Tao Wells is a New Zealand Artist and a voluntary community conceptualist, [1] whose work is known for its critiques of established systems of power and value. [2]
Tao Wells is a New Zealand Artist and a voluntary community conceptualist, [1] whose work is known for its critiques of established systems of power and value. [2]
Wells was born in Colorado, United States, and moved to New Zealand at a young age. Growing up in Taranaki, Ngāmotu/New Plymouth, he completed a BFA in photography at Canterbury University and a MFA in the Avant-garde and Education, at Massey University in Wellington.
In 2000 Wells was asked to join up with the original three founders of Enjoy Gallery, at 174 Cuba St, Wellington.
In 2002 after the original three founders of Enjoy left the gallery, Wells added "Public" to the galleries name, making it "Enjoy Public Art Gallery". He also coined the phrase "Liberated from commercial constraint" to reflect the public funding from Creative New Zealand, he helped the gallery to receive. The gallery kept this name and phrase for 18 years and has enjoyed over a million dollars of public funding. [3]
In 2007, Wells became the only non Auckland based member of the influential artist run gallery, Gambia Castle.
In 2009, Wells was given, legendary contemporary art dealer, Peter McLeavey's 500th show, in his gallery at 147 Cuba St, Wellington. [4]
Wells' 2010 work the "Beneficiary's Office" was managed by his creation of a 'Public Public Relations' organization called "Wells Group". The performance was part of a larger series of temporary projects curated by Letting Space in Wellington. The "Beneficiary's Office" was controversial in its promotion of the opportunities and benefits of unemployment in an effort to criticize the contemporary abuse of work and working.
"We need to work less, so we consume less. The average carbon footprint of the unemployed person is about half of those earning over $100,000", "We should never be forced to take a job. If you're forced to take a job it's a punishment. If a job is a punishment then all we are building as a society, is a prison". [5]
"I believe that, the true artists of our times, are the politicians and PR companies and the Lobby groups, that are creating the frames, for how we interpret reality." [6]
The initial media coverage incorrectly reported that he received funding of $40,000 for the art project. Creative New Zealand released a clarification, stating that the total amount for Wells' show was actually $3,500. [7] As a result of the media coverage, he had his benefit cancelled by Work and Income, with Wells and a welfare advocate questioning the illegality of WINZ's decision, it was reinstated. [8]
American writer Chris Kraus compared the Wells Group project with the concerns of French philosopher Simone Weil and the Italian NO WORK "Movement of 77'.
"What you did Tao, I thought, was incredibly courageous and profound... To be both dependent on that system and to so publicly expose the issues around that system was very brave... to be a public beneficiary that's about as bad as it gets. " [9]
Writing by Wells has appeared numerous times in the magazine White Fungus. [10]
In 2018, Easier – a 72 glossy retrospective of his work – was published by the Govett-Brewster International Art Gallery featuring an essay on his practice by Chris Kraus. The publication looks at thirty years of Tao's involvement in contemporary art. And makes a strong argument for Artists that work for Universities to promote their works sponsorship, and stop flooding the market with their subsidised but not indicated, not independent, work. [11]
In her book Social Practices(Semiotext(e) Active Agent Series, 2018) Kraus revisits Wells' work and praises it, "Wells reads deep into all the games surrounding cultural and economic life... he endeavors to put on the table all the business conducted underneath the table, exposing it to public view.” [12] In a review of that work, Brooklyn Rail highlights the central role of Wells' practice, describing it as illustrating "how bound activism and art have become, doing what traditional activists' tactics alone could not." [13]
He lives in Dunedin, New Zealand, with his two children [14] after a period based in Nelson. [15]
Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston was a New Zealand artist. He is regarded as one of the most important New Zealand painters of the 20th century.
Michael Duncan Smither is a New Zealand painter and composer.
Chris Kraus is a writer and critic. Her work includes the novels I Love Dick, Aliens and Anorexia, and Torpor, which form a loose trilogy that navigates between autobiography, fiction, philosophy, and art criticism, and a sequence of novels dealing with American underclass experience that began with Summer of Hate. Her approach to writing has been described as ‘performance art within the medium of writing’ and ‘a bright map of presence’. Her work has drawn controversy through its equalisation of high and low culture, mixing critical theory with colloquial language and graphic representations of sex. Her books often blend intellectual, political, and sexual concerns with wit, oscillating between esoteric referencing and parody. She has written extensively in the fields of art and cultural criticism.
Ivan Thomas Bootham was a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, poet and composer.
Julian Dashper, was regarded as one of New Zealand's most well known contemporary artists.
Sarah Jane Parton is a new media artist based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Ronnie van Hout is a New Zealand artist and musician living in Melbourne, Australia. He works across a wide variety of media including sculpture, video, painting, photography, embroidery, and sound recordings.
Vivian Isabella Lynn was a New Zealand artist.
Rachael Rakena is a New Zealand artist.
Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi is a Tongan artist who has lived in New Zealand since 1978. He has exhibited in major exhibitions in New Zealand and abroad. Several major collections include his work. The 2010 Art and Asia Pacific Almanac describes him as "Tongan art's foremost ambassador".
Peter Joseph John McLeavey was a New Zealand art dealer and advocate based in Wellington.
Judith Ann Darragh is a New Zealand artist who uses found objects to create sculptural assemblages. She has also worked in paint and film. Darragh is represented in a number of public collections in New Zealand. In 2004, The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa held a major retrospective of her work titled Judy Darragh: So... You Made It?
Ann Shelton is a New Zealand photographer and academic.
Giovanni Intra was an artist, writer, and art dealer who moved from his native New Zealand to the United States in 1996.
Bridget Reweti is a New Zealand photographer and moving image artist of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Reweti is a member of the artist group Mata Aho Collective.
Kerry Ann Lee is a visual artist, designer, and scholar in design at Massey University College of Creative Arts, in Wellington, New Zealand.
Denise Kum is a New Zealand artist. Her works are held in the collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and the University of Auckland art collection.
Louise Menzies is a New Zealand artist based in Auckland. Her works are held in the Auckland Art Gallery collection.
Robert Leonard is a New Zealand art curator, writer, and publisher.
Ronald Norris O'Reilly was a librarian who promoted and exhibited contemporary New Zealand art. He served as Christchurch city librarian from 1951 to 1968, and director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery from 1975 to 1979.
