Works
Chris Heaphy
b.1965 Palmerston North, New Zealand (Ngai Tahu)
Lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand
Chris Heaphy's broad appeal derives in part from the invention and development of a visually arresting personal symbology of signs. Informed by a Derridean analysis of the instability of the sign, Chris is particularly interested in the “inevitable change or slippage of meaning of the symbol.” (Artist’s statement, Frieze Art Fair, London, 2007) Drawing from an artillery of motifs both conventional and invented Chris constructs signs within signs that piece together indicators of his own identity. Fundamentally his practice engages with the notion that the relationship between sign and signifier, like that of culture and identity, is fluid, ambiguous and in a constant state of flux.
Chris Heaphy was born in New Zealand in 1965 and is of Ngai Tahu and European extraction. He attended the Canterbury school of Fine Art graduating in 1991 with a BFA in painting. In 1998 he graduated from the RMIT University in Melbourne Australia with an MFA in painting. Heaphy has been successful in securing a number of grants and fellowships including Te Waka Toi grants in 1993 and 1994, the Olivia Spencer Bower Fellowship in 1995, two Creative New Zealand grants in 1999, and a research grant from WINTEC which enabled him to undertake a residency at Melbourne’s RMIT University. In 2000-2001 Heaphy undertook a residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris as well as the Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Residency in Champagne in 2001. Chris recently enjoyed international success in the 2007 Frieze Art Fair in London with all three of his paintings exhibited by Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York) being purchased by international collectors. Heaphy has exhibited extensively throughout Australasia and Europe and his work is included in numerous major public and private collections in New Zealand and further abroad. Heaphy currently lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand.
Education
1991 BFA, Ilam, Christchurch
1998 MFA, RMIT University, Melbourne
Lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008 Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2007 The End of Nothing, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
2005 Stereo, Michael Lett, Auckland, NZ
After the Big Bang, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
2004 Michael Lett, Auckland, NZ
Stereo, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
2003 Stereo, Michael Lett, Auckland, NZ
2002 Wonder works, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
2001 New Works, Cite Gallery, Paris, France
2000 Wonder Works, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
1999 New Works, Peter Mcleavey Gallery, Wellington, NZ
Rites of Passage, Jonathon Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
1998 Merri, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
Visions, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland NZ
1997 Hope, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
New paintings, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, NZ
Walk this way, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland NZ
Walk this way, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North
1996 Into the black, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
New Paintings, Peter Mcleavey Gallery, Wellington, NZ
1995 New Dirt, Gregory Flint Gallery, Auckland, NZ
Dirt, Jonathan Smart galley, Christchurch NZ
1993 In-between, Gregory Flint Gallery, Auckland, NZ
Selected Group Exhibitions
2007 Frieze Art Fair, London, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, USA
2006 Triple Candy, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
Turn Off The Centry, Pataka Gallery, Porirui, NZ
Group Exhibition, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
2005 Ka Kino To Pounamu He Pounamu Onamata, Auckland Art Gallery, NZ
Contexts: Being Bicultural in Contemporary Art, Hawke’s Bay Cultural Trust, Napier, NZ
Michael Lett, Auckland, NZ
2004 Michael Lett Gallery stand, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia
2003 Changing times in painting, Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Slow Light, Curated by Wystan Curnow, Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland, Auckland, NZ
2001 Painted Spaces, Australia Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia
Parihaka, City Gallery, Wellington, NZ
Accents Australians, Adamski Gallery, Paris, France
Painted spaces, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Gallery, NZ
1999 Rukutia! Rukutia!, Ngai Tahu Exhibition Te Waipounamu house, Christchurch, NZ
Home and Away, Chartwell Collection Auckland City Art Gallery, New Gallery, Auckland, NZ
1998 Skywriters and Earthmovers, Robert McDougal Art Gallery, Christchurch, NZ
Transaction, Parasite Gallery, Hong Kong
Shades of Grey, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Gallery, NZ
Transaction, West space Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Chartwell Exhibition, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Gallery, NZ
1997 Strata, Story Hall Gallery, Melbourne Australia
In and Out of place, 101 Collins Street Gallery, Melbourne Australia
Coded, Waikato Museum of Art, Hamilton, NZ
1996 Visa Gold Art award, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Gallery, NZ
Pins and Needles, Bishop Suter Art Gallery, Nelson, NZ
Kai Tahu Exhibition, Aigantighe Gallery, Timaru, NZ
1995 Korurangi New Maori Art, Auckland City Art Gallery, New Gallery, NZ
A Very Peculiar Practice, Aspects of Recent New Zealand Painting, City Gallery, Wellington, NZ
Stop Making Sense Collaboration with Gordon Walters, City Art Gallery, Wellington, NZ
1994 The Face, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, NZ
Te Puaroa Te Waka Toi, Shed 1 Wellington, NZ
1993 Groundswell, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, NZ
Tai Tokerau Contemporary Art Exhibition, Waitangi Hotel, Waitangi, NZ
Te Hau A Tonga, Te Taumata Gallery, Auckland, NZ
Awards and Fellowships
1993 Te Waka Toi Grant
1995 Olivia Spencer-Bower Fellowship
1998 Research Grant Residency, RMIT University
1999 Creative New Zealand Grant
2000-2001 Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Residency, Champagne, France
Selected Bibliography
Cross, David. ‘A walk along the Fault line: The art of Chris Heaphy” in Art New Zealand No. 89. 1998
Cross, David, Home and Away: Contemporary Australian and New Zealand art from the Chartwell Collection (Ed. William McAloon). Pg 50. Auckland Art Gallery, 1999
Heaphy, Chris. and McKay, Bill. Chris Heaphy: Walk this way, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, 1997
Herrick, Linda, ‘ Paring back to essentials’ The New Zealand Herald, Pg.B7, Wednesday, July 28, 2004
McNamara, T.J. ‘ Best Bets For Punters’, The New Zealand Herald, Pg. B6, Wednesday, August 11, 2004
McNamara T.J. ‘Peephole to Infinity’, The New Zealand Herald, PG.B6, Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Smith, Allan. A Very Peculiar Practice: Aspects of Recent New Zealand Painting, City Gallery, Wellington, 1995.
Szekely, Chris (ED.). Korurangi: New Maori art, Auckland Art Gallery, 1996
Thomas, David, Changing Times in Painting, Conny Dietzschold Gallery, 2003
Selected Public and Private Collections
Christchurch Art Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
National Library Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Chartwell Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Sargeant Art Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
Jenny Gibbs Collection, Auckland, New Zealand