ABOUT
Conor Clarke (Waitaha, Ngāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tahu; Irish, Welsh)
Based in Ōtautahi–Christchurch, Aotearoa–New Zealand
Gallery representation: Two Rooms Gallery, Auckland | Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch
ACADEMIC
2021 - present: MFA candidate, Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury (Supervisors: Louise Palmer, Mark Adams and Dr Areta Wilkinson)
2019 - present: Lecturer in Photography, Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury
2018 - 2019: Guest student, Academy of Visual Arts (HGB) Leipzig, Germany (Professor Heidi Specker)
2001 - 2005: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland (Haru Sameshima, Megan Jenkinson, John B Turner)
FUNDING, AWARDS + RESIDENCIES
2023 Funded: Paemanu (Contemporary Ngāi Tahu Visual Arts) via Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage
2023 Residency: Rangi Ruru Girls' School Artist in Residence
2020 Funded: Harkness Fund (University of Canterbury) - towards new work in collaboration with the blind + low vision community
2017 - 18 Residency: Tylee Cottage artist in residence, (5 months) Whanganui
2015 Residency: Auckland Council artist in residence, (2 months), Waitawa Regional Park, Auckland
2015 Award: Best Series, Renaissance Photography Prize, London
2015 Funded: Visual Arts funding, Creative New Zealand
2015 Award: IdeasTap Award, Portfolio Review 2015 @ NRW-Forum (Düsseldorf Photo Weekend)
2014 Funded: Visual Arts funding, Creative New Zealand
2007 Award: Reportage Award, Metro Canon Young Photographers Awards
2006 Award: Landscape Award, Canon/ Parkside Media Landscape Photography Awards
2004 Award: Overall prize, Mt Eden Young Artist Awards
SOLO + DUO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Peaks and Troughs @ Jonathan Smart Gallery, Ōtautahi Christchurch
2023 Kua Whetūrangitia Koe – Lightbox collaboration with Joy Auckram for Matariki Puaka (commissioned by Christchurch City Council)
2021 As far as the eye can reach @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2019 Unchained Melody @ CoCA, Christchurch (SCAPE Public Art Project)
2019 Ground Water Mirror @ SoFA, Ilam Campus Gallery, Christchurch
2019 Unchained Melody @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2018 The End of Wordsworth Street @ The Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui, NZ
2018 Ground Water Mirror @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2018 Sorry, Not Sorry: Conor Clarke + Tia Huia Ranginui @ Franklin Arts Centre, Auckland
2017 A Warm Welcoming Feeling @ Papakura Art Gallery, Auckland
2017 In Pursuit of the Object @ The Sustainability Trust, Wellington, NZ
2016 A Warm Welcoming Feeling @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2016 Scenic Potential - Billboard project @ Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland
2015 Scenic Potential @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2015 Himmel und Erde - Beatrix Reinhardt + Conor Clarke @ Pavlov’s Dog, Berlin
2014 In Pursuit of the Picturesque: In Pictures (Observations from New Zealand), 2013 - 14 @ Giftraum, Berlin
2014 Winter/Winter - Conor Clarke + Sam Hartnett @ PLAZA, Auckland
2008 Picturesque Improvement + All is Well - Conor Clarke + Paul Johns @ 64zero3, Christchurch, NZ
2004 Imposition - Nicky Broekhuysen + Conor Clarke @ George Fraser Gallery, Auckland
GROUP EXHIBITIONS + FAIRS
2024 (27.04 – 14.06.24) Legacy Issues @ Ashburton Art Gallery
2023 Vital Machinery II @ Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery
2023 Spring 1883 w/ Jonathan Smart Gallery, Melbourne
2023 Sydney Contemporary w/ Two Rooms Gallery, Sydney
2023 Herbarium @ Te Ara Ātea, Rolleston
2022 Vital Machinery @ Dunedin Public Art Gallery
2022 No.2 Art Tramp Show @ Oxford Gallery toi o Waimakariri
2021 Paemanu: Tauraka Toi (A Landing Place) @ Dunedin Public Art Gallery
2021 Recent Photographs @ Jonathan Smart, Christchurch
2021 Auckland Art Fair w/ Two Rooms @ The Cloud, Auckland
2020 Touching Sight: Conor Clarke, Emma Fitts + Oliver Perkins @ Christchurch Art Gallery
2020 Cracker: Greta Anderson, Conor Clarke, Ann Shelton + Shaun Waugh @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2020 Spheres: An Online Video Project @ Christchurch Art Gallery
2019 Roundabout @ Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch
2019 Spring 1883 art fair w/ Jonathan Smart Gallery @ The Establishment, Sydney
2018 Auckland Art Fair w/ Two Rooms @ The Cloud, AKL Waterfront, Auckland
2017 In the Anthropocene @ Bartley + Company, Wellington, NZ
2016 The Devil's Blind Spot @ Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, NZ
2016 (Vol.1) Editionen und Multiples 1985 - heute @ Vexer Verlag Büro Berlin
2016 Selective Exposure @ In Situ, Christchurch, NZ
2015 Renaissance Photography Prize exhibition @ Getty Images Gallery, London
2015 Selective Exposure @ Photospace, Wellington, NZ
2015 The Close @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2014 Outer Space @ Two Rooms, Auckland
2014 Typologien @ Jarvis Dooney Galerie, Berlin
2013 De Joode & Kamutzki Winter Auction @ Karl-Marx-Buchhandlung, Berlin
2011 I Could Have Sworn I @ Grimmuseum, Berlin
2010 A Kitchen Show @ Our kitchen, Berlin
2010 I Could Have Sworn I @ Mtaär , Istanbul
2009 From the Depths of Suburbia: Photo-media from Auckland @ Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, Auckland
2009 Photography Sell Out, curated by Craig Hilton @ Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland
2008 From the Depths of Suburbia: Photo-media from Auckland @ QCA Gallery, Queensland, Australia
2008 On Show 2008, Photoforum @ Bath Street Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2008 A Brothel Without Walls @ City Art Rooms, Auckland, NZ
2008 Backyard Trophy @ Snowhite Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2008 Forestaurant @ City Art Rooms, Auckland, NZ
2008 Forestaurant @ High Street Project, Christchurch, NZ
2007 Self / Conscious @ Seed Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2005 Titter @ Special Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2005 Show Number 9 @ Matakana Gallery, Matakana, NZ
2005 Dielectric Constant @ George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2005 Average @ Rm 103, Auckland, NZ
2004 Dislocated @ George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, NZ
2004 Breaking In @ Artstation, Auckland, NZ
INTERVIEWS, PUBLICATIONS, WRITING
2024 The work has to settle – a critical response to Ana Iti's I am a Salt Lake @ The Physics Room, by Conor Clarke
2024 Exhibition Book | Vital Machinery, published by Hastings Art Gallery
2023 Exhibition catalogue | Peaks and Troughs – essays by Kirsty Dunn + Barbara Garrie
2023 Art Collector Magazine | Artist Feature #July - Sep, 2023
2022 Exhibition essay | Vital Machinery @ Dunedin Public Art Gallery by Lucy Hammonds + Sophie Davis
2021 Exhibition essay | As far as the eye can reach @ Two Rooms, by Lachlan Taylor
2021 The Art Paper ISSUE º00 | Conor Clarke sees differently, by Maya Love
2021 Landfall #242 Spring | Cover and art feature
2021 Something Outside | Review | Touching Sight: Conor Clarke, Emma Fitts + Oliver Perkins, by Anon
2021 Artbeat | Review | Touching Sight at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, by Warren Feeney
2021 Photoforum | Zoom Interview with Andy Spain
2020 Bulletin #202 | Perceiving Nature: Conor Clarke by Fayen d'Evie
2019 Exhibition catalogue | Ground Water Mirror @ SoFA Ilam Campus Gallery | Essay by Chloe Cull
2019 Exhibition essay | Unchained Melody @ Two Rooms Gallery by Lachlan Taylor
2018 Exhibition catalogue | The End of Wordsworth Street | Essay by Lachlan Taylor, intro by Jessica Kidd, published by The Sarjeant Gallery
2018 Sarjeant Quarterly Issue #70 | Interview: Conor Clarke: The End of Wordsworth Street, by Jessica Kidd
2018 Femisphere #2, edited by Judith Darragh + Imogen Taylor
2018 Art New Zealand Issue #166 | Photographing Nature: The Slippery Topographics of Conor Clarke, by Holly Best
2018 Included in Masters Thesis by Lachlan Taylor | The Geological Present: A Crtitique of the Aesthetic Anthropocene @ Victoria University
2018 The Denizen issue #28 | Festival of Photography: 10 questions with photographer Conor Clarke, by Madeline Saxton-Beer
2018 Press release | Ground Water Mirror @ Two Rooms Gallery by Emil McAvoy
2018 Photoforum NZ | Ground Water Mirror: An interview with Conor Clarke, by Emil McAvoy
2018 Artzone Issue #71 | Cover + feature: Human Intervention, by Lily Hacking
2017 The Journal of Urgent Writing Vol. 2 | Photo Essay: Scenic Potential | Edited by Simon Wilson, published by Massey University Press
2017 Bulletin #186 | The Devil's Blind Spot @ Christchurch Art Gallery, curated by Lara Strongman, essay by Nic Low
2017 Stuff | Review: The Devil's Blind Spot @ Christchurch Art Gallery
2016 S T I L L Magazine issue #4 | Portfolio: Scenic Potential
2016 Selective Exposure Exhibition Catalogue, Organised by Haru Sameshima
2016 ART NEWS New Zealand | Feature: An attempt to convey sublime experience, by Conor Clarke + edited by Virginia Were
2015 Radio New Zealand | Conor Clarke: Artist in Residence at Waitawa Park, interview with Justin Gregory
2015 HOTSHOE Magazine Issue #192 | Portfolio + interview, by Edward Dimsdale
2015 Auckland Council video profile: Artist in Residence 2015: Conor Clarke
2015 L'Oeil de la Photographie | Portfolio: In Pursuit of the Object, at a Proper Distance
2015 Eye Contact Review: Conor Clarke at Two Rooms, by Chloe Cull
2015 WIRED feature: Smokestack photos make pollution look strangely beautiful, by Jakob Schiller
2015 Der Greif Magazine issue #8: works in print
2015 Der Greif Magazine | Artist Feature + Guest Blogger
2015 Te Karaka Magazine | Ngāi Tahu photographer wins residency, by Adrienne Rewi
2014 MoMento Magazine issue #16: Geography and Travel + essay: If Progress had a Sound, by Christine McFetridge
2014 Eye Contact review: Conor Clarke + Sam Hartnett: The Hand of Man, by Peter Ireland
2014 Berlin Art Link review: Conor Clarke at Giftraum, by Alison Hugill
2014 Jarvis Dooney | Interview: Conor Clarke, by Michael Dooney
2009 Art News NZ | Suburban Revival, by Virginia Were
2008 Art New Zealand | Issue #125, Forestaurant, by Edward Hanfling
2008 Eye Contact review | Open Plan Bordello, by John Hurrell