Acclaimed Māori artist Shane Cotton has been awarded The Dowse Foundation’s $100,000 Major Art Commission, one of the most significant art commissions in Aotearoa.
“Cotton established himself at the forefront of the renaissance of Māori art in the 1990s and his distinguished career now spans over three decades. His practice is underpinned by recurrent questioning of his own bicultural identity, and our collective cultural identity.
Shane Cotton is as an internationally renowned New Zealand artist, who has exhibited extensively in New Zealand and abroad. In 2008, he received a Laureate Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation and, in 2012 was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the visual arts.
Cotton established himself at the forefront of the renaissance of Māori art in the 1990s and his distinguished career now spans over three decades. His practice is underpinned by recurrent questioning of his own bicultural identity, and our collective cultural identity. To offer a view into Te Ao Māori (Māori world view), Shane had to commit to learning and understanding Mātauranga Māori (knowledge). As his practice developed, he has built on the knowledge of his ancestors, actively absorbing and re-examining the past to contextualise what biculturalism means in the present day. The symbols from Māori and Pakeha cultural histories in his paintings are predominantly derived from post-contact Māori art, and prompt conversations about nationhood and identity.
Cotton has created a distinctive iconography, which draws on both European and Māori historical sources, and explores complex issues of colonization, bicultural exchange, and identity. His work frequently makes reference to Māori folk art – art that developed post-contact, and incorporated elements from European culture. This type of art was particularly prominent in the first half of the 20th century, and it is often seen to encapsulate the complex cross-cultural exchange that came with colonisation. Cotton has explored such subject matter in his art practice, creating contemporary art works that critically engage with the complexities of bi-cultural discourse in New Zealand. Cotton has shaped this swathe of visual references and touchstones into a contemporary visual lexicon. This has proven highly successful and has been the foundation of his ever-growing critical acclaim.
Having spent several years in Manawatu, Cotton is now based in Northland. His formative years were in Te Awakairangi Hutt Valley. His extensive exhibition history is highlighted by exhibitions as New Zealand’s representative at the Prague Bienniale in 2005, at the Asia Society Museum (New York), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney) The Dowse Art Museum, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, and IMA (Brisbane 2012-13). His works are held in all major public collections in New Zealand and Australia.
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