owners and their lives—in this case the relationship between Te Whanganui-a-Tara artist, Stuart Forsyth, and his three-legged SPCA mixed-breed canine companion, Roo. The exhibition showcases dog-works developed from 2017-2022, taking the viewer on a suburban joyride through the streets of love, pain frustration and guilt, and giving an insight into the artist/muse dynamic from an art practice perspective.

Often an unwitting collaborator/subject in the art-making process, the dog’s influence (and in some cases the animal itself) features regularly in the artist’s output, from drawing prize submission selections through to public poster campaigns, The Hand of Dog is ever-present. 

In the care and co-habitation of his family and Roo, Stuart generates sculpture, photography and moving image works which ‘The Hand of Dog’ explores the subtleties and nuances that underpin his ordinary and every day. Practicing health & wellbeing, play, grooming, training, waste management, food preparation and property destruction become avenues in which Stuart reviews the way he lives, how he behaves and interacts with his environment and with those that inhabit it.

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other exhibitions

see other past exhibitions in the gallery archive