woom~3 'Smell the flowers one last time' was an exhibition of new work by Douglas Hampson-Kelaher, shown at woom in October 2006.

Hampson-Kelaher's latest body of work takes a light-hearted look at some of the simple joys in life: the pleasure of smoking; the sense of oneness felt by a family gathered around the TV; the companionship of an unusual pet; and the words of a motivational speaker who helps us achieve our best.

But it's not all light-hearted by any means - let's not forget the big, scary questions we all wonder about at some point:  Who is death? When will we meet him? And most importantly - is he nice?

Douglas Hampson-Kelaher has what I consider to be a unique artistic perspective that makes his work appear at once humourous, perhaps almost ridiculous, but also highly engaging and sometimes slightly disturbing. It’s been referred to as Legoland for adults on acid, and you just don’t see work like his enough around Nelson!

That’s why this show is particularly significant to me. Artists like Douglas are the very reason I got involved with Gareth to establish this exhibition space back in January 2006, so we could start to see this sort of work without having to jump on a plane. Douglas has exhibited extensively, in most of New Zealand’s major public galleries and project spaces such as the Govett-Brewster (NP), City Gallery (Wgtn) and ArtSpace (Akld), not to mention his participation in international biennale, so we are honoured that he agreed to put on his first significant Nelson showing here at woom.

Thank you for your support in coming to see this show, and thank you to the artist for the huge amount of thought, time and effort that he has put in to creating it. As you can see, as you gather around the TV set with the rest of the ‘family’ - there’s something just a little bit twisted going on here. We hope you enjoy the show.

To purchase artwork

Although some of the work has been sold, some of Doug's quirky 'sculpture' is still available. To enquire about the purchase of this or any other work by woom artists, please email Andy.