Sponsors step up

AUCKLAND, Today: The Stetson Group’s extraordinary Michelangelo exhibition – slated for the Aotea Centre 3-30 January – is gathering serious momentum. At least 50,000 art lovers are expected to attend – the first two days of presales have matched The Art of Banksy in NZ in 2018.

Stetson’s Stewart Macpherson has secured sponsorship for Michelangelo – A Different View from Benefitz, Mazda, Auckland Live, and Auckland Council’s Auckland Unlimited – but to date, has not used any PR or ad agencies.

Macpherson supplied the creative on his Phantom Billstickers posters himself. “I obtained permission from the Vatican to do the two-billboard split,” he said.

But Macpherson says he’s not ruling out professional agency assistance at some stage in the near future. 

Under license from the Vatican Museums, this extraordinary exhibition offers the most complete and authentic reproduction of Michelangelo’s beautiful ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel to be shown outside the Vatican.

“Macpherson did the creative on his Phantom posters himself. But he’s not ruling out professional agency assistance at some stage.”

The exhibition shows photo-mechanically reproduced copies almost in original size and in a way that invites visitors to look at them up close and in their own time.

Macpherson said: “Michelangelo – A Different View is a transformative experience that allows attendees to look down on The Genesis that is enshrined on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel rather than up, hence the exhibition’s name A Different View.

“This offers a much closer perspective of what its Florentine creator did. The rest of the frescoes are in frames and can be viewed from within 2 metres.

“Fifty pieces, with audio guides, accessible via personal devices (bring your own phone, head set/earbuds), mean visitors can experience the Florentine master’s interpretation of the history of creation in a way they never imagined.”

Promoters Stewart & Tricia Macpherson say they are honoured to be able to present such a significant exhibition in New Zealand. “This is the closest we’ll get to the real thing,” they say. “And the fact they’ll be just metres away, is extraordinary.”

• More here: www.stetsongroup.com