Nirvana Park is a solo presentation of new works by Tāmaki Makaurau based artist Dan Arps. Grungy yet architectural, a series of sculptures explore the phenomena of reserves in suburban areas, so-called blank sites that evade productivity and instead operate as spaces to gather and places of refuge.

Arps' installations, sculptures, and paintings respond to urban psycho-geography of cities. His work reflects on the way we inhabit places and the influence of architecture on the formation and regulation of subjectivities.

In 2010 Arps was awarded Aotearoa New Zealand's premier contemporary art award, the Walter's Prize, for his exhibition Explaining Things by international judge Vicente Todolí. Arps has exhibited extensively in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, as well as taking part in multiple international projects. Arps (b. 1976) gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Sculpture) from the School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Christchurch in 2000. He received a Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland in 2006 followed by a Doctor of Fine Arts in 2014.

Work by Arps has been included in the group presentations: Walls to Live Beside, Rooms to Own: The Chartwell Show, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2022-2023); Dungeon and Meadow, Melbourne (2021); Space Suit, Dunedin Public Art Gallery (2018); Necessary Distraction: A painting show, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2015); Local Knowledge, the Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (2011) and the Sao Paolo Biennale (2004). Selected recent solo exhibitions include: Friendly Society, Robert Heald, Wellington (2023); Parallel Universe, Neon Parc, Melbourne (2022); Sleepers, Robert Heald, Wellington (2021); The New Brutal, Disneyland Paris, Melbourne (2021) and The Floral Maze, Michael Lett, Auckland (2021).

Nirvana Park is Dan Arps' eighth solo exhibition at Michael Lett.

Press release courtesy Michael Lett.