New Zealand artists at the Corderie of the Arsenal at the Venice Art Biennale

Brett Graham (1967)

Brett Graham is an artist who uses the visual elements of Maori culture.

His sculpture depicts a hoard of food and treasure on wheels to show the need for mobility and transition and therefore separation from one's land.

The Pataka was often decorated with carved or engraved motifs to indicate the level of wealth and prestige of the Iwi community to which it belonged.

Here Brett Graham has chosen to decorate his Pataka with eels as a reference to food and in respect for the Tainui people to whom he belongs.

Brett Graham, Wastelands

Fred Graham (1928)

Fred Graham was one of the most important sculptors of the first generation of Maori artists in the 1950s.

His works are intimately linked to Maori culture and its mythology.

Fred Graham, Whiti Te Ra

Fred Graham, Tinirau and the Whale

Fred Graham, Nga Tamariki a Tangaroa