Michael Dell

 

Michael Dell was born on the Banks Peninsula, in the South Island of New Zealand. He graduated with a B.F.A. from the School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University in 1994.

Dell has received various awards including the Inaugural National Cranleigh Barton Drawing Award and has exhibited widely within New Zealand. His work was also included, alongside 13 Canterbury artists in the ‘Print & Paper’ Exhibition which toured to Kurashiki, Japan.

Dell’s work is held in numerous public and private collections including, The Christchurch city Art Gallery and the Suter Art Gallery in Nelson.

Dell is based in Whakatū Nelson, New Zealand. Dell’s art practice combines his interests in representation and abstraction, as dual modes of visual discourse on picture-making, within the fields of painting and drawing.

Awards

Parkin Drawing Prize Wellington 2019

Parkin Drawing Prize Wellington 2017 (Merit)

Cranleigh Barton National Drawing Award Christchurch 1993

Gallagher Group National Art Award Hamilton 1990

Gallagher Group National Art Award Hamilton 1988

Gallagher Group National Art Award Hamilton 1985 (Merit)

Gallagher Group National Art Award Hamilton 1984

Tauranga National Art Award 1983 (Merit)    

Works held in various private and public collections including:

Christchurch City Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu

Waikato Museum of Art and History Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

The University of Auckland Art Collection Waipapa Taumata Rau

The Suter Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū

Te Pūkenya Whanganui

Parkin Drawing Collection

The Kelliher Arts Trust Collection

Ballin Art Collection

National Bank of New Zealand Art Collection

Tokyo Bank

The Arts House Trust

Exhibitions

2024
’Distant Pictures’ (Opening 20th June)
Ronewa Art Projects, Berlin

2023
’Material Object’
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2022
’Sunday Morning’
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2021
’Dell + Kube’
Föenander Galleries, Queenstown

2021
‘Late Frequency’
Viewfinder Installation, Nelson

2020
Recent Work
Ronewa Art Projects, Berlin (Online Presentation)

2020
‘Even Now’
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2020
’Endless Days’
The Suter Gallery, Nelson

2018
'Nature In My Mind'
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2018
'Before/Now'
G-Space Gallery, NMIT, Nelson

2016
'Between Nature and Nothing'
NKB Gallery, Auckland.

2008
'Surface Nature’
Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch

2005
‘In Between’
McPherson Gallery, Auckland

2005
‘Paintings & Works on Paper’
City Art, Christchurch

2005
‘In Between’
Peter Rae Gallery, Dunedin

2004
‘Recent Work’
McPherson Gallery, Auckland

2002
‘Recent work’
Studio works Gallery, Christchurch

1999
‘Drawings’
Chartwell Gallery, Artspost, Hamilton

1998
‘Drawings’
The Drawings Gallery, Auckland

1996
‘Drawings from the Inside’
Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch

1995
‘Arranging the Object’
Moray Gallery, Dunedin

1993
‘Vignettes’
Solutions Galley, Dunedin

1993
‘Vignettes’
C S A Gallery, Christchurch

1992
‘Excavation/Extraction’
W S A Gallery, Hamilton  

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024
’Eternally Temporary’ (Opening 25th May)
Te Uru, Auckland

2024
’Still Life - In the Old Genre’
The Suter Gallery, Nelson

2023
’Night Work’
The Suter Gallery, Nelson

2023
Aotearoa Art Fair
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2022
’Place Holder’
The Suter Gallery, Nelson

2022
’Caught in the Briars’
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2021
’Tent’
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2021
Auckland Art Fair
Föenander Galleries, Auckland

2019
Parkin Drawing Prize
NZ Academy of Fine Art, Wellington

2019
‘Sharks and Still Lives’
The Suter Gallery, Nelson

2019
’HuuHaa’
Green Street Projects, Wellington

2017
26th Wallace Art Awards
Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland

2017
Parkin Drawing Prize
NZ Academy of Fine Art, Wellington

2017
’Shades of Nature’
Marlborough Public Art Gallery

2017
’Solid Air’
NKB Gallery, Auckland

2016
’Worth’
Refinery Art Space, Nelson

2009
'WTF'
Paul Nache Gallery, Gisbourne

2005
‘Ape To Zip’
Christchurch City Art Gallery

2005
Auckland Art Fair
McPherson Gallery

2005
‘Object & Idea’
McPherson Gallery, Auckland

2005
’Art Event’
Christchurch City Art Gallery

2003
‘CB Drawing Exhibition'
Christchurch City Art Gallery

1999
‘100 x 100 x 100'
McPherson Gallery, Auckland

1998
‘Grid’
Campbell Grant Galleries, Christchurch

1997
CB Drawing Exhibition
Robert McDougall Art Annex, Christchurch

1997
Group Show
Lane Gallery, Auckland

1996
‘Drawing out of Context’
Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch

1995
‘The Print Workshop’
Whanganui Polytechnic

1995
‘Drawing from Experience’
C S A Gallery, Christchurch

1995
‘New Printmakers’
C S A Gallery, Christchurch

1994
‘Draw on the Walls’
The Draw, Christchurch

1994
Recent Acquisitions
Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch

1993
‘Print and Paper’
Robert McDougall Art Annex, Christchurch

1993
‘Print and Paper’
Kurashiki Public Art Gallery, Japan

1993
‘CB Drawing Exhibition’
Robert McDougall Art Annex, Christchurch

1990
National Mutual Art Awards Touring Exhibition

 

 

Selected Publications:

Sunday Morning - Michael Dell, Anchor Print 2023

Endless Days - Michael Dell, The Suter Gallery, Anchor Print 2020

The Collections, Christchurch Art City Gallery, Spectrum Print 2003

Bulletin 129, The Drawing Collection, Robert McDougall Art Gallery 2002

A Concise History of Art in Canterbury 1850 - 2000, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Rainbow Print 2000

 

Selected Art Reviews, Articles and Interviews:

Douglas, Graeme, The Good Oil, Aotearoa Painters, 2023

James Brown, Michael Dell In Conversation With James Brown, Sunday Morning, 2022

Herman, Rosie, Dell + Kube, Denizen Magazine, 2021

Baskett, Mark, Endless Days, Art New Zealand Number 175, 2020

ARTNOW, Charcoal Drawing Wins 2019 Parkin Drawing Prize, 2019

Desmarais, Felix, Drawn Out Success, The Dominion Post, 2019

Nightingale, Melissa, Drawing Prize Turns More Traditional, NZ Herald 2019

Desmarais, Felix, Michael Dell Wins Parkin Drawing Prize, Nelson Mail, 2019

Voon, Claire, When is a Drawing Not a Drawing, Hyprealleryic.com 2017

Meij, Sara, Ghostly Images Wins Prize for Artist, Nelson Mail 2017

Haig, Nicholas, Dialogue With Conceptual Art, Nelson Mail 2016

Ritchie, Judith, Captivated by The Moutere, Nelson Mail 2015

Dingwall, Richard, In Between, Otago Daily Times 2005

McNamara, T J, Much More Than Luck of The Draw, NZ Herald 2004

Lewis, Geoff, Artist Returns to Hamilton For Exhibition, The Waikato Times, 1999

McEwan Ann, Drawings by Michael Dell, The Waikato Times 1999

McNamara, T J, In a Dark City Art Generates Power, NZ Herald 1998

Usser, Robyn, Intensity and Elegance Underpin Drawings, The Press 1996

Pearson, Alison, Four at The C. S. A., The Press 1993

Ussher, Robyn, Cranleigh Barton Drawing Award, The Press, 1993

Ussher, Robyn, Works on Paper, The Press 1993

Fairburn, G. E., Excavation/Extraction, The Waikato Times 1992