Gow Langsford Gallery is a commercial art gallery in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. The gallery was established in 1987 by John Gow and Gary Langsford. Gow Langsford represents many significant New Zealand and international artists, including Max Gimblett, Jacqueline Fahey, Paul Dibble and

Dick Frizzell Richard John Frizzell (born 1943) is a New Zealand artist known for his pop art paintings and prints. His work often features Kiwiana iconography combined with motifs from Māori art traditions, such as the tiki and tā moko. He is based i ...

. It has hosted one-man shows by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

(1998),

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

(2010),

Bernar Venet Bernar Venet (born 20 April 1941) is a French conceptual artist. He was the 2016 recipient of the International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement Award. Early life Bernar Venet was born to Jean-Marie Venet, a school teacher and chemist ...

(2006 and 2012),

Donald Judd Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...

(2002),

Tony Cragg Sir Anthony Douglas Cragg (born Liverpool 9 April 1949) is an Anglo-German sculptor, resident in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977. Early life and training Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool."Tony Cragg." ''Contemporary Artists''. Farmington Hills, ...

(2005 and 2011) and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

(2013),and is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most influential dealer galleries. Gow Langsford has two Auckland premises, one in the inner city, with a larger space in Onehunga. Gow Langsford was previously associated wit
John Leech Gallery
whose origins can be traced back to the mid-19th century.

History

Gary Langsford and John Gow jointly founded the gallery in 1987 in a disused Richmond Road petrol station in

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of t ...

. The gallery opened with a group show that included

, Judy Millar,

Greer Twiss Greer Lascelles Twiss (born 23 June 1937) is a New Zealand sculptor, and in 2011 was the recipient of an Icon Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, limited to 20 living art-makers. Career Twiss was born in Auckland on 23 June 1937, ...

and Allen Maddox. Two months later, the stock market crashed and the gallery building's value was halved from what Gow and Langsford had paid for it. In 1990 the gallery moved to The Strand, and then again in 1992 to Kitchener Street, directly opposite the

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

, its current premises. Between 2002 and 2004 Gow Langsford had a

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

location on Danks Street, and between 2008 and 2021 another Auckland location on Lorne Street. Anna Jackson, formerly a gallery manager, became director of the gallery in 2015 and co-owner in 2020. In the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

, John Gow and Gary Langsford were both appointed

Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

. Gow Langsford has mounted more than 500 exhibitions around the country and many abroad. In the years preceding the

2020 COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

the gallery participated in international art fairs and showed at

Art Basel Hong Kong Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel (Switzerland), Miami Beach (US), Hong Kong and Paris. Art Basel provides a platform for galleries to show and sell their work to buyers, and ...

and Sydney Contemporary. Gow Langsford Gallery's stable of represented artists is now composed primarily of established artists from Australasia, but has also attracted artists from Europe and America. The gallery has sponsored an annual Gow Langsford Gallery Art Prize, awarded to an outstanding recent visual arts graduate who has demonstrated excellence and resilience in their field.

Present

In 2024, Gow Langsford opened a new flagship gallery in Onehunga. It is one of the largest commercial art spaces in Australasia, featuring a premium gallery space, dedicated viewing rooms, studios for promising artists, and an extensive visual arts library. This location offers an exhibition programme of cutting-edge contemporary art, along with curated exhibitions of modern and historic art. The gallery still retains its central Auckland premises directly opposite the Auckland Art Gallery. It represents both new and established artists and has mounted around 500 exhibitions since it opened its doors. Through their constant and varied exhibitions, Gow Langsford wishes to expose their artists to different types of audiences, hence, providing a forum for contemporary art on both the local and international scene. Gow Langsford's recent exhibitions included works by several notable artists: Jacqueline Fahey,

, Max Gimblett, Dale Frank, and John Pule.

Represented artists

* Max Gimblett * Laurence Aberhart *

Katharina Grosse Katharina Grosse (born 2 October 1961) is a German visual artist. She is known for her large-scale, site-related installations to create immersive visual experiences. Grosse's work employs a use of architecture, sculpture and painting. She has be ...

* Dale Frank * John Pule * Judy Millar * Darryn George * Jacqueline Fahey * Paul Dibble *

* Lisa Roet * John Walsh * Michael Hight * Alex Monteith * Reuben Paterson *

Chris Heaphy Chris Heaphy is a New Zealand artist who is based in Auckland. His work explores cultural issues with a greater focus on the relationship between Māori people, Māori and Pākehā due to the artist's background. Early life and education C ...

* Allen Maddox *

Sara Hughes Sara Elizabeth Hughes (born February 14, 1995) is an American beach volleyball player. With teammate Kelly Cheng she achieved a career-high FIVB Beach Volleyball World Rankings, world ranking of No. 2 in August 2023. Hughes has won six tourna ...

* Karl Maughan

References

External links

* {{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Auckland Tourist attractions in Auckland Auckland CBD New Zealand art dealers