London’s Oceania Exhibition Gets More Rave Reviews
The new Oceania exhibition has just opened at London’s Royal Academy of Arts. The Guardian’s art reviewer Jonathan Jones was there, deeming the show “dazzling … like having the ocean…
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This Year’s Turner Prize “Packs a Political Punch”
“This year’s Turner Prize exhibition is entirely devoted to the moving image with works by the four nominees all lovingly installed in black boxes at Tate Britain in London,” writes Lorena Muñoz-Alonso in an…
Royal Academy Compels a Generation of New Voyagers at Riveting Oceania Exhibition
“Quite the most striking thing about this exhibition on the art of the Pacific islands is the sheer scale of the area it covers: Oceania,” writes Melanie McDonagh in a review of the exhibition…
Artist Angela Tiatia Holds On in Tuvalu’s Tides
Auckland-born, Sydney-based artist Angela Tiatia, who was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, is a person of movement, of restless tides. Her solo show, Holding On, is exhibited at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre…
Imogen Taylor Wins Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award & Frances Hodgkins Fellowship
New Zealand artist Imogen Taylor has won this year’s Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award with her work Refusal to Yield and has received the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship for 2019, writes…
Natasha Wright to Open First Solo Show
New Zealand artist Natasha Wright is opening her first solo show on September 19th in New York. Her work “combines figuration and abstraction from a feminine perspective.” “My paintings merge figuration…
Lucy Tupu And Max Gimblett Collaborate To Create Beauty At Your Feet
“With her Polynesian heritage and love for all things bright and bold, coupled with Max’s artistic talent Lucy Tupu has just launched her first collaboration.” “Drawn to
Artist Tom White Collaborates With AI
Tom White, artist and computational design lecturer at Victoria University’s School of Design, is taking part in a group exhibition in Dehli, India, which features works created entirely by artificial intelligence. Gradient Descent is…
Gibbs Sculpture Park #1 Guardian Favourite
“We didn’t think anything manmade could compete with the grandeur of New Zealand’s natural beauty. Then we went to Gibbs Farm Sculpture Park, near Auckland,” Guardian…
New Zealand Artists on Show in London
As a season of summer blockbuster exhibitions come to a close in London, autumn is hot on its heels in September, with a range of shows opening in the capital’s biggest cultural establishments. New…
Travelling to Potter Paul Lorimer’s Okinawa Haven
Few people visit the Japanese village of Shinzato in Okinawa with its attractive but modest residencies and kitchen gardens. The evident lack of a centre to the settlement made finding the new home of…
Skateboard Photographer Jake Darwen Takes Off
Skateboard photographer Jake Darwen, 25, who grew up on Auckland’s North Shore and is now based in Los Angeles, shoots for the likes of New Balance and Element, often travelling to offbeat destinations in…
Simon Denny Weighs in on Blockchain and Art
From verification tools for provenance and authenticity to new approaches to art collecting and even new art forms, blockchain’s impact on the art world is already undeniable. During this year’s Art Basel Conversations, journalist…
Photojournalist Wade Goddard’s New Croatian Mission
New Zealand-born photojournalist Wade Goddard, who in 2003 set up the War Photo Limited gallery in Dubrovnik, Croatia, has had a hand in opening the country’s first crowdfunded museum in Zagreb. Paid for by members…
Even Bigger Steven Adams Wows in San Diego
For four days during the annual Comic-Con, the San Diego Convention Center is a treasure trove of everything pop culture fans love: comics, super heroes, super villains, video games, movies, TV shows, books and…
Graduate Aïcha Wijland Wins London Design Award
University of Otago advertising graduate Aïcha Wijland says rebellious student culture was behind her edgy, award-winning redesign of classic cartoon character Beryl the Peril – the female equivalent of Dennis the Menace. Wijland has…
Ink Artist Steve Butcher’s Latest Eerily Lifelike
Irish UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been immortalised in a brilliantly detailed tattoo by famed ink artist, Aucklander Steve Butcher. Butcher spent 12 hours on the eerily lifelike tat on a…
Rare ISS Moon Shot Captured by Josh Kirkley
Auckland amateur astrophotographer Josh Kirkley captured a shot so unusual the cameraman can be heard gasping as he films clip. Kirkley describes his “shock” at capturing footage of the International Space Station (ISS) crossing…
Billy Apple in Hong Kong and in Focus
To present 21 works in Hong Kong, spanning approximately six decades (1962–2018), is an unusual occasion for Billy Apple, a groundbreaking New Zealand-born artist whose pop-infused conceptual practice is mostly acknowledged in New Zealand,…
Busy Year for Artist Ronnie van Hout
Ronnie van Hout might need to learn to say no. Not only is the New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based artist about to receive the first major solo exhibition at the new Buxton Contemporary gallery in Southbank…
Katherine Mansfield Portrait 100 Years On
The well-known portrait of New Zealand’s greatest writer, Katherine Mansfield, is 100 years old. It was painted by the American artist Anne Estelle Rice. At that time, Mansfield and Rice were both staying in…
Berlin-Based Zac Langdon-Pole on Art Journey
Art Basel has announced that the New Zealand-born, Berlin-based artist Zac Langdon-Pole, 30, is the winner of the BMW Art Journey. An international jury unanimously selected Langdon-Pole from a shortlist of three artists whose…
Angela Tiatia Wins Coveted Australian Art Prize
Initiated last year by the independent all-girls school, Ravenswood, New Zealand-born artist Angela Tiatia has been named winner of this year’s Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize valued at $35,000 for her…
Photographer Cody Ellingham Dreams in Danchi
Art director and photographer Cody Ellingham has explored over 40 “architectural giants” in Tokyo’s Danchi complex, capturing the apartments for a new series, Danchi Dreams. Ellingham’s year-long photographic survey captures the…
Artist Matthew Couper Fuses Vegas and NZ
In Matthew Couper’s exhibition, From Dust to Water, the New Zealand-born Las Vegas-based artist uses the language of symbols – skeletons and cacti, blenders and playing cards – to combine pictorial elements in witty…
Photographer Derek Henderson Is in Demand
Photographer Derek Henderson rates his career shooting fashion, travel and art photography as mediocre, but a quick look at his credentials and it’s plain to see he’s being coy. Laura Baker interviews the New…
A New NYC Neighbourhood
Commissioned by the New Zealand Consulate in the USA, designer Lydia Starkey illustrated a map of all the great NZ establishments in New York. The map, titled ‘Little New Zealand – A New NYC…
David Metcalf Puts On Bali Indigenous Celebration
Wellington-born professional photographer David Metcalf, who is based in Bali, and Emmanuela Dewi Shinta, founder of Ranu Welum (Living Water), are the founders of the inaugural Indigenous Celebration, which was held recently over three…
Autoportrait Wins Deutsche Börse Photography Prize
The 2018 Deutsche Börse photography prize has been awarded to the New Zealander Luke Willis Thompson, 30, for Autoportrait, a film installation about the partner of Philando Castile, who was shot dead by police…
Photographer Launches Project to Prevent Bullying Against Redheads
New Zealand photographer Bianca Duimel “is hoping to change the conversation around red hair with a powerful art project.” Sarah Young reports for The Independent. “I was looking for children for…
Illustrator Andrew Archer’s Sci-Fi Vision
Self-taught illustrator and art director New Zealander Andrew Archer was commissioned by London-based publisher The Folio Society to create the cover illustration and a series of internal artworks exploring the drug-infused, psychotic scenes and…
NZ Photographer Explores Decline of Tokyo’s Ultramodern Dreams
“Japan is famed for its ultramodern cityscapes. But what happens when the ultramodern becomes old?” Photographer Cody Ellingham is using landscape photography skills developed in New Zealand to explore fading monolithic public housing projects…
Glass Artist Ruth Allen off to Float in Venice
A glass dress created by New Zealand multi-media artist Ruth Allen is one of among 30 designs to feature in the international Glass Art Society’s Fashion Show being held in the old glass capital of…
Zico O’Neill Captures Life off the Beaten Track
Photographer Zico O’Neill is known for his breathtaking, desaturated photography of little-visited locations far from his home in New Zealand. Since 2010, he’s made a point to spread his wings and travel, from four…
Exhibition of Colliding Worlds on in London
Work by ill-fated illustrators aboard Captain James Cook’s first journey to the Pacific sit alongside revelatory images by a Polynesian high priest in a haunting exhibition on now at the British Library in London. “The…
Luke Willis Thompson in Running for Turner Prize
Fijian-New Zealand artist Luke Willis Thompson, 30, is one of four candidates vying for this year’s Turner Prize, a shortlist, according to the Financial Times, focusing on conflict, crime and state-sponsored violence.
Rube Goldberg Fan Joseph Herscher Shares Tricks
New Zealander Joseph Herscher’s foolproof way to roast turkey involves an axe, a back massager, various magnets, catapults, and a small dog. His Rube Goldberg machines to facilitate power napping and to remove milk…
Photographer Michael Anderton Moves to Kildare
New Zealander Michael Anderton, who has set up a photographic gallery in Allenwood, has said that moving to the West Kildare village inspired him to develop his photography hobby. As a younger man he lived…
Francis Upritchard Finds New Ways to Break the Norm
New Zealand-born artist Francis Upritchard is all about creating art that leaves behind societal norms, according to Jesse Oleson writing for The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Art is supposed to be fun,” London-based Upritchard says. “Work…
Gibbs Farm – An Insta-Worthy Travel Experience
“Social media has enabled people to travel brag as soon as the vacation starts.” The most common themes are food, landscapes or landmarks, cityscapes, beaches and drinks. Posing with unique art installations at Gibbs…
Artist Francis Upritchard Describes Balata
A festive crowd of art-lovers gathered at Lux Art Institute in Encinitas, California recently for the opening of a show by the first of its 2018 resident artists, London-based New Zealander Francis Upritchard. Upritchard’s odd…
Sriwhana Spong Considers Monuments to Oppression
“A quiet but intensely powerful exhibition at San Francisco nonprofit gallery Kadist refutes the idea that we can shed the pain of the history of oppression by turning away from it,” Charles Desmarais writes…
Ice Sculptor Tatiana Zimina Competes in China
New Zealander Tatiana Zimina has recently returned from northeast China where she competed in ice and snow sculpting with her partner and two friends in the annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. The…
New Zealand Captured in Dreamy Infrared
Interested in producing images on “the fringe of the otherworldly,” California-based landscape photographer Paul Hoi creatively combines science fiction with psychedelia. Using a camera modified for full spectrum infrared, Hoi transforms familiar visuals into…
Mark Bridgwater’s Breathtaking Outdoor Shot
Christchurch commercial and adventure sports photographer Mark Bridgwater’s shot of fellow New Zealander, skier Charlie Lyons flying down the slopes at Temple Basin in Arthur’s Pass, was recently included in a Guardian selection of…
Mural of Whero O Te Rangi Bailey Explained
Canadian artist Kevin Ledo is known for his impressive murals of portraits, and this time it’s a portrait of Whero O Te Rangi Bailey, a Maori elder from Parihaka in Taranaki, originally photographed by…
Outsider Fair Preview of Susan Te Kahurangi King
“As the Outsider Art Fair (OAF) – which opens 18 January, and runs through 21 January – rolls into town, the specialised sector it celebrates has plenty to crow about,…
Michael Linton’s Record-Breaking Mosaic on Show
An exhibition showcasing New Zealander Michael Linton’s handmade replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, has opened in Melton, Suffolk. The 64-metre long mosaic contains 3 million tiny pieces, and took 33 years to put together. This…
Luke Willis Thompson Shortlisted for Deutsche Börse
New Zealander Luke Willis Thompson, 29, is one of four to make the shortlist for the prestigious 2018 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. It’s the 21st year of the prize, and this year the shortlisted…
Matthew Couper Paints Vegas Iconography
Hastings-born artist Matthew Couper’s From Dust to Water, at Rise gallery, Holsum Lofts in Las Vegas, and on until 30 November, “is a beautiful, strange and disarming show that does something rare in fine…
Tokyo Exhibition Petzel Includes Simon Denny
Works by New Zealand artist Simon Denny will feature as part of group exhibition Petzel at Nanzuka in Tokyo. The Berlin-based contemporary artist, who exhibited his first solo show in Asia earlier this year at…
Simon Denny’s Art Approach to Business Creation
Business students from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, United States, aren’t consulting with a top business executive; they’re consulting with New Zealand-born contemporary artist Simon Denny. Denny recently worked with…
Tuku Iho Exhibition Finds Fans in LA
In July, the Smithsonian hosted Tuku Iho | Living Legacy, an exhibit of more than 70 Maori works of art; before that, the show made stops in China, Malaysia, Chile and Brazil. The exhibition…
Gregory Burke Heads Canada’s New Art Gallery
Canada has a major new modern art museum. The striking 126,000 sq ft glass-and-steel Remai Modern has just opened in the remote prairie town of Saskatoon, located in the country’s vast agricultural midwest, and…
All of Paris on Board with FIAC Says Jennifer Flay
Jennifer Flay, the New Zealand-born director of FIAC who began her job in 2003, recalled a headline in a French magazine at the time that summed up the fair’s ups and downs: “FIAC at…
Bittersweet Return to Georgia for Amos Chapple
One man who knows the country of Georgia better than most is Amos Chapple. The New Zealand photographer, known for his pioneering use of drones, has been a regular visitor for the last seven…
