Michael Parekowhai
Michael Te Rakato Parekowhai (born Porirua, 1968) is a New Zealand sculptor, of Nga Ariki, Ngati Whakarongo and European descent.
Parekowhai was awarded an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award in 2001, and is currently Professor at Auckland University's Elam School of Fine Arts.[1]
Early life
Both his parents were schoolteachers. Parekowhai spent his childhood and attended school in Auckland's North Shore suburbs. After leaving high-school, Parekowhai worked as a florist's assistant before commencing his BFA at Auckland University's Elam School of Fine Arts (1987–1990). Parekowhai trained as a high-school art teacher, before returning to Elam to complete his MFA (1998–2000).
Themes and style
He makes a broad range of work, across a range of media that intersects sculpture and photography.
- "...interweaves the canon of “high art” with cultural tradition, the handmade object with mass-produced tourist tat, the imported with the proudly colloquial. With the diligence of a cultural props person, he appropriates the already appropriated in a manner that is often humorous, at times uncomfortable..."[2]
Despite the range of Parekowhai's output, his practice is linked throughout, both stylistically - a characteristic 'gloss' of high production value, and thematically.
Notable works
- On First Looking into Chapmans Homer - an installation of two bronze bulls on the grand pianos, two bronze olive saplings and the figure of a stoic security guard was his entry in 54th La Biennale di Venezia in 2011.[3]
- The World Turns - a life-sized bronze elephant tipped on its head and eye-to-eye with a kuril (Water-rat), commissioned by the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.[4][5]
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See also
References
- ↑ http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/people/elam/m-parekowhai
- ↑ "Michael Parekowhai interview", Sally Blundell, May 14, 2011, The Listener
- ↑ "On First Looking into Chapmans Homer", 2011 The Arts Foundation
- ↑ "Million-dollar mammoth makes minister mad", October 17, 2012, Daniel Hurst, brisbanetimes.com.au
- ↑ "ARTIST NAMED FOR $1M SCULPTURE COMMISSION AT GOMA 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY", November 26, 2011, qld.gov.au
External links
- Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki: Works by Michael Parekowhai
- Works at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- Michael Lett: http://www.michaellett.com
- University of Auckland: http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/our-faculty/schools-programmes-and-centres/fine-arts/fa-academic-staff?target=186
- Artfacts.net: http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/23488
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