Celebrating Success at Inaugural Exhibition

The first Toi Ohomai graduate art exhibition opened at Te Ara O Mauao Gallery, on campus at Windermere recently. 

Called Hated Of All Men, the exhibition is the work of Rolph Hediger, a 2021 Bachelor of Creative Industries graduate who majored in Visual Arts. 

Rolph’s exhibition is a mix of monochromatic painting and highly rendered graphite drawings. It includes 17 artworks, depicting Rolph’s favourite scenes from the New Testament. 

Rolph read the New Testament earlier this year and was surprised at how the contemporary and popularist depictions of Jesus compared to his understanding of the person described in the text. 

Rolph says, “I always imaged Jesus as a meek and peaceful character, but he was an enigmatic and subversive figure... I’m trying to portray my impression of the Bible by recreating my favourite scenes.  

“I do it in all my style and try and take it out of its context, which is very familiar to us and comes with a lot of baggage and associations that are not actually inherent to the story itself,” he says. 

Rolph was chosen as the first Toi Ohomai graduate to have an exhibition on campus because of the works he recently had displayed at the People’s Gallery at the Incubator, says Toi Ohomai Academic Staff Member – Art Kyle Sattler. 

“Through his solo exhibition at the Incubator, titled A Song, A Dream, A Letter, it meant Rolph had established himself in the local arts community already, and we wanted to recognise and celebrate that. On graduation, Rolph was shoulder tapped by Toi Tauranga Art Gallery’s then director, Stephen Cleland, to have some of his previous works exhibited there too in 2022. 

“We have a thriving and growing local arts community here in Tauranga. We wanted to activate the space available at Te Ara O Mauao Gallery on campus to bring alumni back to showcase their work and create a place for our arts community to meet and celebrate the great things that are happening locally,” says Kyle. 

The Hated of All Men exhibition is open from 9am – 5pm daily in Te Ara o Mauao Gallery (M Block), Windermere until Friday, 27 September. The 17 artworks on display are for sale, with a pricelist available at the exhibition space providing more information.