In the Manner of a Woman
Having spent the year taking the art world by storm, New Zealand resident and south-pacific artist Shigejuki Kihara is one of artasiapacific’s “five artists for 2009”. Kihara, a Japanese Samoan made a name for…
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Stellar win for Brettkelly
Auckland documentary-maker Pietra Brettkelly has won Best Documentary Award for Art Star and the Sudanese Twins at the 2008 Whistler Film Festival. The jury was quoted as saying, “This is a film that…
Of Life and Death
Christchurch Press photographer John Kirk-Anderson’s image of a helicopter about to rescue Japanese climber Hideaki Nara, 51, from Mt Aoraki’s Empress Plateau, features in the SF Gate’s ‘Day in Pictures’….
Made for Manhattan
New Zealand designers are now represented at essenze, a store within a store at the Metropolitan Design Center on Broadway in New York, which opened on November 19. Exporting to the US since 2005,…
With eyes for art
New Zealander Jennifer Flay, artistic director of Fiac (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain), is heading a break-through at the contemporary Parisian art fair, a role she was appointed to in 2003. “While location is one…
Everyman in the lens
Northland photographer Ross T. Smith exhibits images of subject Hemi Tuwharerangi Paraha at the Visual Arts Gallery of the University of Alabama through November 1. The images are powerfully elemental. He becomes…
Influence from the inside
New Zealand filmmaker Justin Pemberton has won the world’s longest running environmental film festival, Cinemambiente for his feature-length documentary Nuclear Comeback, parts of which were filmed in Chernobyl’s abandoned radioactive control room and core….
Thinking about art
New Zealand sculptor, London-based Francis Upritchard says she wants to be an old lady making art and that art collectors should buy art for its meaning rather than its market value. Upritchard, 32, who…
Guardians surface in DC
Te Papa exhibition ‘Whales | Tohor?’ has opened at Washington DC’s National Geographic Museum. The exhibition features whale specimens including an 18-metre-long male sperm whale skeleton. The cultural significance of whales to the peoples…
Alive in New York
Auckland multimedia and performance artist Shigeyuki Kihara will make her North American debut at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art with an exhibition called ‘Living Photographs’. During the exhibition, Kihara will also perform ‘Taualuga:…
Branding Billy Apple
Aucklander Barrie Bates became Pop artist Billy Apple in 1962, and since then – his name now trademarked – has always made art, life. His 2008 solo exhibition ‘The Bruce and Denny Show’ at…
Edges painted black
New Zealand artists New York/Auckland-based Max Gimblett (above) and Judy Millar of Auckland, (below) feature in a group show exploring “different aesthetic angles using black”, in an exhibition entitled, ‘Edges of Darkness’ at Berlin’s…
Caged Art Debut
Auckland artist Sharon Finn is illuminating Sydney’s Simmer on the Bay with her first exhibition, ‘The Gilded Cage’, a collection of bejewelled chandeliers and bodiced mannequins, one adorned with antique watchfaces . For the…
On your marks, get set
Artist Daniel Crooks, who originally hails from Hastings, has won the Australian inaugural $100,000, Basil Sellers Art Prize for ‘Static no. 11 (man running)’, a computer-modified video of champion athlete Christopher Brown sprinting on…
From the gods in Paris
Maori art is part of an exhibition called ‘Pacific Encounters: Art and Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860’ at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris; 250 objects from the “Polynesian Triangle” isles – New Zealand,…
In love with Demant
Whakatane artist Rozi Demant has her international debut exhibition with ‘Lovebirds’ at Santa Monica’s Tarryn Teresa Gallery. Demant, who holds the rare and enviable position of having produced five sold-out solo exhibitions before reaching…
Art’s urban sprawl
Christchurch hosts art biennale SCAPE 2008, a city-wide exhibition of new work by New Zealand and international artists all exploring the concept of cities as spaces reflective of social change, “constantly in flux.”…
Venice bound
Christchurch sculptor Francis Upritchard and Auckland painter and teacher Judy Millar will represent New Zealand in a six-month exhibition at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Upritchard is known for her hand-made figures inspired by the…
Pastoral in pieces
Auckland pebble mosaic artist John Botica has created what is considered, in the specialist publication Mosaic Art Now, one of the world’s top 100 contemporary mosaic works. Botica’s ‘Tree of Life’ was commissioned by…
Outfoxing furniture
The small town of Pokeno in Franklin district, Auckland is behind ex-Thompson Twin Alannah Currie’s latest artistic foray, a display of surreal furniture on show at London’s Ragged School. Under the moniker Miss Pokeno,…
From a Common Ancestor
Auckland Museum’s “most ambitious” travelling exhibition Vaka Moana – Voyages of the Ancestors is currently at Taiwan’s National Museum of Prehistory and the National Museum of Natural Science. University professor and editor of the…
Lange’s Working Class
Pioneering filmmaker New Zealander Darcy Lange’s work screened in New York’s Lehmann Maupin gallery as part of group show, You & Me, Sometimes… A “textured” and “cool” show according to The New…
Art of Ice
New Zealand artist David Trubridge features at San Francisco’s Natural World Museum in an exhibition entitled Melting Ice: A Hot Topic, which addresses the theme of climate change from a global perspective. Trubridge’s…
Finn unpacked
Auckland artist Martin Ball’s portrait of singer Neil Finn is up for Australia’s most prestigous art award, the Archibald Prize. Ball won the Archibald Packing Room prize, selected annually by backroom staff at the…
Drawn on difference
Preeminent documentary photographer Mark Adams is making his North American debut with the exhibition Tatau: Samoan Tattooing and Global Culture at Canada’s Ontario College of Art & Design. The exhibition explores the Samoan…
Pseudonym on show
Auckland artist et al.’s installation altruistic studies features at the world renowned Swiss exhibition Art Basel 39 in June. Et al. won New Zealand’s prestigious Walters Prize in 2003 for restricted…
Sculptured theme park
Since 1992, New Zealand art collector Alan Gibbs has commissioned both national and international artists to contribute to a sculpture park on his farm in Kaukapakapa, Auckland. New York artist Tony Oursler’s video projections…
Room in Europe
Anne Noble, one of New Zealand’s most respected photographers, began the European tour of her provocative exhibition Ruby’s Room in Paris at the Musée du quai Branly in January. Part of the museum’s…
Portrait of a Lady
New Zealander Daisy Wilkie has been immortalised in oil for Australia’s leading portrait prize. Australian artist Malcolm Smith chose Wilkie as his Archibald Prize subject after meeting her at one of the art classes…
Magic realist
Aotearoa North Carolina (US) artist Robert Johnson has just returned from a three month stint in NZ. The magic realist painter bought an old van in Auckland and toured the country from north to…
Grand statements
Auckland artist Dane Mitchell, 31, has been selected to exhibit at Miami’s prestigious Art Basel fair in June 2008. Mitchell’s work will feature in the Art Statements section for emerging artists, and will be…
Hot shot
NZ photographer Stefanie Young is part of a group show called Tripping the Light Fantastic, which has just opened at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea, New York. Young, who currently lectures at the Waikato…
A painter’s painter
NZ-born artist Peter Boggs has just wrapped up a critically acclaimed exhibition at Canberra’s Beaver Galleries. Canberra Times critic Sasha Grishin compares Boggs to Giorgio Morandi and Edward Hopper, and describes his latest…
Geddes gets personal
Anne Geddes, the world’s most famous baby photographer, has published an autobiography documenting her 25-year career. Labor of Love is a personal departure for Geddes, whose previous best-selling books have been pictorial collections. “The…
Finding beauty in the everyday
Six NZ ceramic artists, including the collaborative couple Philip Jarvis and Madeleine Child, are exhibiting together at the annual Craft Victoria festival in Melbourne. Titled Best in Show, the exhibition is a playful tribute…
Bold type
Auckland-born artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999) features in graphic design magazine Eye‘s special typography issue. Gascoigne’s large, collage-like art works are primarily made from found objects, including abandoned road signs, stencilled packing materials and…
Unseen Fiji in print
A new book by Wellington documentary photographer Bruce Connew featured in Time magazine’s Pacific edition. Stopover tells the story of Fiji’s Indian sugar-cane workers – the country’s “unseen underclass” – in stunning black and…
Saatchi Showdown runner up
Nelson-born artist Charles Olsen was runner up in the inaugural Saatchi Showdown, an online user-voted art competition run by London’s Saatchi Gallery. Olsen received £750, and priceless media exposure, for…
Tautai heads offshore
The Auckland-based Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust is hosting its first international exhibition, at The Art Studio in Rarotonga. Titled Longitude, the show features works by 21 artists with Pacific heritage, including photographer Greg…
NZ painter in online art showdown
Nelson-born artist Charles Olsen is one of 12 finalists in the UK-based Saatchi Showdown, established by art collector and impresario Charles Saatchi. Olsen’s oil painting ‘La Sundari’, a portrait of a flamenco…
At home in Chelsea
Works by NZ artist Lisa Ferguson feature in the ID Please group show currently on at the Heidi Cho Gallery in New York’s renowned Chelsea gallery district. Her bold, large-scale pieces are described…
Glass half full
NZ glass artist Luke Jacomb has spent the past six years touring and building his reputation in the US. The second-generation glass artist (his father is the renowned John Croucher) has held studio…
Australia, meet Reg
The first full-length documentary on NZ-born artist Chris O’Doherty (AKA Reg Mombassa) screened on Australia’s SBS in May. Golden Sandals: The Art of Reg Mombassa explores the links between the artist’s NZ upbringing, suburban landscape…
Ideas of abstraction
New York’s Esso Gallery in Chelsea’s West 26th Street, is holding a second solo exhibition by Auckland artist Julian Dashper. Titled The Abstract Office, the exhibition is a broad survey of Dashper’s work from…
High Price for Anzac Artwork
An iconic Anzac painting has sold for more than twice its estimated price at an auction of wartime artworks in Sydney. Simpson and his Donkey by NZ artist Horace Moore-Jones was purchased for $120,000…
Hunter retains her edge
NZ-born Alexis Hunter features in the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution exhibition at LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Hunter moved to London in 1972 aged 24 and has lived and worked there…
McCarten joins local colour
Auckland-born Donald McCarten is a featured artist in the upcoming ColorField.remix event in Washington D.C. The four-month event celebrates the American capital’s influential 1950s/1960s Color Field visual art movement, of which McCarten…
Real achievement
Dunedin artist Peter Lyons has found critical and commercial success in the US after being “discovered” while working as a security guard at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Lyons’ strikingly rendered…
Lyrical minimalism in Aotearoa
The latest instalment in US artist Chip Hooper’s ongoing series of ocean photographs is New Zealand’s South Pacific and Tasman Sea. Hooper’s solo exhibition of silver prints opens on March 29 at New York’s…
NZ connection in artUS
ArtUS magazine featured reviews of two exhibitions by NZ artists in its February edition: Michael Parekowhai at Sydney’s Roslyn Oxley Gallery and Simon Reece’s High Tide exhibition at the Contemporary Art…
Hurricane warning
NZ artist Lisa Ferguson is aiming to crack the competitive New York market after a successful period in London. The former graphic designer has already made a strong impression, with Art World News…
Abstract revisited
NZ artist Angela Dwyer is staging two solo exhibitions in Italy in early 2007. The first is at the AMT Gallery in Como, the second at Milan’s Magrorocca Gallery. Born in Palmerston North, Dwyer…
Master of noir
The newfound appreciation of NZ-born artist James Boswell continues, with a second feature in the Guardian. The article focuses on Boswell’s post-WW2 illustrations for film posters, commissioned by Ealing studio’s head of marketing…
San Diegans fall for NZ designs
Christine Nottingham and Andrea Peach have opened a gallery-cum-store in San Diego to showcase designs by established and emerging artists from their native NZ. Moana Design on Solana Beach features works by glass…
Images from the Outskirts of War
James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist: Drawings of Army Life in Iraq and UK 1939-1943 by William Feaver offers a fascinating insight into the “unpretentious, unheroic, unsmarmy” work of the NZ-born artist and political activist….
Cool New Attraction
NZ is making another quality addition to its roll call of tourist attractions with the development of a state-of-the-art glacier museum on the South Island’s west coast. The NZ$6.5 million Hukawai Franz Josef Glacier…
