Cartoon Moon @ The Te Uku Roast office.

The Te Uku Roast office will host it’s first Gallery evening this Friday 21st of January at 6pm, featuring an exhibition titled ‘The Cartoon Moon’ by Dunedin artist Mike Cooke.
Cooke is represented by Berlin based curator Christopher David, who has been in Raglan for the past three months.
Christopher insisted Mike should bring some art works to Raglan when he came for the NYE party ‘Eye of the Tiger’ out at Ruapuke, as he was sure he could find homes for Cooke’s work.
Cooke’s large bold acrylic works have a film strip quality, the influences are modern visual culture such as; Japanese manga, skateboard graphics, Michel Gondry’s music videos and America’s west coast graffiti, but Cooke is very determined that they are mere triggers for the viewers interpretation.
“The pictures I paint portray characters in a sparse and surreal world” Cooke says.
Using a particular visual language Mike Cooke attempts to illustrate the unexplainable. Much like a strange dream his painted works don’t necessarily have a lucid meaning or communication, but can be interpreted by the viewer on their own terms.
After months of renovation, The Te Uku roast office is happy to open the gallery space with such a powerful show from one of New Zealand’s most intriguing, emerging artists.
Some drinks and nibbles will be provided.
BYO if you want to linger and enjoy some tunes.
The exhibition runs until 8th Feb.