Karla Hansen and Xander have a tooth-achingly sweet show on at the Satellite Gallery called ‘Muse: A Dedication to Inspiration’, which is all about their cat.

The two artists in this exhibition are a husband and wife team, and though the exhibition is loosely connected by the feline theme/marital status, the two have wildly different styles.
Xander is a part of the MukPuddy animation elite, and his work has the clean lines and bright colours of someone who watched a lot of cartoons as a kid. This is in no way a criticism of his work though, as Xander has a great eye and a precise hand, and his pictures would sit equally comfortably hanging on a child’s wall or on mine (had I the money to make that happen).
Hansen’s work has a more ‘fine-arts’ feel to it, a mix of dark backgrounds, fine gold linework and occasional splashes of bright colour. Although she works in a completely different style from her husband, with completely different influences, her attention to detail is just as clear.

One of the great things about this exhibition is the range of surfaces the pair choose to paint on. The usual canvas is here, along with skateboard decks, bowling pins, trinket boxes and even a school desk. The bowling pins in particular were a highlight for me, especially the Three Stooges series of ‘Larry’, ‘Moe’ and ‘Curly’.

Hansen and Xander are also the people behind Geek Freaks, the cute soft toys you may have seen at Craftwerk or around Auckland, or maybe here.

‘Muse’ Runs until the 22nd of December.

‘Muse’ by Karla Hansen and Xander

Satellite Gallery
Cnr St Benedicts St + Newton Rd
Newton
Auckland