I remember when the City Gallery used to be the library. The music section used to be half underground and it was in these light catacombs where I donned headphones and discovered all sorts of wondrous sounds that never reached my ears on Palmy's radio stations.
It was there I first heard The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and John Lee Hooker. Upstairs I tripped over Carl Jung's Memories, Dreams and Reflections while looking for something completely different. The building has a pleasant history of delivering the unexpected.
It continued this trend as the City Gallery. No matter what was on at the gallery, a poor bum like me could always find something good to see for free. Easily navigable, the City Gallery didn't hide its treasures, unlike the Escher-like labyrinths of Te Papa.
So, after simply yonks sitting there wrapped up in renovations, the City Gallery is reopening this Sunday with a blast at high noon. The premiere exhibition for the reopening is the fascinating work of Yayoi Kusama. I first tripped over her trippy work back in the 90s with Peter Gabriel's immersive computer game Eve. Good score, City Gallery! (HT EotF)
