A thoughtful encounter with Mark Adams’s 2025 survey at Auckland Art Gallery. A reflection on what I almost missed, and how small choices like a bench, a title or a frame can quietly shift how we see.

Frances Hodgkins is a major figure in New Zealand art history, but what if the work just doesn’t resonate? This piece explores why Hodgkins’ paintings feel unresolved to me, what that says about taste and canon, and offers other artists whose work lands with more clarity, colour, and conviction.