Ronnie van Hout (born 22 February 1962) is a

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 ...

artist and musician living in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

. He works across a wide variety of media including sculpture, video, painting, photography, embroidery, and sound recordings.

Early life and education

Born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

on 22 February 1962, Van Hout attended the

Ilam School of Fine Arts The Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, located in the Ilam suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, was founded in 1882 as the Canterbury College School of Art. The school became a full department of the university in the ...

at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

between 1980 and 1982, where he majored in film. In 1999, he gained a Master of Fine Arts from

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

, Melbourne.

Music

The Pin Group

In the early eighties while still studying at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, van Hout became involved in the

music scene. Initially he worked with

The Pin Group The Pin Group was a post-punk band formed in 1980 in Christchurch, New Zealand. They were the first band released on Flying Nun Records, and featured Roy Montgomery, Peter Stapleton, Ross Humphries, Mary Heney, and Peter Fryer. The group were ...

, who were signed to

Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringi ...

, designing posters and filming them in action. Roger Shepherd, owner of Flying Nun, described van Hout’s work as, ‘colorful Warholian images’. He later described van Hout's cover for The Pin Group’s debut single "Ambivalence" as, ‘black on black and depicted an image of helicopters. An allusion to US “black ops” with clandestine undercover secret operations that were real when they were not conspiracy theories.' Van Hout also produced printed material for other Flying Nun bands.

Into The Void

From 1988 Van Hout was also a member of the band Into the Void. Band member Paul Sutherland recalled, ‘Ronnie was just part of the scene, and so he just turned up, but it was pretty obvious he couldn’t play an instrument, so he became a singer and we were a band.’ Into the Void would also sign with Flying Nun Records and still reunites occasionally, playing together as recently as 2016.

Selected solo exhibitions

Van Hout has exhibited extensively, in Australia, New Zealand and internationally, at private and public galleries. His first solo exhibition was ''More for Less'' at City Limits café in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and he was also included in the influential exhibition ''Hangover'' curated by Lara Strongman for the Waikato Museum and Art Gallery (now known as Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) in 1993. He showed with the Auckland group

Teststrip Teststrip was an artist run gallery that operated in Auckland, New Zealand from 1992 to 1997. History In late 1992 the artists Kirsty Cameron, Judy Darragh, Gail Haffern, Giovanni Intra, Denise Kum, Lucy Macdonald, Daniel Malone and Mery ...

, as well as Gregory Flint Gallery, Hamish McKay Gallery,

Gow Langsford Gallery Gow Langsford Gallery is a commercial art gallery in Auckland, 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 Gim ...

, Ivan Anthony Gallery as well as Station and Darren Knight Gallery in Australia. 1994 ''Elvis in Geyserland'', Rotorua Public Art Gallery. 1995 ''Skin Problems''

Gallery, Auckland. 1996 ''I’m OK.''

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is a contemporary art museum at New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in ...

with a catalogue essay by John Hurrell. ''Father, Son, Holy Ghost'', Manawatu Art Gallery (now known as Te Manawa). Reviewer Robin Neate commented of the exhibition that van Hout, ‘…conjured up as many meanings as you can bring to a work.’ 2003 ''I’ve Abandoned Me.'' This survey exhibition curated by

Justin Paton Justin Paton (born 1972) is a New Zealand writer, art critic and curator, currently based in Sydney, Australia. His book ''How to Look at a Painting'' (2005) was adapted into a 12-episode television series by TVNZ in 2011. Education Paton stu ...

at the

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as ...

toured in 2003 and 2004 to Auckland, Wellington and Palmerston North. Paton described van Hout’s career as, ‘

utting Utting am Ammersee (until 1953 just Utting) is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany. History During World War II, a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentratio ...

up on the horizon like a combined laboratory, hall of mirrors and haunted house.’ 2008 ''BED/SIT'' Artspace, Sydney. The gallery's brochure comments, 'The "furniture" represented in ''BED/SIT'' is fake furniture. It is also more than fake - it is double fake. What could be perceived as a representation of simple furniture is also a superficial copy of an artwork by American artist Robert Morris.' 2009 ''Who Goes There?'' Curated by Justin Paton at the

Christchurch Art Gallery The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

it featured the work ''The Thing'' inspired by van Hout’s experience in the

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

. 2010 ''Uncured''. Ronnie van Hout at the

Institute of Modern Art The Institute of Modern Art (IMA) is a public art gallery located in the Judith Wright Arts Centre in the Brisbane inner-city suburb of Fortitude Valley, which features contemporary artworks and showcases emerging artists in a series of group and ...

(IMA) in Brisbane. The gallery's brochure comments, ‘His tragicomic works mash up

Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French ph ...

and Beckett with

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

and

The Nutty Professor The Nutty Professor may refer to: * ''The Nutty Professor'' (1963 film), directed by and starring Jerry Lewis * ''The Nutty Professor'' (1996 film), directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Eddie Murphy ** ''The Nutty Professor'' (soundtrack), sound ...

.’ 2012 ''Ronnie van Hout: I've Seen Things'', The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt. The exhibition coincided with the installation of van Hout’s sculpture ''Fallen Robot'' in the courtyard outside the gallery.

Public sculptures

Van Hout has also produced a number of large-scale or permanent public art works including: 2008 R.U.R. Titled after the 1921 play by Czech playwright

Karel Capek Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley (born 1962), American talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel (1921–2006), Dutch painter and sculptor Business * Karel Elec ...

, the first to popularise the term

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

, ''R. U. R''. lay prone, as though just having fallen outside the

Royal Exhibition Building The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between ...

during the opening of the Melbourne Art Fair. The work was later shown at Monash University. 2001 ''Rear Window,'' Dunedin Public Art Gallery. The artist constantly opens the viewing window in a security door, but no-one is there. 2018 ''A Loss Again'', Te Papa's Sculpture terrace featured an installation by van Hout of two replicas of his father’s tool shed. 2012 ''Fallen Robot,'' The 7.2m-long stainless steel sculpture of a prone robot is situated in the courtyard outside the

Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...

. 2013 ''Coming Down.'' Part of the Gallery project ''Populate,'' Van Hout told the Gallery, ''‘'''With the title ''Coming Down'' I wanted to capture multiple meanings. The falling down of buildings or sculptures; the idea that something in the sky is possibly coming down; and the idea that an experience is passing, and we are coming to ground from a high point.' 2014 ''Dayton.'' This reclining robot of aluminium and steel was installed at Monash University's Clayton campus. 2016 ''Quasi'' in

. The giant hand sculpture was first installed on the roof of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu. 2019 ''Quasi'' in Wellington''.'' After its time on the Christchurch Art Gallery building ''Quasi'' was installed on the roof of

City Gallery Wellington City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi is a public art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. History City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi began its life as the Wellington City Art Gallery on 23 September 1980 in a former office block located at 65 ...

. The media's response was mostly negative, with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

headlining, ''‘Nightmare' Hand Statue Looms over New Zealand City.'' The

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Wellington, the country's capital city and List of cities in New Zealand#City councils, third-largest city by popul ...

responded, ‘This 'nightmare' is our delightful new resident and we won't hear a word against him. We love this little guy. So if you're not a fan I suggest you talk to the hand" ''Boy Walking''. A giant boy in shorts and striped t-shirt heads purposefully through Potters Park in Auckland. Van Hout, who used to live in the area, explained that the oversized child is moving into the future with confidence and his sculpture was exploring the notion of a child transitioning into adulthood. The work was installed overnight.

Residencies and awards

A selection of van Hout's artist residencies and awards: 1996 A three month artist in residence at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Taranaki Polytechnic in New Plymouth, New Zealand. 1998

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...

International Visual Art Residency. Van Hout attended the International Studio Programme in New York for four months. 2004 Finalist

Walters Prize The Walters Prize is New Zealand's largest contemporary art prize. Held biennially since 2002, the prize aims to 'make contemporary art a more widely recognised and debated feature of cultural life'. The prize is named in honour of New Zealand ab ...

, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. Van Hout was represented by ''No Exit Parts 1 and 2'', 2003 which was purchased by the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. The title is from the Jean-Paul Sartre play of 1944 ''Huis Clos'' (No Exit). The Walters Prize jury said of van Hout's exhibition, ‘His works do something rare in the world of contemporary art - make you laugh but leave you strangely moved.’ The Judge was art academic and writer Robert Storr. 2005 Creative New Zealand one year residency in Berlin at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien. Van Hout recalled. 'It was only the New Zealanders who had been in residence in Berlin who actually made work. It's a different attitude hich wasseen as strangely old-fashioned…’ His exhibition at the Kunstlerhaus was an installation titled ''Back door'' and was described as, ‘devoted to memory and demonstrates – using an example from his own childhood – the impossibility of recalling one’s own history as a description of facts….’ Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate Award. The Awards were established in 2000 to ‘celebrate and empower New Zealand’s most outstanding artists’. (Linda Herrick Top artists receive Laureate Awards. 2007 Artists in Antarctica Programme. In November 2007 Ronnie van Hout and writer

Tessa Duder Tessa Duder (née Staveley, born 13 November 1940) is a New Zealand author of novels for young people, short stories, plays and non-fiction, and a former swimmer who won a silver medal for her country at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealt ...

traveled to Antarctica. In one work resulting from his visit, van Hout used film he took of Scott’s Hut to re-enact scenes from the horror film '' The Thing''. 2008

Rita Angus Residency The Rita Angus Residency in Wellington, New Zealand, is an opportunity for artists to live in the former home of Rita Angus, one of New Zealand’s best-known painters, while creating a body of new work. About the Residency The Rita Angus Cottag ...

. The residency enables artists to live and work in the small cottage in Sydney Street West that Rita Angus used as a studio and home during her time in Wellington.

Collections

Van Hout's work is held in many public collections including th
Auckland Art GalleryMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa TongarewaChristchurch Art Gallery
and th
Public Art Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:van Hout, Ronnie 1962 births 21st-century New Zealand sculptors 21st-century New Zealand male artists Artists from Christchurch Living people Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni RMIT University alumni New Zealand embroiderers New Zealand expatriates in Australia University of Canterbury alumni

Early life and education

Music

The Pin Group

Into The Void

Selected solo exhibitions

Public sculptures

Residencies and awards

Further reading and viewing

Selected works

Reading

Viewing

Collections

References