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Labour of Love, June 2018
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A note on the poster
The moment Jacinda Ardern took over as leader of the Labour Party, with an openness and spirit of generosity that was rarely, if ever, seen in politics, the next poster in my *word-play* series was born — Jacinda was campaigning a Labour of Love. But, for some reason I couldn’t make the words work. Then Labour won the 2017 election. After nine years in the stranglehold of a Key-led government, Jacinda became our Prime Minister, the youngest leader in the world at 37. Three months later she made an even bigger statement: she and her partner Clarke Gayford were expecting a baby. The symbolism brilliant.
Still playing on my mind, but not playing out compositionally in a way that was worthy of the extraordinariness of what she represented, I put my folly aside. Her five-day attendance at Waitangi was significant for Aotearoa New Zealand, for the first time a focus on poverty, housing, health, education ... Pākeha being challenged to confront our country’s colonial past, and more.
But back to Jacinda and Clarke — after the birth of their baby daughter on the shortest day of the year, near the time of Mātariki, still, the words did not come. What to say, how to express?
And then, on June 23 the announcement of the baby’s name — Neve Te Aroha. Within the hour, the words sang and the poster was made.
— CG / June 2018
Rumori, designed by MuirMcNeil in 2014, is a “reconstruction of the typeface used on the front cover of ‘L’Arte dei rumori’, a seminal Futurist manifesto ...” later released in 2017. A perfect fit.
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03 other in(ter)ventions
TypeSHED11
an international typography symposium, Wellington, NZ
typ gr ph c
a series of compact workshops, Karekare, NZ
installations, exhibitions
Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line
Griffith University Art Museum, Meanjin Brisbane, Australia
24 February — 16 May 2026
Catherine Griffiths: Walk With Me
Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery, Auckland University of Technology, Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa NZ
30 July — 24 October 2025
Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line
The Design Gallery, University of Melbourne, Naarm, Australia
19 May — 27 June 2025
Iterations/Alterations
Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Chapter 1, Aotearoa NZ
15 February — 29 March 2025 [extended to Chapter 2]
What is my threshold now?
Manifesto vs Manifest, PLATES #1, 2024, New York, USA
7/7, 14 views
Te Tuhi Project Wall, Aotearoa NZ
20 August – 22 October 2023
Self-preservation
Offering It Up, Adam Art Gallery, Aotearoa NZ
24 August —
29 October 2023
The Phone Book: Club de Conversation (2012): deconstructed (2019), suspended (2022)
Counterparts // Part one: Where To From Here?, No Vacancy, Naarm Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
12 – 31 July 2022
catherine griffiths : SOLO IN [ ] SPACE
The Space Gallery, Shanghai, CHINA
13 October – 1 December 2019
Work/Space
Shanghai Art and Design Exhibition, CHINA
3 – 13 December 2017
A whakapapa, two lines of women, an installation drawing
All Lines Converge, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Aotearoa NZ
2016
Installation with mirror and line
transitionalfieldwork, an exhibition, Aotearoa NZ
2016
only U know ...
collaboration, Lela Jacobs AW17 Auckland, and SS17 Paris collection, Aotearoa NZ + FR
Constructed/Projected
installation, Typojanchi 2015, 4th International Typography Biennale, Seoul, KR
November 2015
The Tuwhare Poster Project
fund-raiser for the Hone Tuwhare Trust Writers Residency, Aotearoa NZ
2014
memento :: motif
Proyecto de Arte Contemporáneo Alzheimer, Valparaíso, Chile
23 September — 23 August 2012
The Phone Book
a maquette, for the Club de Conversation project, Aotearoa NZ
2012
Club de Conversation at S/F with Dino Chai, Auckland, Aotearoa NZ
14 July – 18 August 2012
Club de Conversation: Keyhole Series and Dials
rug series, Dilana Workshop, Aotearoa NZ
June — July 2012
Sound Tracks
installation, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, Aotearoa NZ
2011
The Jets
short film, Paris, France
2010
posters, protest, statements
SHREDDED
[LUXON QUOTES] RUBBISH COLLECTION, six [type specimen] posters, 2026, Aotearoa NZ
The Best Design Awards
three [type specimen] posters, 2018, Aotearoa NZ
Labour of Love
another word-play poster, 2018, Aotearoa NZ
W in black
drawings in progress, 2017, Aotearoa NZ/FR
The Alphabet
front page takeover of the Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper for 26 days, Fitchburg, USA
The Brexit Series
a word-play [type specimen] poster series in response to Brexit, Aotearoa NZ
Raising the Flag
contemplative, suggestive — design unravelled, Aotearoa NZ
Protest Vessel
1/2 PRICE
a collaboration with ceramic artist Raewyn Atkinson, Aotearoa NZ
Labour of Love
2018
A poster for Jacinda and Clarke, and their baby daughter.
another poster in the word-play series, notated with information on the typeface used.
The Brexit Series
W in black
MuirMcNeil
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