Shane William CottonONZM (born 3 October 1964) is a New Zealand painter whose work explores biculturalism, colonialism, cultural identity, Māori spirituality, and life and death.
Life
Cotton was born in Upper Hutt with Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Hine and Te Uri Taniwha iwi affiliations[1] (his father a member of the Ngāpuhi iwi and his mother European). Cotton studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch, graduating in 1988 and then went on to gain a Diploma of Education from Christchurch College of Education. After finishing his studies he lectured at Massey University, Palmerston North, in the Māori visual arts programme until 2005 when he left to concentrate on his art practice full-time. He lives and works in Palmerston North.[2][3][4][1]
Cotton's work includes Māori iconography and culture, such as shrunken heads, mokomokai, and native birds such as tūī, and European symbols and items. His paintings have explored questions of colonialism, cultural identity, Māori spirituality, and life and death.[4] Describing his practice, Cotton says, "Biculturalism, how our histories have been interwoven over time, things that have come out of that connection – culture, politics, societal living – have been the driving factors in my work."[8]
1998 Ethel Rose Overton Scholarship; Sawtell-Turner Prize in Painting; Irwin Allen Hunt Scholarship; Frances Hodgkins Fellowship University of Otago, Dunedin; Seppelt Contemporary Art Award for visual arts, Museum of contemporary Art, Sydney.
1997 New Painting, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch; Square Style, Mori Gallery, Sydney
1996 New Painting, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland; New Painting, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington
1995 Shane Cotton: Recent Paintings, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth; Te Ta Pahara, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch; Shane Cotton: Recent Paintings, Darren Knight Gallery, Melbourne; Ta Te Whenua, Manawatu Art Gallery Palmerston North; Fisher Gallery, Auckland
1994 New Works, Claybrook Gallery, Auckland; New Painting, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington
1993 Collections: New Work by Shane Cotton, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington
1992 Strata, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch
1990 Nature Forms Myth, Last Decade Gallery, Wellington
References
^ a b c dBorell N. Jackson M. Taiaroa T. & Auckland Art Gallery (2022). Toi tū toi ora : contemporary Māori art. Penguin Random House New Zealand in association with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-14-377673-4.
^"Nadene Milne Gallery - Art, Artists, Exhibitions, Christchurch, Arrowtown, New Zealand". Nadene Milne Gallery. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^ a b"Artist Profile: Shane Cotton". Sherman Galleries. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
^ a b"Shane Cotton". Hamish McKay Gallery. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
^"Shane Cotton". Creative Giants of Palmerston North. Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
^"St Joseph's Church". Studio Pacific Architecture. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
^Hanfling, Edward (Winter 2015). "Painting the multiverse: Shane Cotton discusses the creation of pictorial words". Art New Zealand (154): 42–49 & 104.
^Blundell, Kay (9 June 2012). "Artist 'humbled' to receive award". Stuff. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
^"Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee honours list 2012". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"Shane Cotton | Arts Foundation Laureate".
^"Shane Cotton Supersymmetry". Ocula. 16 May 2024. Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
^"Helgoland". Brooke Gifford Gallery. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
Further reading
‘Shane Cotton’ The Arts Foundation. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
‘Shane Cotton: The Hanging Sky’ City Gallery Wellington. Resource Card. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
'Shane Cotton, The Hanging Sky' 2013. Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland. ISBN 9781877375255. Text by Eliot Weinberger, Justin Paton, Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow and Robert Leonard.
‘Artist Profile, Shane Cotton’ Conceptioart. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
‘Shane Cotton: Stamina, Surprise and Suspense’ Justin Paton, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, 1 December 2012. Transcript of an interview with Shane Cotton.
‘Story: Painting, Shane Cotton’ Te Ara. The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
Daly-Peoples, John (20 July 2010). ‘Shane Cotton paintings examine the cultural landscape’. NBR Radio.
McAloon, William (1999). home and away. Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art from the Chartwell Collection. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Pg. 62.
Strongman, Lara, ed. (2004). Shane Cotton. Victoria University Press.
Trevelyn, Jill. ‘Shane Cotton’. Retrieved 13 June 2015.