Jonathan Jones: untitled (sum of the parts)

Enter the north atrium and encounter an impressive, large-scale installation by Indigenous Australian artist Jonathan Jones, comprising more than 80 precisely spaced fluorescent battens.

The Sydney-based artist's work, untitled (sum of the parts), is created entirely of fluorescent lights and is perfectly positioned to create dynamic plays of light and shadow.

While the cross-hatching and chevron motifs created from the lights may appear as Western minimalism, for Jones they refer to the traditional Aboriginal concerns of country and community - their designs being based upon the carved patterning of Koori (south-eastern Aboriginal) shields and the markings on possum-skin cloaks.

Jones designed this conceptual work - acquired by the Chartwell Collection in 2010 - to be scalable to suit its architectural surrounds. In this instance it has been radically up-scaled to fill the south wall of the impressive 14.7 metre-high atrium. The work, which is visible from the street, complements the coinciding exhibition My Country: Contemporary Art from Black Australia.

This installation is supported by the Chartwell Trust and the Auckland Contemporary Art Trust.