Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
’s city centre, is a space that presents contemporary experimental art projects. Blue Oyster included over 1,000 artists in more than 270 projects over its first 10 years and it continues to provide a space for artists to present their work.
History and operations
As a not for profit organisation, the gallery serves the local and national art community as a venue for exhibiting alternative and non-commercial art work that offers an environment of criticality, support and learning to emerging and experimental artists.
The space opened in 1999 after the project spaces Honeymoon Suite and Everything Incorporated closed down. The founding artists Wallace Chapman, Kate Plaistead, Emily Barr,
Steve Carr
Steven Harold Carr (born April 7, 1965) is an American film director, music video director, and film producer from Brooklyn, New York. After studying fine arts on a full scholarship to Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, Carr founded design ...
, and Douglas Kelaher set up the Blue Oyster Arts Trust, and once the trust was established it took over the venue of Everything Incorporated. Blue Oyster's aim is to broaden an interest and understanding of contemporary art by “acting as an incubator for new ideas in contemporary art involving practitioners from all media”. The project space presents a dynamic public programme that includes discussion sessions, workshops, artist’s talks and performances.
Blue Oyster has a strong history in extending support to young artists building their careers in the
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
arts scene and promoting new and innovative art practices. As the gallery and Trust have evolved, they have continued to assist, promote and support emerging artists, writers, curators and practitioners with 12 exhibitions, 10 events (talks, screenings, performances), 2 workshops, 2 residencies, and 3 publications per year.Ribbung, Andreas “Blue Oyster”. Super Market 2016 Stockholm Independent Art Fair. Retrieved 09 June 2016. The gallery's director from 2017–2020 was Grace Ryder, and Hope Wilson took on the position in 2020.
Dunedin City Council
The Dunedin City Council () is the Local government in New Zealand, local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since O ...
, along with a range of other sponsors, patrons, stakeholders and supporters in and around the
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
community. The space is part of a nationwide network of non-profit organisations that support emerging and experimental artists including: Enjoy Public Art Gallery, The Physics Room, Artspace, Objectspace, and CIRCUIT Artist Film & Video Aotearoa – most of which started out as artist-run spaces.
Exhibition history
Notable exhibitions include: an early exhibition by Julian Dashper (2000); an early exhibition by Séraphine Pick titled ''Display'' (2000); several early exhibitions by Steve Carr (1999–2001); an early exhibition by 2010 Walters Prize winner Dan Arps (2001); a work called "Walk" by Kate Fitzharris in 2011, a solo exhibition by Pauline Rhodes (2002); a group exhibition including Sarah Jane Parton (2005); solo exhibitions by 2016 Walters Prize nominees Shannon Te Ao (2013) and Nathan Pohio (2003); and grand re-opening solo exhibition by Judy Darragh (2013). Recently, Blue Oyster has also shown ''Duty Free Art'' (2014) by internationally renowned artist