Artists
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand Bridgit Anderson studied photography at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury. She moved to London in 1985, making her home by the River Thames in Rotherhithe, just south of Tower Bridge. Here she developed a lifelong interest in 19th century photographic processes and the ideas that have shaped… View more
Philippa Blair is a New Zealand-born international artist who returned to Auckland in 2014 after two decades living and working in Los Angeles. Born in Christchurch in 1945, she graduated with a Diploma of Fine Arts from Canterbury University in 1967. Blair has exhibited her work internationally for more than forty years, with over 100… View more
Andrew Bond was born in Auckland in 1963 and now lives and works in Christchurch, New Zealand. Art has always been part of his life and he achieved a Master of Fine Arts with distinction from the Ilam School of Art, University of Canterbury, in 2023. The absurdity of subjective thought provides the rich resource… View more
Joanna Braithwaite was born in Halifax, England in 1962, and shortly after immigrated to New Zealand with her family. She graduated from the Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University in 1985, and has lived and worked in Sydney since 1999, receiving an MFA in 2000 from the College of Fine Arts Sydney. Since… View more
Born in 1951, Nigel Buxton trained at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London and in 1981, moved to New Zealand. He has exhibited regularly in group and solo shows and is resident in Christchurch. The most persistent theme through much of Buxton’s career has been ‘still-life’. But perhaps the word ‘interior’ more aptly… View more
Jacqui Colley is an award-winning New Zealand artist. Born in Zambia, she was raised in Cape Town, South Africa where she studied graphic design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology before moving to New Zealand in1996. Her work is exhibited internationally and she is regularly involved with collaborations, residencies and special projects. “Gesture is writ… View more
Darryn George was born in 1970 of Ngapuhi descent. He lives and works in Christchurch. He completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in 1993, a Diploma of Teaching at the Christchurch College of Education in 1994 and in 1998 a Master of Fine Arts at the Royal Melbourne Institute of… View more
After graduating with a BFA (1st class Honours) from Massey University, Wellington in 2017, Polly Gilroy moved to Otautahi Christchurch where she has since presented 3 solo shows and various group shows at PG Gallery192. Gilroy has exhibited across Aotearoa, as well as being internationally represented in Melbourne, Australia. She was a finalist in the… View more
Born in Christchurch, 1947, William (Bill) Hammond attended the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts from 1966-68. He has exhibited extensively since then and his work is held in major public and private collections throughout New Zealand. Bill’s work was included in Distance Looks Our Way: Ten Artists from New Zealand (1991-92), a group… View more
Thomas Hancock was born in the Hutt Valley. After completing his MFA in Painting at Ilam School of Fine Arts in 2016, he moved to Melbourne, furthering his studio practice as well as foraying into mural painting. In 2020 Thomas moved back to New Zealand to Otepoti, Dunedin where he currently works out of his… View more
With imaginative flair, Rebecca Harris invents pictorial worlds and invites us to explore them. Her use of oil paint is sensuous and skilled. Beautifully rendered detail and pinpricks of colour, overlay oily fields of loose underpainting, scribed with the hard end of the brush for linear expression. At times, her paintings are almost sci-fi in… View more
Julia Holden is a graduate of Elam, School of Fine Arts and Monash University, Melbourne. Consistently experimenting with modes of representation and presentation, Holden has developed an innovative relational painting practice employing strategies focused upon encouraging community connection, public interaction and social engagement. Holden has been exhibiting regularly in New Zealand and Australia since 2010,… View more
Hone Papita Raukura “Ralph” Hotere (11 August 1931 – 24 February 2013) is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s most important artists. Born in Taikarawa, of Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa descent, he spent his childhood in Mitimiti, Te Tai Tokerau, a remote kainga near Hokianga Harbour on the west coast of the far North. However, he lived most of his life in… View more
Andy Leleisi’uao is one of the most significant Pacific artists working in New Zealand today. His paintings are rich in personalised mythology and tell an open-ended story. Early work was influenced by comic strips and visual narrative has remained an important aspect to Leleisi’uao’s practice. His unique iconography is fantastical and imaginative. He often incorporates… View more
Maurice Lye is a Christchurch based photographer. Throughout his career he has contributed to multiple publications and exhibited across New Zealand since 1979. Although his photographs seldom depict people, candid human curiosity, humour and pathos are prevalent in all his work. His themes are diverse but there is a common thread: ‘I’m a scavenger, forever… View more
Sydney-based artist, Euan Macleod was born in 1956 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He gained a Diploma of Fine Arts (painting) at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury in 1979 and in 1981 moved to Australia. He has exhibited extensively in both Australia and New Zealand. Since being awarded a residency at the University… View more
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1962, Marian Maguire graduated from the Ilam School of Art, University of Canterbury in 1984 and in 1986 studied at the Tamarind Institute of Lithography, Albuquerque, USA. She was awarded an Artist in Residence at the Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 1991, received an Award for Excellence from the… View more
Richard McWhannell was born in Akaroa in 1952, and currently lives and works in Auckland. He studied at the University of Canterbury at the School of Fine Arts in the early 1970s, where he was taught by Rudolf Gopas and influenced by friendships with Toss Woollaston and Tony Fomison. Throughout his career Richard McWhannell had painted both… View more
Vivienne Murchison studied painting at The Ilam School of Fine Arts, gaining a BFA(Hons) in 2018 and an MFA with Distinction in 2019. Based in Canterbury her exhibitions include the Nebula group exhibition for emerging artists from Ilam at the 2019 Christchurch Arts Festival; Qualia MFA submission exhibition 2019 in Next Gallery; group shows Select ‘17 and Ilam 2018 at SoFA gallery, and Diversity 2014, a… View more
Simon Ogden was born in 1956 in Bradford, England. He was a student in England during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, graduating from Birmingham Polytechnic in Sculpture with a first class Honours degree and, later, from the Royal College of Art with Masters in Painting. He lives and works in Christchurch, New Zealand, and until recently was Associate… View more
Christchurch based artist Chris Pole completed a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in 2002, and was awarded the Vision Culture Residency at Shalini Ganendra Fine Arts in Kuala Lumpur in 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Crossover’ at Warwick Henderson Gallery in Auckland; ‘Relative Locations’ 2019 and ‘Otehake’ 2022 both at PGgallery192,… View more
John Puhiatau Pule is a Niuean artist, novelist and poet. He was born in 1962 in Liku, Niue, a small nation in the Pacific, and moved with his family to Auckland, New Zealand, at the age of three. Mythology and history are of specific interest to John as he weaves fish, people and birdlike creatures… View more
Sefton Rani describes himself as a maker, who uses paint as his primary material. Based in Auckland, he is a visual DJ who mashes up industrial materials with Cook Island narratives, to create modern Pasifika art. His work blends “made / found abstraction” with various features of Mangaian heritage arts. Rani uses dried paint skins… View more
John Reynolds lives and works in Auckland and over the past three decades has established a reputation as a painter, a drawer, a worker or words and an installation artist. He began his career painting large abstract colour fields, slowly evolving into structural text-based imagery. His work is rich with literary, religious, art historical and architectural… View more
Stefan Roberts has been exhibiting his photography for over 25 years in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas. During this time, his work has received recognition in many of New Zealand’s significant art awards and is held in the collection of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge and… View more
Aiko Robinson is a Christchurch born artist of Japanese and New Zealand heritage. She graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, NZ in 2014 and in 2020 she completed her masters at Tokyo University of the Arts on a Japanese Government funded scholarship (MEXT Scholarship). Her imagery began as a response to… View more
Born in Redruth, Cornwall, England in 1946, Stringer became a naturalised New Zealander in 1979. He received a Diploma of Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts in 1967. Many New Zealand galleries and collections feature works by Stringer and he has completed a number of public commissions. His The Risen Christ, commissioned by the Anglican Church and… View more
Grant Takle was born in Christchurch, 1962, and studied at Ilam School of Fine Arts, Canterbury University, completing a Diploma of Fine Arts (painting) in 1983. Through his early career he received numerous awards and much critical success. His work is held in the collections of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Aigantighe Art… View more
Katie Thomas has developed a body of work that shares much territory with European Modernism and Abstraction. Yet, her painting also takes its cue from her engagement with the natural world in the here and now. Changes in light, colour, atmosphere and space are a direct influence on her studio practice. Large in scale, her… View more
Tim J. Veling, born in 1980, lives and works in Christchurch. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts with distinction from the University of Canterbury in 2006. He is currently a lecturer in photography at the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts. Veling has exhibited nationally and internationally including Pre-marital Bliss, International Photobook… View more