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Ocula Member Galleries are selected by a committee of respected gallerists to present only the best of contemporary art on Ocula.
Read MoreWhether you want to discover contemporary art created by established artists or by emerging talents, below you will find some of the best galleries across Auckland's vibrant art scene presenting a range of both.
Home-grown commercial galleries scattered across the city centre, have developed local and international rosters from roots in supporting New Zealand artists. Many are concentrated along the Karangahape Road (or 'K Road') art mile.
Starkwhite, spawned in 2003 as an organisation dedicated to supporting artists, represents several New Zealand artists with an international reputation such as Billy Apple, Fiona Pardington, Gordon Walters, and Martin Basher, among others. Nearby, Michael Lett's two adjacent gallery spaces, a former bank and a recently-renovated church hall, present shows by established artists from New Zealand and overseas, including Martin Creed, Julian Dashper, Kate Newby, Séraphine Pick and Gavin Hipkins.
Former London gallerist Jenny Todd's Two Rooms, in the central suburb of Newton, presents guest curated shows featuring New Zealand and international artists. Between 2006 an 2015 the gallery's hallmark studio residency programme brought international visitors including Isaac Julien, Sarah Lucas, Kevin Appel, Fiona Hall and David Shrigley.
Explore current and upcoming exhibitions across Auckland's best galleries, institutions, and non-profit art spaces.
Read MoreA melting pot of cultures, Auckland's exhibitions offer a rich cultural tapestry of contemporary art practices, that includes New Zealand, Australia, and trans-tasman indigenous cultures as well as from the Pacific Islands and parts of Asia.
Auckland's museums and institutions offer an exceptional and diverse arts and culture experience. Explore our selection of the best spaces to visit.
Read MoreAuckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the largest art institution in the country, and home to an extensive collection of over 150,000 specimens of New Zealand and international art. As well as hosting major international visiting shows and in-house curated exhibitions, the gallery is home the Chartwell Trust's collection of contemporary art, and also hosts the biennial Walters Prize for contemporary New Zealand art.
On nearby Shortland Street, The University of Auckland's Gus Fisher Gallery occupies the the former 1YA radio station and broadcasting studios, built in 1934. It offers socially engaged programmes and visibility to the University's extensive art collection.
Auckland is also home to various private and community-driven non-profit art spaces, such as Artspace Aotearoa, and Tautai Pacific Arts Trust on Karangahape Road, Ponsonby's crafts-oriented Objectspace, and The Arts House Trust, Pah Homestead based in the historic Pah Homestead in Hillsborough.
Farther from the city centre, institutions that serve as hubs for community engagement and presenting and preserving contemporary art include Te Tuhi in the eastern suburb of Pakuranga, Te Uru in Titirangi (at the foot of the Waitakere ranges), and the Corban Estate Arts Centre arts precinct at the heart of West Auckland.
Ocula Magazine is an online platform dedicated to publishing the best in contemporary art internationally. Explore our in-depth conversations, insights, features, news stories, and photologs covering the Auckland arts scene here.
Read MoreSince its launch in 2010, Ocula Magazine has interviewed some of Auckland's most significant artists including Max Gimblett, Seung Yul Oh, Simon Denny and Queer- arts collective FAFSWAG. Ocula Magazine has also published features of artists such as Reuben Patterson, Colin McCahon, Billy Apple, and Grace Wright.
In any given week, you can see the works of some of the world's most exciting artists in Auckland. Here you will find a selection of artists whose works are currently on show in the city.
Read MoreSign up to My Ocula to follow artists and galleries, save artworks to your favourites, and be informed when new exhibitions and features are published.
With an urban population of just over one and a half million, and one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world, Auckland has a range of galleries and art institutions pitched to different communities.
Read MoreLocated downtown next to Albert Park is the city's premier institution, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, a European-style art museum that opened in 1888. It has several leading collections of contemporary and historic works—local, national, and international—and presents The Walters Prize every two years, the country's main contemporary art award.
Other significant Council-funded institutions like Te Tuhi in Pakuranga, Te Uru in Titirangi, Artspace Aotearoa and Audio Foundation in Karangahape Rd, and Objectspace in Ponsonby focus more specifically on innovative contemporary art, sonic art and experimental music, design and craft. Artspace Aotearoa and Te Tuhi, in particular, have seasoned and perceptive art directors from overseas, Remco de Blaaij (Netherlands) and Gabriela Salgado (Argentina), who clearly maintain their long-distance connections.
Two university galleries of note in the inner city are the newly revamped Gus Fisher (University of Auckland) and ST Paul St (AUT). Both present national and international programmes, but ST Paul St is especially focused on Pasifika and Māori culture and art with a socially and globally transformative agenda.
There are at least two dozen commercial galleries in Auckland, a few in the inner city, and many along the Karangahape Rd 'art mile.' Two Rooms in Putiki St presents an interesting mixture of photography, works on paper, sculpture and painting. Documentary photography and domestic-sized—but innovative—painting are proprietor Jenny Todd's trademarks, her time running a gallery in London perhaps influencing her programme. Her selection of New Zealand (say, Mark Adams, Joyce Campbell, Julia Morison), Australian (John Nixon), British (Sarah Lucas, David Shrigley, Basil Beattie), Dutch (Jan van der Ploeg) and German (Joachim Bandau) artists is a distinctive combination.
Michael Lett and Andrew Thomas's converted bank in East St—with a walk-in safe turned into a basement gallery, wonderfully 'archaeological' mosaic floors, and ornate ceilings—is easily the most intriguing gallery in the city. The Lett Gallery's New Zealand and international art, mostly comprising of installation or performance, is conspicuously 'edgy'. Martin Creed, Simon Denny, Dan Arps, Jim Allen, Kate Newby and Jacqueline Fraser are good examples.
As an architectural contrast, Starkwhite on Karangahape Rd presents art in a converted strip club that has a spectacular staircase connecting an elegant large downstairs space to an array of smaller galleries upstairs. Directors John McCormack and Dominic Feuch's line up of mainly Australian and New Zealand artists include contemporary conceptualists The Estate of L. Budd and Billy Apple, photographers Fiona Pardington and Gavin Hipkins, video and performance artists Grant Stevens and Alicia Frankovich, and historic figures Gordon Walters and Len Lye, among others.
With such a diverse and complex art community overall, Auckland's art experience opportunities are abundant for those with the necessary enthusiasm and energy.
