Sub Rosa

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2019.

Essay by Francis McWhannell.

Photography by Shannon Novak and Sam Hartnett.

“Shannon Novak's (b. 1979, New Plymouth) Sub Rosa (under the rose) occupies various spaces at the Govett-Brewster, challenging the idea of openness and safety within one's own community. Each intervention is a progression through time, starting with the Open Window space on the gallery's Queen Street front, and moving through a series of portraits in the Len Lye Centre hallway, and toilet signage. The artist blurs the boundaries between public and private through references to New Plymouth cruising sites from the 1990s, specifically public toilets which is where the artist had his first experience of homosexual intimacy. His personal reflections are bolstered by interviews included with the portrait series both onsite and online. The artist is concerned that little has changed in New Plymouth where acceptance of the LGBTQl+ community is low”.

Paul Brobbel, Senior Curator.