Manu Kōingo – Birds of Yearning

Jae Frew

Parnell Gallery
263 Parnell Rd
Parnell, Auckland

04 - 21 April 2024

Through his collection of photographic portraits in Manu Kōingo – Birds of Yearning, Frew pays tribute to New Zealand’s extinct and endangered native wildlife, bringing together his in-depth knowledge of portraiture with a lifelong interest in birds, and fervour for creating objects with wood.

Frew was granted access to collections and specimens held within institutions such as Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, spending hours observing his subject from every angle, just as he did as a boy with the birds in his family’s aviary. By capturing his still life avian subjects in ways that would have us believe they might suddenly stir and take flight or turn their head to meet our gaze, Frew has resurrected these dormant specimens.