GROUP EXHIBITION

The works in As the Moonbird flies bring European and Indigenous ways of seeing into conversation. Through Griffin’s distinctive dot technique, Cotton’s layered iconography, and Pardington’s carefully constructed still-life compositions, each artist draws on different forms of cultural knowledge and visual language. Together, their practices explore how inherited ways of understanding can be carried forward, transformed, and reimagined through contemporary art.

Shane Cotton ONZM was born in Upper Hutt in 1964, of Māori and Pakeha descent. His extensive exhibition history includes representing Aotearoa New Zealand at the Prague Biennale in 2005, exhibitions at the Asia Society Museum (New York); Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney); The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt; Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, and IMA (Brisbane 2012-13). Cotton’s works are held in major public collections across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia.

Simone Griffin was born in Murgon, Queensland in 1989, and lives and works in London, United Kingdom. Griffin’s paternal side connects to the Koa, Wangan, Jagalingou and Wakk Wakka peoples, the traditional custodians of Southeast Queensland. She was a finalist in the Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2023; Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, 2021, and most recently the Georg Jensen Contemporary Prize, London (2026), among others. Select solo exhibitions include Hoist Lift Spring, 1301SW, Naarm/Melbourne, 2025; Sky Garden, Nasha Gallery, Warrang/Sydney, 2024, and Fertile Country, EDISON, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023. Griffin has exhibited extensively across Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, New Zealand, London, France and Portugal.

Fiona Pardington ONZM was born in Auckland in 1961. She lives and works in Canterbury, New Zealand and is from both Māori and Scottish descent. Pardington is currently representing Aotearoa New Zealand at the 61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, with her latest series Taharaki Skyside until 22 November 2026. She has previously been included in important group exhibitions and biennales including Middle of Now | Here, Honolulu Biennial (2017); lux et tenebris, Momentum Worldwide, Berlin (2014); The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Rebirth and Apocalypse in Contemporary Art, Kyiv International Biennale (2012) and Ahua: A Beautiful Hesitation: 17th Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2010). Pardington’s artworks are held in collections throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United States and France.