Art & Design - New Zealand & Pacific Art

East is a sampling of 136 of Stanley Palmer's works ranging across four decades. From early woodcuts through Palmer's unique bamboo engravings, to his delicate monoprints and evocative paintings, this extensive selection celebrates the work of one of our most-loved and prolific artists and also our own edge of the Pacific.

Quilts generically known as tivaevae have been produced by women in the Cook Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Society Islands and elsewhere in Eastern Polynesia since the late 19th century, where they were a substitute for bark-cloth but also used in ways deeply invested in the new context of Christian domesticity. In the Cook Islands, quilts are stitched to be given away at funerals, at weddings and other events marking stages of loss and severance in the life of a person. Although often kept for years in trunks far away from th... read more

Published to celebrate the centenary of Rita Angus's birth marked by a major new exhibition of her work at Te Papa. This catalogue will be the first to acknowledge Angus's status as an artist, with full-page colour reproductions of every work included in the show. Drawing on public and private collections, it will present a range of Angus' work never seen before, from iconic paintings like Rutu (1951), Cass (1936) and Flight (1969) to Angus's celebrated and intriguing self-portraits, and previously undocumented works in a surprisin... read more

A popular format edition of Icons Ng

Fronting Up is a rich, large-format sample of more than 100 classic magazine covers, all drawn from the extensive archives of the Auckland Museum Library. The selected publications span 165 years, and include both household names - such as the Listener, New Zealand Woman's Weekly and the departed Auckland Weekly News - and less well-known publications, such as Typo, Tomahawk and Tit-Bits. They all provide an insight into the nation's interests and changing reading habits, while their colourful covers are a panorama of graphic desig... read more

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Sophisticated, inventive and sincere, the lithographs of Ralph Hotere are presented here in their entirety. 143 pages, 135 illustrations. First published 2005.

An elegant, collectable artist's book on one of New Zealand's most inventive and provocative artists. Insightful, accessible texts by Justin Paton, Jennifer Hay and Anna Smith. Designed by artist Aaron Beehre, with textured, debossed hardcover and place marker ribbon. Colour images of Morison's most significant works, all newly photographed in the spectacular spaces of Christchurch Art Gallery.

A book about the exhibition presented at the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the exhibition ran for almost two years (from 2006-2008) and involved a series of events including workshops, a conference and a visiting artists programme. Pasifika Styles featured a star-studded lineup of artists including Beck’s Futures finalist Francis Upritchard, Michel Tuffery, Lisa Reihana, Rachel Rakena and Reuben Paterson. Showing contemporary artists working alongside the world's best collection of oceanic ar... read more

From British factories, through Kiwi pioneers, to corrugated iron’s rebirth as an architectural fashion material, here is the story and romance of how the black sand on our beaches became the wrinkly tin on our homes. If it’s not cladding roofs and walls, corrugated iron turns up on aircraft, army tanks, artworks, baches, band rotundas, barbecues, barns, boatsheds, canoes, chimneys, chookhouses, churches, dog kennels, du... read more

Art history in New Zealand had been dominated by landscape paintings, but there is a compementary field of portrait painting which has not received the same attention. This book redresses the balance a little by presenting a selection of self portraits by well-known New Zealand artists. This Thing in the Mirror is not a comprehensive survey of New Zealand self-portraiture nor a thorough academic study. Instead, in a style intended to appeal to the general reader as well as the art specialist, it seeks to peel back a few layersw,... read more

Fergus Collinson has painted more-or-less full-time for some 20 years and has a strong following among collectors. He has had many exhibitions and his work features in hundreds of private, institutional and corporate collections. Fergus illustrated a popular children¹s book, Tug Brothers, written by Elizabeth Smither. Recently he did a series of paintings for Wellington City Library, commissioned by Athfield Architects. Often described as a jazz painter, Fergus does his painting to the sound of swing era jazz, and his writing rattl... read more

THE YEAR OF THE HORSE is written as a letter: a letter of farwell. It also traces the year the author spent making a bronze sculpture. In essence, it's a story about finding a way to live one's life. Sam Mahon could be described as living the life of the selfish artist. The quintessential Renaissance man takes on a commission from a large corporation as a challenge: that challenge is to make a life-sized bronze of 'the Southern Man' and his horse. The subsequent conflicts implicit in their relationship are laid bare, while t... read more

Internationally, artists in the Pacific region are at the forefront of vibrant and provocative contemporary art. They refuse to be limited by Western influence or tribal background. Yet both their heritage and global culture rerich the original and surprising modes of expression they are desveloping.

Internationally, art fairs are becoming one of the highlights of the serious art collectorâÂÃÂÂÂÂÂ... read more

From the earth and returning to earth - it is a cycle of regeneration that has existed for millennia. Award-winning artist and photographer Martin Hill takes his inspiration from the natural beauty of this circle of life. It is his concern about the destructive linear design - take, make, waste - of contemporary society that led him to use his art as a forum to promote ecological sustainability. Whether the top of a snow-dusted mountain, or the sand of a windblown beach, each of Martin's locations is left in the state in which it w... read more

An exciting collection and commentary on contemporary pacific art. This book offers a contextual understanding of the contemporary Pacific art movement in New Zealand. As well as examining key individual artists, the book also addresses the key issues that underlie this movement as well as the inspirations for creating this art. It is a focused overview of a very specific period and it contextualises the emergent Pacific art within the broader New Zealand socio-political scene of the time, particularly that of the Maori sovereignt... read more

Drawing on the most up-to-date scholarship, Maori Art and Design takes a fresh look at the Maori visual arts, with an emphasis not so much on the history of craft as on the design itself. Covering tattooing, drawing and painting, carving and weaving, the book explores the origination, evolution, and significance of the designs, and also explains the materials and techniques used to create them. The book is illustrated throughout with a mix of black-and-white and colour photography, representing the full range of artefacts from hist... read more

New Zealand in Watercolour showcases a selection of beautiful paintings by 30 of the country's leading watercolour artists. Four or five paintings from each contributor are displayed, accompanied by captions from the artists themselves that explain their technical and emotional approach to the subject, along with a brief artist profile and photo. The subtlety and range of this popular medium are exquisitely reproduced, creating a special collection of artistic perspectives on the New Zealand landscape, people and daily life that wi... read more