Art
Walking backwards into the future
In celebration of their 25th anniversary, Pātaka Art + Museum reflects on their past while turning their gaze towards the future.
Down the rabbit hole
An exhibition that examines the relationship between contemporary art and internet culture, Steamed Hams at Dowse Art Museum is a full-course meal.
Movement of life
With a rich, textural style and decades of experience, painter John Badcock captures the fleeting beauty of life in his en plein air artworks.
Buzzing for Barbie
The wonderful, whimsical world of Barbie (and Ken) has descended on Wellington Museum. Discover Barbie’s dreamland and get to know Patsy Carlisle, one of New Zealand’s biggest collectors.
A unique language
Renowned Māori artist Darcy Nicholas was blown away when he happened upon the work of emerging Māori artist Pēkere Fruean. Explore their collaborative exhibition at Pātaka Art + Museum.
The human spirit shines through
The Parkin Drawing Prize, on at the Academy Galleries until the 3rd of September, showcases New Zealand excellence and innovation in drawing in all its forms, processes, materials, and ideas.
Facing the pandemic
In an allegory of isolation, loss, and friendship during the COVID-19 lockdown, artist Euan Macleod presents the hundreds of portraits he created of fellow artist and friend Geoff Dixon.
Saving art from the skip
Artstart Foundation’s mission is to save student artwork from the skip and celebrate young artists. Come see the artwork on display at their first-ever Wellington exhibition.
Raw meets roar
Former gang leader turned artist Simon Kerr presents a sketchbook of his past life and experiences in a raw and visceral exhibition.
What is a legacy?
A group of five filmmakers, both national and international, explore the meaning of legacy at Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi.
A magic perspective
Artist Carol Anne Bauer was always drawn to the natural world, magic, symbolism, cultural mythologies, and science. Explore her world at her retrospective exhibition Have the Most Fun You Can Before They Make You Stop.
Me, Myself and Monet
Tāmaki Makaurau artist Helen Keen uses the ancient material of encaustic wax to create timeless paintings inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies.
I live here
Pablos Art Studio artists in conjunction with Enjoy Gallery present sensitive and heartfelt perspectives on Te Whanganui-a-Tara’s housing situation.
A necessary struggle
Artist Tom Sladden likes to have a bit of fun when approaching his work, doesn’t want to take himself too seriously, and doesn’t want you to either. Check out his exhibition Light Air at Bowen Galleries, he’d love to hear what you think!
Age-old binaries
Sam Clague takes a journey back in time in order to document, study, analyse, and draw attention to the oppressive social and economic practices of our capitalist history.
At the crossroads
Reuben Paterson has been creating a beautiful world of glitter, colour, and intersectionality for over 25 years. Now, he is holding his largest exhibition ever at City Gallery Wellington.
Timeless transience
Former acrobat and circus performer Eric Desiles’ newest exhibition of sculptures continues his exploration of the human body, its form, and the fleeting moments of its movement.
In two worlds
Page Galleries presents Max Gimblett’s exhibition Across the River, which explores his experience navigating both the physical and psychological distance between New Zealand and the USA.
Life anew
Job Klijn’s newest exhibition, Mother said there would be days like this, features moodscapes and brooding skies made on recycled materials at Exhibitions Gallery.
Wormhole pottery
Antireality Perversion Void, a bizarre and confronting exhibition that draws on themes of science fiction, mythology, and the nature of reality, is on now at City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi.
Myth, magic, and makeup
Megan Dunn explores everything to do with mermaids in her exhibition The Mermaid Chronicles, on at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery.
Documenting an ever-changing city
Gone Not Forgotten by Mike Aamodt and Transient Spaces by Simon Jay, exhibitions running simultaneously at Mitchell Studios, both present images that explore our ever-changing capital city.
A feast for art-lovers
New Zealand’s national watercolour exhibition and the Wellington Potters’ Association’s major exhibition combine to present over 300 artworks by renowned Kiwi artists.
A new dimension
Local award-winning artist and designer Tim Christie talks about his unique creative style as he prepares to exhibit at Wellesley College’s major exhibition ARTBOURNE 2022.
Disconnecting worlds
Screaming Waterfall is a new exhibition that brings together artists whose practices are informed by the fraught and complex transformation of landscape.
Landscapes of bone, rock, and earth
Of dual Mexican and Pākehā descent, artist Eleanor Díaz Ritson carves and moulds human figures into their landscapes in her dark and moody paintings.
Artworks of national significance
Gathered Voices: Highlights of the Fletcher Trust Collection displays 18 beautiful figure-based works from one of the most prestigious private art collections in Aotearoa.
Feathers in Frame
Feathers in Frame displays over 50 photos taken of birds in their natural habitats by experienced Kiwi photographer Bruce Jenkins.
Let the light in
Displaying 12 bright works depicting her relationship with the sun, Ruby Wilkinson combines her talents and passions in her new exhibition Sun Room.
Medicine for the soul
Showing at Exhibitions Gallery, Mervin Singham’s new exhibition features 14 brilliantly colourful paintings that investigate humanity and our connection with each other and the environment.
The power of pāua
Dazzling and contemplative, Pāua: A Contemporary Jewellery Story includes over 70 works that examine and explore Aotearoa’s unique relationship with pāua.
More than meets the eye
Jack Trolove’s newest exhibition, Thresholding, will show his large paintings with the gallery lights turned off, offering the visitors a whole new experience.
Remembering Avenal McKinnon
The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata pays tribute to their former director, the late Avenal McKinnon, with a wonderful display from her personal portrait collection.
Unguarded moments
Showing now at Envy6011, Total Control displays photographs taken by Adrienne Martyn, a Wellington-based artist whose works are held in major public collections throughout Aotearoa.
Permanent Green
Local artist Alicja Gear captures moments where light dances across the landscape with her expressive oil paintings. The combination of the large gestural marks and bold use of the colour green leads audiences on an insightful journey through Aotearoa’s native bush.
A defiant roar against despair
A celebration of nature and magic, with swirls of fine line inkwork and washes of shimmering gold, Pepper Raccoon’s first solo exhibition explores what happens when the natural world evolves beyond what we imagine.
The ancient artform of tapestry
New Zealand artist Patricia Armour explores her interpretations of Greek mythology through the ancient artform of tapestry. This series of work is based loosely on the origin story of the Pleiades constellation.
Ko wai a Māpihi? This is not Water?
Artists Cae Te Wheoro Heke and Nick Denton have created a vibrant and fascinating exhibition that sheds light on an ancient Wellington stream, one that has been both hidden and forgotten by many over time.
The truth is out there
The Truth Is Out There is an exciting exhibition that should be explored by anyone interested in UFOs, alien abductions, and other unexplained phenomena as some big questions will be asked by the artists who created this intriguing journey through outer space.
Meaningless possessions
Kate Beatty’s newest exhibition is one that forces audiences to question what is really important. Her beautiful paintings reflect the importance people put on items that are glamorous and expensive, instead of focusing on what is truly valuable.
The forces that shape our environment
Award-winning visual artist Jacqui Colley has teamed up with four other artists to create an exhibition that investigates and questions matters that affect all of us in Aotearoa and around the world.
Lisa Reihana makes a splash
Surveys of internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist Lisa Reihana are currently taking place across Wellington, including Nomads of the Sea, an exhibition at Pātaka Art + Museum.
Artist celebrates Wellington buildings
Welsh import Stacey Fraser-Allen demonstrates her love for the buildings of Wellington in a new watercolour exhibition coming to Thistle Hall.
The king of quirk’s latest work
Paul Vincent’s new series of paintings was inspired by American blues legend Mose Allison.
Beautiful failures
Running at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata until the 13th of March, Unfinished Portraits proves we can learn from abandoned artworks.
Mischievous Indigenous art
Mischief Makers, on now at Pātaka Art + Museum, showcases Māori and Moana artists who use humour to make a point.
Beautiful contradictions
Renowned Otago farmer Eden Hore spent years collecting couture gowns, which are displayed alongside stunning photographs in this new exhibition at The Dowse Art Museum.
A pivotal period for New Zealand
Face Time: Portraits from the 1980s, opening soon at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, reflects on the historical, social, economic, and political shifts we saw throughout the 80s.
Secret paintings revealed
A highly anticipated exhibition by revolutionary Swedish artist Hilma af Klint will open soon at City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi.
Figures of the night
Four artists with a similarly grungy aesthetic dissect club culture and pop culture in Nightcore, opening on the 12th of November at Envy6011.
Artist stares down trauma
Sculptor and author Catherine Daniels exorcises her childhood trauma in The Secret Keeper, on now at the Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art.
Take time to kōrero
A new digital exhibition featuring many of our most lauded artists encourages Kiwis to talk about mental health.
Min Kim and her friends
Christchurch-based artist and gallery owner Min Kim presents a new exhibition of watercolours and oil paintings at the Alfred Memelink Artspace Gallery.
The many faces of Wellington
For his first solo exhibition, Clark Roworth has created a deck of 54 giant playing cards depicting people from all corners of Wellington.
Omitted artists
Autonomous Bodies, a new exhibition running at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, showcases women, non-white, and LGBTQIA+ artists.
One last ride
As more provincial tracks close, two photographers shine a spotlight on the horse racing community and its venues.
Local Surrealist gets in on the action
As Te Papa hosts its international Surrealism exhibition, The Kiwi Art House Gallery is drawing attention to our very own Wellington Surrealist.
The beauty of Japanese dolls
An exhibition of 67 unique Japanese dolls – ningyō – is on now at the Massey University College of Creative Arts campus.
Emerging Māori artists shine
An exhibition will showcase the finalists for this year’s Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata until the 15th of August.
Long-awaited Surrealist exhibition opens
Surrealist Art, the largest Surrealist exhibition ever shown in New Zealand, includes masterpieces by Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and more.
A different kind of family portrait
In an exhibition opening soon at The Dowse Art Museum, Claudia Kogachi sheds light on her relationship with her mother through the frame of competitive sports.
Aotearoa through a Japanese lens
Porirua-based artist Alistair McDonald imagines how Andō Hiroshige, a great master of ukiyo-e, might interpret New Zealand in his latest exhibition.
What it means to be good
Artist Ayesha Green deciphers what it means to be a ‘good citizen’ from a wāhine Māori perspective in her latest exhibition.
The to and fro of technology and climate change
Photographer Clayton Morgan highlights the positive and negative impacts technology has on the climate in TerraObscura, on now at Toi Pōneke Arts Centre.
Indigenous Arctic artists share their concerns
Indigenous artists from the circumpolar world visualise the threats facing their people in a new exhibition running at Pātaka Art + Museum.
The rise of graffiti in Aotearoa
The Most Dedicated: An Aotearoa Graffiti Story, an exhibition opening soon at The Dowse Art Museum, explores the impact of street art collective TMD for the first time at any major public gallery.
The destruction of our wetlands
Lisa Clunie and Thorsten Hoppe illustrate what our communities have lost following decades of exploitation of our wetlands in their new Photospace Gallery exhibition.
Father and daughter connect in new exhibition
Photographer Sara McIntyre and her late father Peter McIntyre pay tribute to Kākahi, a beloved rural King Country town, in a joint exhibition opening soon at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata.
Pacific artist connects cultures
On now at Pātaka Art + Museum, Yuki Kihara explores her multicultural heritage in an exhibition of garments inspired by the Sāmoan siapo and the Japanese kimono.
The misrepresentation of Māori men
Photographer Chevron Hassett addresses the harmful ways in which Māori men are represented in Aotearoa.
Artist and animator join forces
Animator Simon Ward brings the psychedelic illustrations of Jess Johnson to life in Terminus, an immersive VR experience on now at The Dowse Art Museum.
Street art: The Mover
For the final entry in our long-running Street Art Series, we chat to artists Gabriel Heimler and Anna Proc about their iconic Wellington mural.
Street art: Sworn enermies: Felines vs. Canines
We chat to street artist Andrew J. Steel about one of his many iconic Wellington murals.
Painter depicts the power of protest
Lisa Chandler’s The Diving Line, an exhibition inspired by protests around the world, will open at Expressions Whirinaki on the 19th of December.
Eroding coastline captured on canvas
Artist Neil Frazer depicts the ever-changing Tongapōrutu coastline in his latest exhibition.
Street art: Mind the Balance
We chat to artist Elise Grangier about her Newtown mural, a collaborative project with James Mitchell.
Exhibition asks us to embrace discomfort
Optimism and its afterlives, a new joint exhibition running at Enjoy Contemporary Art Space until the 5th of December, asks us to bask in the disarray of key transitional moments.
Artist pleas for change
For John Walsh, the artist behind Uawa Tolaga Bay, this one’s personal.
Street art: Porirua 50th Anniversary
We chat to street artists Chloē Reweti and Ruth ‘Gorse’ Robertson-Taylor about their Cobham Court mural.
Street art: A Tribute to Rita Angus
We chat to street artist Askew One about his Willis Street mural.
A landmark art series returns
The Death and Resurrection of Luigi Spinelli was a landmark series for Piera McArthur ONZM. The 15 paintings, which she began in 1980, tell the Italian legend of a man killed by a bull and the sorrow and enlightenment that followed for his widow.
Street art: Tane Te Ohanga – The Bird Sanctuary
We chat to street artist Poi ‘TECHS’ Ngawati about his iconic mural in Tawa.