News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Photographer Matt Draper Dives Deep

Photographer Matt Draper Dives Deep

From turtles and manta rays, to whales and sharks, New Zealand-born photographer Matt Draper, a former carpenter, has spent the last two years photographing marine animals from the water, the Weather Channel’s Simone Scully…

Fiona Pardington’s Art Earns Top French Honour

Fiona Pardington’s Art Earns Top French Honour

New Zealand photographer Fiona Pardington has been named a Knight (Chevalier) in the Order of Arts and Letters by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls at a ceremony held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Pardington…

New Zealand Photographer Documents Children Growing Up Without Modern Electronics

New Zealand Photographer Documents Children Growing Up Without Modern Electronics

New Zealand mother Niki Boon, who raises her children without modern electronics, is capturing their stripped down childhood in an ongoing photo series ‘Childhood in the Raw’. “We haven’t had TV since the…

Greg Semu Exhibit Celebrates Pacific Cultures

Greg Semu Exhibit Celebrates Pacific Cultures

A new photographic exhibition by New Zealand-born Greg Semu on at Cairns Regional Gallery celebrates the tradition and culture of Pacific nations and challenges commonly held beliefs about the region’s colonisation. Semu has a 20-year…

Joël Penkman Painting Mouth-Watering Treats

Joël Penkman Painting Mouth-Watering Treats

Joël Penkman, a New Zealander based in the UK, is someone who loves to paint as much as she loves to eat, Katy Cowan writes for art and design blog Creative Boom. “So when…

Simon Richardson’s Mila Portrait off to Top UK Show

Simon Richardson’s Mila Portrait off to Top UK Show

Dunedin artist Simon Richardson’s portrait of his seven-year-old daughter Mila is believed to be the first by a New Zealander to be chosen for the BP Portrait Award exhibition at the National…

Art Dealer Denis Savill Bows out after 35 Years

Art Dealer Denis Savill Bows out after 35 Years

New Zealand-born art dealer Denis Savill, 75, doyen of the Sydney and Melbourne saleroom scene, is retiring – with Sotheby’s Australia handling a special sale of some of his 120 works by blue-chip artists…

Simon Denny a Millennial Subversive

Simon Denny a Millennial Subversive

Look beyond the traditional spaces and what emerges are a group of Generation Y artists who are arguably more avant garde than ever, like New Zealander Simon Denny, 33. The Guardian enters a world…

Sarah Bentley Curates Trans-Tasman Dialogue

Sarah Bentley Curates Trans-Tasman Dialogue

Curator and art writer New Zealander Serena Bentley creates a dialogue between two Melbourne painters – Kate Smith and Meagan Wyke – and three Aucklanders – Schaeffer Lemalu, Patrick Lundberg, Campbell Patterson – in…

Francis Upritchard’s Forlorn Figures Test Empathy

Francis Upritchard’s Forlorn Figures Test Empathy

New Zealand born Francis Upritchard’s exhibition Jealous Saboteurs is on at Monash University’s Museum of Art (MUMA) in Melbourne. Robert Nelson reviews the show for the Sydney Morning Herald. “Upritchard has modified a group of…

Heavenly line for NYNZ artist Max Gimblett

Heavenly line for NYNZ artist Max Gimblett

“In fact, it was heavenly,” said Grafton, Auckland-born New York artist Max Gimblett, 80, on being invested as Officer of the Order of Merit Award by Governor General Sir Jerry Matapere. “I thought it would…

Francis Upritchard Opens Her East London Home

Francis Upritchard Opens Her East London Home

In the commune-esque home of New Zealand-born artist Francis Upritchard and her husband, Italian designer Martino Gamper, the colourful trappings of life and work are uniquely integrated. The New York Times is invited into…

A Conversation with Simon Denny

A Conversation with Simon Denny

Simon Denny has had a stellar year. The Berlin-based artist had his first significant United States museum solo show with MoMA PS1 presenting The Innovator’s Dilemma, he represented New Zealand at the 56th Venice Biennale…

Photographer Robin Hammond Speaks on Conflict

Photographer Robin Hammond Speaks on Conflict

New Zealand-born Robin Hammond is one of six photographers featured in a series called Conflict, which explores the testimonies of professional conflict photographers and looks at how they engage with and seek to understand…

Okinawa Islands Traditions Inspire English Teacher

Okinawa Islands Traditions Inspire English Teacher

New Zealander Jesse Whitehead, 25, has published a photography book depicting the people, nature, and culture of Okinawa, Japan as he experienced them during his three-year stay in Tomigusuku City. Whitehead came to Okinawa in…

Paul Donald’s Solo Endymion Project Opens in LA

Paul Donald’s Solo Endymion Project Opens in LA

Auckland-born artist Paul Donald’s solo show “Endymion Project” has opened in Los Angeles at CB1 Gallery, one of a number of “stand out” exhibitions opening this month in the city. Donald, who was trained in…

Photographer Frances Melhop Winters in Silver City

Photographer Frances Melhop Winters in Silver City

New Zealand born photographer and illustrator Frances Melhop, voted one of the World’s 200 Best Advertising Photographers 2009/2010 by Lürzers Archive, will bring her skills and talents to the Resident Artist Program in Silver…

Robin Hammond Portraits Some of TIME’s Best

Robin Hammond Portraits Some of TIME’s Best

Two of New Zealand-born photographer Robin Hammond’s images from his Where Love is Illegal series have been included in a list of TIME magazine’s best portraits of the year. The photographs, one of which made TIME’s…

Louis Schulz One of Turner Prize-Winning Assemble

Louis Schulz One of Turner Prize-Winning Assemble

A collective of 18 young architects called Assemble – one of whom is New Zealander Louis Schulz – has become the first group of “non-artists”, and the youngest, to win the annual £25,000 British…

Mark King Photographs the Pristine Pre-Railway

Mark King Photographs the Pristine Pre-Railway

New Zealand-born photographer Mark King, 41, has used state-of-the-art lasers to show how a controversial planned high-speed railway in the UK will cut through the countryside. King’s photos show two laser beams replicating the track…

Weta Partners With Te Papa for Larger-Than-Life Exhibit

Weta Partners With Te Papa for Larger-Than-Life Exhibit

“From the battlefield to the hospital ship, attendees get a unique look at the battle of Gallipoli with the Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War exhibit” – a collaboration between the museum and Weta Workshop to…

Jess Johnson’s Wurm Haus an Otherworldly Experience

Jess Johnson’s Wurm Haus an Otherworldly Experience

New Zealand-born artist Jess Johnson’s new exhibition, on at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), is arresting – a series of geometrical, pastel-toned psychedelic prints that bring to mind fantastical worlds and video games….

Works by Susan Te Kahurangi King a Miami Must See

Works by Susan Te Kahurangi King a Miami Must See

The booth of Auckland artist Susan Te Kahurangi King is one of seven must-sees at this year’s Art Basel Miami, according to New York’s Observer. “It’s impossible to pick a favourite, but it will be…

Artist Gary Yong Sand Bags Dubai Beach

Artist Gary Yong Sand Bags Dubai Beach

New Zealand-born street artist Gary Yong has been in Dubai participating in the UAE Innovation Week, which saw him place 1600 bags of sand along Jumeirah Beach Residence’s open beach for a piece he…

Simon Denny Merges Tech and Art at Serpentine

Simon Denny Merges Tech and Art at Serpentine

For an artist, Simon Denny has an unusually agile grasp of corporate jargon, according to the Independent. Discussing his forthcoming Serpentine Sackler Gallery exhibition in London, Products for Organising, the 33-year-old New Zealander’s chat…

Felix Kelly’s Surreal Truro to Be Auctioned

Felix Kelly’s Surreal Truro to Be Auctioned

An oil painting depicting a Cornwall town’s landmarks by New Zealand artist Felix Kelly and commissioned by Prince Charles is to go under the hammer. Auckland-born Kelly, who has exhibited alongside names such as Lucian…

Jack Mclean to Exhibit at London’s FLUX Contemporary Art Exhibition

Jack Mclean to Exhibit at London’s FLUX Contemporary Art Exhibition

New Zealand artist Jack Mclean will be exhibiting his latest work at the FLUX Contemporary Art Exhibition at The Royal College of Art in London on December 11 – 14. “I take inspiration from my…

Henry Hargreaves Lets the Air out of the Chip Bag

Henry Hargreaves Lets the Air out of the Chip Bag

New Zealand-born artist Henry Hargreaves was so frustrated with the problem of empty space in a packet of chips that he decided to size up some of the worst offenders, calculating the difference between…

Thinking Outside the Box with Henry Hargreaves

Thinking Outside the Box with Henry Hargreaves

A native New Zealander and current resident of Brooklyn, New York, Henry Hargreaves is well-known for his food-focused visual projects, like a series recreating the last meals of death row inmates. Hargreaves offers up…

How Jennifer Flay Revived the Dull Paris Art Scene

How Jennifer Flay Revived the Dull Paris Art Scene

New Zealander Jennifer Flay’s neck was broken and she was being kept alive by machines after the car crash that nearly killed her. Most people who come back from these make-or-break moments in life…

Jennifer Flay Banks on the Seine for Art Fair

Jennifer Flay Banks on the Seine for Art Fair

New Zealand-born Parisian Jennifer Flay, general director since 2010 of the venerable event known as Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC), said she thought “long and hard” about how to top the fair’s recent successes…

Bringing Māori Culture to Rio

Bringing Māori Culture to Rio

“The ‘Tuku Iho | Legado Vivo Māori’, an exhibition and festival that celebrates the art and culture of New Zealand’s Māori people” have been held throughout October in various locations in Rio de Janeiro. Highlights…

Kathleen O’Connor’s Artistic Legacy Lives On

Kathleen O’Connor’s Artistic Legacy Lives On

When New Zealand-born artist Kathleen O’Connor returned to Western Australia from France mid-century, she threw many of her paintings into the ocean to avoid import tax. O’Connor died in 1968 and her ashes were…

Jennifer Flay Awarded France’s Legion of Honour

Jennifer Flay Awarded France’s Legion of Honour

Jennifer Flay, who has been director of Paris’s premiere art fair Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) since 2003, has been awarded the Legion of Honour. On receiving France’s highest decoration, the Auckland-born Flay, 56, gave…

Ho Hai Tran Reminisces about Pizza Hut

Ho Hai Tran Reminisces about Pizza Hut

New Zealand photographer Ho Hai Tran has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a book that will record his photographic journey of over 8700 miles from Australia to the US to document…

Ron Stenberg Painting Mystery Solved

Ron Stenberg Painting Mystery Solved

When Auckland artist Ron Stenberg launched an appeal to discover the identities of two people in a £100,000 painting he donated to one of Scotland’s leading art galleries he had no idea what a…

Photographer Robin Hammond Witnessing Change

Photographer Robin Hammond Witnessing Change

While producing Condemned, an in-depth look at how the mentally ill people are treated in several African nations, New Zealand photographer Robin Hammond believed that the mere act of making their condition visible would…

Locust Jones Permanently Plugged into Chaos

Locust Jones Permanently Plugged into Chaos

It is a rare and rewarding moment to stumble across an exhibition that is as cohesively considered as Christchurch-born artist Locust Jones’ A Week in the Life of the World, not only in its…

Experiential Designers Gibson Group Calls for Bigger, Bolder Thinking from Museums

Experiential Designers Gibson Group Calls for Bigger, Bolder Thinking from Museums

What museums are getting right and wrong when it comes to embracing today’s new digital landscape is analyzed by Gibson Group’s director of visitor experiences Allan Smith in an Entrepreneur.com…

Coffee Cups of the World by Henry Hargreaves

Coffee Cups of the World by Henry Hargreaves

Though New Zealander Henry Hargreaves thoroughly enjoyed his time as a fashion model, he decided from the outset that his career on the catwalk would have an expiration date and he stuck to it,…

Appeal to Find Ron Stenberg’s Scottish Wifies

Appeal to Find Ron Stenberg’s Scottish Wifies

One of Scotland’s leading art galleries is launching an appeal to discover the identity of two elderly Dundee women depicted in an oil painting, which has been gifted to the city by New Zealand…

Len Lye Centre Opens in New Plymouth

Len Lye Centre Opens in New Plymouth

“Travel to New Zealand for the love of art,” declares India Today in a feature about New Plymouth’s brand new Len Lye Centre, New Zealand’s first gallery dedicated to a single artist. The

Kate Newby, artist, debuts in New York

Kate Newby, artist, debuts in New York

New York-based Aucklander Kate Newby debuts at the Laurel Gitlen Gallery in the Lower East Side with a show ‘I memorized it I loved it so much’, with a laudatory review in…

Owen Dippie Sprays NY Masterpieces with a Twist

Owen Dippie Sprays NY Masterpieces with a Twist

New Zealand street artist Owen Dippie is making a name for himself in Brooklyn, New York with “show-stopping” murals. It takes a true intuitive sense and careful execution to produce a mashup or remix, and…

Photographer Tony Carter Finds Other World in Ohuru – a “tight-knit and colourful community”

Photographer Tony Carter Finds Other World in Ohuru – a “tight-knit and colourful community”

Ohura is a tiny town with a population of just 120 people where there is next to no power, internet, or jobs – where time almost stands still. Photographer Tony Carter spent one year…

Michel Tuffery Invites Sydney to Siamani Samoa

Michel Tuffery Invites Sydney to Siamani Samoa

New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery joined forces with the Royal Samoa Police Band, who were in Sydney playing outside the Pacific Islands for the first time, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end…

Bologna-Based Guy Lydster Installs Headscapes

Bologna-Based Guy Lydster Installs Headscapes

A new public art installation in Bologna sculpted by acclaimed Auckland-born artist Guy Lydster, has added an ecological dimension to the red-stoned city. A two-metre tall “headscape” base relief sculpted from Veronese marble showcases…

JK Russ Major Player in US Art Scene

JK Russ Major Player in US Art Scene

New Zealand-born artist JK Russ is included in a Los Angeles Confidential feature “spotlight and celebrating the freshest, boldest artistic talent” from each of the 11 American cities in which the magazine publishes. “From Aspen…

Joseph Michael Capturing Moments of Magic

Joseph Michael Capturing Moments of Magic

Joseph Michael, New Zealand photographer, spent hours capturing the light from glowworms in limestone caves, a photographic feat for the low light and freezing temperatures. Because the glowworms are found above water, Michael stood hours in…

Jereme Aubertin Makes Surf Photo Comp Semifinals

Jereme Aubertin Makes Surf Photo Comp Semifinals

New Zealander Jereme Aubertin has been named one of 10 semifinalists competing for the 2015 Follow The Light Photography grant, the most prestigious competition in surf photography. Aubertin, who took the picture above in the…

ArtScience Museum Head Honor Harger Embracing Technology

ArtScience Museum Head Honor Harger Embracing Technology

Executive director of Singapore’s ArtScience Museum New Zealander Honor Harger is embracing interactive technology such as touch screens and mobile apps in order to retain visitors and draw new ones, mirroring a trend in…

Jono Rotman’s Mongrel Mob Portraits a Big Deal

Jono Rotman’s Mongrel Mob Portraits a Big Deal

Jono Rotman, who is a Wellington born photographer now living in New York, cut his teeth capturing New Zealand’s prisons and psychiatric wards, before he took on gang life in 2007, with a series…

Keri-Anne Dilworth Breaks down Stigma of C-Section

Keri-Anne Dilworth Breaks down Stigma of C-Section

Auckland photographer Keri-Anne Dilworth, of First Light Birth Photography, has been taking pictures of births for four years, and during that time, she has had the opportunity to document three C-section deliveries. The…

Photographer Robin Hammond Documenting LGBT Issues

Photographer Robin Hammond Documenting LGBT Issues

Photographer Robin Hammond, who is from New Zealand, first started documenting the issues of LGBT when he was on assignment in Lagos, Nigeria, and read about five people who had been arrested for being…

At Home in Brooklyn with Photographer Henry Hargreaves

At Home in Brooklyn with Photographer Henry Hargreaves

New Zealand-born photographer Henry Hargreaves lives in New York in a 1930s brick building that, like many others in its vicinity, was once a factory. His apartment, three stories up, contains a hallmark or…

Simon Denny Sees the Dark Side of Technology

Simon Denny Sees the Dark Side of Technology

Berlin-based New Zealand artist Simon Denny’s “hyperactive multimedia extravaganza” “The Innovator’s Dilemma” on now at New York’s MoMA PS1, takes down “irrational exuberance about technology and does it with sardonic verve,” New York Times…