Artists

Lisa Reihana

Work History

Flogging (22340)
Flogging (22340) (2017)
Diva
Diva (2007)
PELT - Pilosus
PELT - Pilosus (2010)
William Hodges (In Pursuit of Venus)
William Hodges (In Pursuit of Venus) (2016)
Captain James Cook - Female (In Pursuit of Venus)
Captain James Cook - Female (In Pursuit of Venus) (2016)
PELT - Camarillo
PELT - Camarillo (2010)
Omai and Obeera / Hawaiian Hula / Chiefly Pursuits (00000 / 00525)
Omai and Obeera / Hawaiian Hula / Chiefly Pursuits (00000 / 00525) (2017)
Urban Warrior
Urban Warrior (2007)

Artist Information

Lisa Reihana is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice explores how identity and history are represented, and how these intersect with concepts of place and community. The subjects of Reihana’s portraiture inhabit a world in which the boundaries of past, present, and future are mutable; their identities are likewise unfixed and transgress everyday expectations of cultural and social norms.

“Her staged interpretations of Māori concepts and art forms have become signature works, representing a considered and personal translation of Māori cultural values and aesthetics and an expression of the dichotomy of her urban Māori experience”. (1)

Reihana’s large scale video installation, In Pursuit of Venus [infected] (2015), represented New Zealand at the Venice Biennale in 2017. Filmed vignettes populate a neo-classical French wallpaper, Les Sauvages De La Mer Pacifique, recreating it as a 32 minute-long, 25m by 4m video installation. Amongst the images of the South Seas idyll portrayed in the original, the artist has interpolated narratives of sexual exploitation, dance, exploration, and violence. The imperial gaze has been re-packaged and turned back onto itself. In Pursuit of Venus[infected] premiered at the Auckland Art Gallery in May 2015 and has been on display at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art as part of the eighth Asia-Pacific Triennial; it has garnered large local audiences as well as widespread critical acclaim.

Born in 1964, Lisa Reihana is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine and Ngāi Tu descent tribally connected to the Far North of New Zealand through her father Huri Waka Reihana. She graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University,with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1987, and recently completed her Master of Design through the Unitec Institute of Technology.

Reihana has an extensive exhibition history in New Zealand and abroad and in 2014 she was awarded an Arts Laureate Award by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. Her works are held in private and public collections including Te Papa Tongarewa; Auckland Art Gallery; Australia National Gallery; Staatliche Museum, Berlin; Susan O'Connor Foundation, Texas and Brooklyn Museum, New York.
 
1. Megan Tamati Quennell, Curator, Modern and Contemporary Māori and Indigenous Art, Te Papa. Retrieved from https://isea2011.sabanciuniv.edu/.reihana. Accessed 4/2/16.

videos

 
 Lisa Reihana talks to art consultant Lisa Wilkie prior to opening her new exhibition, whitianga <<>> the crossing
 Video production: Ross Wilson
 

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions