When Arlo Edwards approached an art deal­er with his work at the age of eight­een, the deal­er told him to “come back in 10 years, and then maybe we’ll look at your work”.

Not con­tent with such a response, Arlo embarked on a some­what unortho­dox cur­at­ori­al career, and has been put­ting on exhib­i­tions when and wherever he could for more than a dec­ade.

Toi Pōneke Gal­lery is the next ven­ue for one of his pro­jects, an exhib­i­tion of work by 10 loc­al estab­lished and emer­ging artists. The show, entitled In the Museum of Curi­ous Intent, includes work by Chris Lun­dquist, Free­man White, Wil­li­am Hed­ley, James Flynn, Jaymi Bizzo Lawrence, Roger Mor­ris, Mari­anne Mug­geridge, Gareth Moon, Rupert Everest and some of Arlo’s own work.

In the Museum of Curi­ous Intent opens at 6.30pm on Fri­day 26 Septem­ber and runs until 25 Octo­ber at Toi Pōneke Gal­lery, 61 – 63 Abel Smith Street.

Read more after the jump…

Arlo takes pride in the look and feel of an exhib­i­tion, and will put his all into mak­ing the launch of the exhib­i­tion (26 Septem­ber) a night to remem­ber. He says the gal­lery will be lit for a darkened set­ting, com­pli­men­ted by red vel­vet cur­tains, extraordin­ary install­a­tions and a rich accom­pani­ment of sound.

“I want make a show that looks like a mil­lion dol­lars on $20,” he says. “By incor­por­at­ing lots of dif­fer­ent medi­ums includ­ing paint­ing, pho­to­graphy, install­a­tion and robot­ics, this show will have some­thing for every­one.”

“I know it is not really the done thing to include some of your own work in a show, but to be hon­est, I have nev­er gone by the insti­tu­tion­al book when it comes to cur­at­ori­al work,” he says.

Arlo says that the cul­min­a­tion of emer­ging artists and estab­lished artists, some of whom have won the pres­ti­gi­ous Adam Por­trait­ure Award, will present a great oppor­tun­ity for them to exper­i­ence the joy of being part of a col­lab­or­at­ive com­munity – one that will hope­fully draw all sorts of people to the gal­lery – from fre­quent gal­lery vis­it­ors to the not-so-fre­quent.

“I will be at the gal­lery for the dur­a­tion of the exhib­i­tion as much as pos­sible, so if some­body wants to know the mean­ing of a pile of ashes sit­ting in the corner of the gal­lery, for example, they will be able to ask someone about it and become more engaged in the exhib­i­tion,” he says.

“It’s all part of what I love to do. If it’s not mak­ing art – it’s encour­aging oth­ers to cre­ate and exhib­it, and also encour­aging the whole com­munity to enjoy it.”

In the Museum of Curi­ous Intent
27 Septem­ber to 25 Octo­ber
Toi Pōneke Gal­lery
61 – 63 Abel Smith Street
Open­ing cel­eb­ra­tion: 6.30pm on Fri­day 26 Septem­ber