Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

When Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki opened in 1888, it shared a building with the public library, and its collection consisted of a gift of British and European art from Sir George Grey. The gallery now has more than 17,000 works in its collection, and purpose-built spaces for regularly changing exhibitions.

The gallery held one of its first exhibitions of Latin American art between 1972 and 1973, when it hosted Portrait of Mexico during its tour of New Zealand. This large exhibition of sculpture, painting, ceramics, pottery, folk art and religious art displayed Mexico’s cultural development over 35 centuries

In 2016, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki curated Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America, Australasia’s first major exhibition of South American art. Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America included 100 diverse and innovative pieces of major work and new commissions, by 41 artists and collectives from 6 South American countries. The exhibition aimed to raise visitors’ awareness of the diverse histories, traditions, customs and languages of South American countries. Alongside the exhibition, the gallery ran an events programme that included lectures and discussions with artists, exhibition tours, film showings and musical performances. It also arranged for artists to have residencies with Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, Elam School of Fine Arts and Whitecliffe College of Art and Design.

In 2022, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki hosted its most recent exhibition of South American art - Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Art and Life in Modern Mexico. The exhibition included 40 artworks by Frida and Diego, as well as work by muralists David Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo and María Izquierdo. The gallery also offered a series of public events, including a talk about Mexican modernism by curator Julia Waite; a lecture series on the cultural and artistic foundations of Mexican modern art, by Mexican academics based in New Zealand (Walescka Pino-Ojeda, Leonard Bell and Diana Albarrán González); and screenings of two classic Mexican films: Los de Abajo (1976) and Cuartelazo (1977). The gallery also organised La Fiesta, which allowed visitors to enjoy Mexican food, art, dance, music and storytelling.

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki holds the biennial Walters Prize, which profiles outstanding examples of contemporary New Zealand art. A key feature of the Walters Prize is that it brings to Auckland a distinguished judge with an international perspective. In 2018, Brazilian curator and artistic director of the São Paulo Museum of Art, Adriano Pedrosa, was one of the judges.

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is primarily funded and managed by Auckland Council.

Location

Auckland, New Zealand

Date

Opened in 1888

Published 02 November 2023