Shannon Te Ao (born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1978) is a New Zealand artist and writer of Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. He won the 2016

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 ...

Education

Te Ao completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching at the University of Auckland.

Walters Prize

Te Ao was the sole New Zealand artist selected for the 19th Biennale of Sydney in 2014. His video work ''two shoots that stretch far out'' (2013-2014) was shown at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

for the Biennale. In 2015 the work was shown at City Gallery Wellington alongside drawings by

Susan Te Kahurangi King Susan Te Kahurangi King (born 1951) is an autistic artist from New Zealand who found international fame in 2009. She was born in Te Aroha in 1951. King is a self-taught artist whose ability to speak declined by the age of four, and by the age of ...

in the exhibition ''Susan Te Kahurangi King and Shannon Te Ao: From the One I Call My Own''. In March 2016 Te Ao was announced as a finalist for the biennial Walters Prize (New Zealand's largest visual arts prize) for the work. For his presentation in the Walters Prize exhibition at

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 ...

Te Ao showed ''two shoots that stretch far out'' in one room, and in a space leading in to the screening installed ''Okea ururoatia (never say die)'' (2016), made of living plants arranged on pallets and lit by hanging lights. He was announced as the winner on 30 September 2016; the award was judged by Doryun Chong.

Exhibitions

2013 *''Follow the Party of the Whale'',

The Blue Oyster Art Project Space Blue Oyster Art Project Space, located in Dunedin’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 prov ...

2014 *''Follow the Party of the Whale'', Adam Art Gallery * 19th Biennale of Sydney *''Towards doing more'', The Physics Room 2015 *''Shannon Te Ao: A torch and a light (cover)'', Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts *''Susan Te Kahurangi King and Shannon Te Ao: From the One I Call My Own'', City Gallery Wellington 2016 *''Shannon Te Ao: A torch and a light (cover)'', Hastings City Art Gallery * Walters Prize Award,

*''Shannon Te Ao: Untitled (malady)'', Robert Heald Gallery, Wellington 2017 *''Shannon Te Ao: Tēnei Ao Kawa Nei'', Christchurch Art Gallery *''Shannon Te Ao: Untitled (McCahon House Studies)'', City Gallery Wellington * ''te huka o te tai'', Artspace, Auckland *''Shannon Te Ao: With the sun aglow, I have my pensive moods'', Edinburgh Art Festival 2018 * ''Shannon Te Ao: my life as a tunnel'',

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 201 ...

Further information

Interviews

Five Minutes With Shannon Te Ao
The Brag, 2014
Shannon Te Ao interviewed by Mark Amery
Circuit, 23 July 2015
Shannon Te Ao interviewed by Kim Hill
Saturday Morning programme,

RNZ Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

, 1 October 2016
Shannon Te Ao interviewed by Nathan Pohio
''Bulletin'', Christchurch Art Gallery, February 2017
Shannon Te Ao interviewed by Lynn Freeman
Standing Room Only,

, 2 July 2017

Reviews

* Courtney Johnston
Review of ''Susan Te Kahurangi King and Shannon Te Ao: From the One I Call My Own''
Nine to Noon programme,

, 1 July 2015 *Mark Amer
Review of ''Susan Te Kahurangi King and Shannon Te Ao: From the One I Call My Own''

NZ Listener New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...

, 2 July 2015 * John Hurrell
A New Shannon Te Ao Video
EyeContact, 15 July 2015 * Jessica Hubbar
Searching for a Nonverbal Connection
EyeContact, 7 October 2015 * Megan Dunn
The Abode of Indifference
Circuit, 11 October 2015 * John Hurrell
More Is Less: The Walters Prize 2016
EyeContact, 7 August 2016 * Tim Cornwall
Edinburgh Art Festival: artists look to Maori traditions, 19th-century botany and jellyfish
The Art Newspaper, 25 July 2017 * Laura Cumming
Edinburgh art festival review – the dark side of Robert Burns
The Observer, 30 July 2017. *En Liang Khon
Critic’s Guide: Edinburgh
''Frieze'', 1 August 2017 * Andrew Cliffor
Shannon Te Ao: With the sun aglow, I have my pensive moods
Contemporary Hum, 4 December 2017 * Matariki Williams
The Singing Word: On Shannon Te Ao’s my life as a tunnel
The Pantograph Punch, 22 June 2018 * Alex Davidson
Critic's pick: Shannon Te Ao
Artforum, July 2018 * Fi Churchman
Future Greats: Shannon Te Ao
Art Review Asia, Summer 2018

Books

An artist book, ''I can press my face up against the glass'', was published by The Physics Room in 2014. It features essays by Tina Barton, Caterina Riva and Anna-Marie White. A chapter on Te Ao's work is included in New Zealand writer Anthony Byrt's 2016 book ''This Model World: Travels to the Edge of Contemporary Art''. A still from his 2014 work ''two shoots that stretch far out'' was used for the cover of the book.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Ao, Shannon 1978 births New Zealand contemporary artists Living people New Zealand Māori artists Ngāti Tūwharetoa people University of Auckland alumni