A N T O N Y D E N S H A M
After graduating with a Graphic Design Degree majoring in illustration, Antony then went on to study Fine Art at Elam, University of Auckland, earning a Post Graduate Diploma in 2011. He has been a selected finalist in the James Wallace Art Awards, the NZ Painting and Printmaking Award, the Molly Morpeth-Canaday Art Award, and in 2018 won the Merit Award at the National Small Sculpture Prize. In 2001 he won the New Zealand Art and Faith Award. He has exhibited in New Zealand, Australia, China and New York where he has representation with Kathryn Markel Fine Arts.
Densham has developed a visual language that embraces the ephemeral. He lives in New Zealand, a country with spectacular glaciers, picturesque fiords, rugged mountains, vast plains, rolling hillsides, subtropical forests and volcanoes. It has been said that four seasons can exist in one day. Living in this environment, its not surprising that his paintings are implied and malleable. When contemplating landscape painting in these terms the artist describes a definition of the word Vista that relates particularly well with the process of a painting as it develops. It reads.. An extensive mental view (as over a stretch of time or a series of events.)
‘Slowing down, relooking, coming back to, helps to internalize a landscape and a painting practice’. These works encapsulate a palimpsest of decisions over time. The aim is to give the viewer a sense of an ever-changing psychological landscape.
With respect to the relationship between abstraction and figuration Densham says, ‘The marks are both independent gestures but also acknowledge the brain's tendency to search for representation. I’m looking for this middle ground, to confound the space somehow through the interchange of revealing and concealing.'
Education
2011
Postgraduate Diploma of Fine Arts, Elam, University of Auckland
2006
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Elam, University of Auckland
1996
Bachelor of Graphic Design, A.U.T
Individual Exhibitions
2022
Unearth, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York
2018
Temporal Matter, Grey Gallery, Auckland
2016
Amalgam, Art Bureau, Auckland
2014
Impossible Rock, Mt Eden Villiage Centre, Auckland
2013
Unfolding, 30 Upstairs, 30 Courtney Place, Wellington
2010
Lost Time, Window, University of Auckland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
Odd Couple, Curated by Max Zlotsky Seiler, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York
The Summer Show, Deborah Dancy, Antony Densham, Susan English, Tucker Nichols, Erin O'brien
Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York
2018
What I See, Auckland Art Week Group Show, Grey Gallery, Auckland
2016
Artbourne, Art Auction to provide support for students at Wellesley College, Wellington
2013
ArtDego, Hye Rim Lee, Matt Molloy, Antony Densham, Amber Wilson, Laura Forest, The Nathan Club, Auckland
2012
Restraint, Antony Densham, Wendy Kawabata, Catherine Ellis, Clare Kim, Charlotte Nancy, Alexandra Odelle, Sanderson Contemporary, Auckland
Nomophobia, Antony Densham, Phillip Madill, Simon Kaan, Briar Mark, Sanderson Contemporary, Auckland
150X150X150 Small Works Exhibition, Sanderson Contemporary, Auckland
2011
Another Truth, Fiona Wilson, Richard Boyd-Dunlop, Jamie Chapman, Glen Snow, Antony Densham. Studion 8 Newton, Auckland
Elam Graduation Exhibition, University of Auckland (Postgraduate Diploma)
2009
Anthony Harper Art Award. Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
2007
Fine, Sanderson Contemporary Art and City Art Rooms, Auckland
2006
Elam Graduation Exhibition, University of Auckland
2005
They Never Knew They Were Robots, Stanbeth House, Custom St, Auckland
2003
Duo show In Between Antony and Amanda Densham, Depot Artspace, Devonport, Auckland
Bloodlines Spiral Gallery, Auckland City
Linden Postcard Art Awards Exhibition St Kilda, Melbourne
2002
Tibetan Art Auction Exhibition, Artstation, Auckland
Reviews / Text / Press
2021
Review of The Summer Show at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art
Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Bridgehampton review by Annette Hinkle
Art Edit Magazine, Issue 28. 'Ones To Watch'
2012
From The Sublime to the Meticulous, by TJ McNamarra, NZ Herald
2011
Threaded Magazine, Ed.12 'The Five - Star Issue
2010
Sculpture At Window, by John Hurrell
History, truth, and "things," by Daniel Wilson
If Time Could Tell, by D.M Satale
Awards / Selections
2022
Finalist, National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum, Kirikiriroa, Hamilton
2021
Finalist, National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum, Kirikiriroa, Hamilton
Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Painting and Drawing Award, Whakatane
Finalist, Aspiring Art Prize, Wanaka
Finalist, Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Prize, Lethbridge Gallery, Sydney
2020
Finalist, NZ Painting and Printmaking Award, Wintec, Kirikiriroa,Hamilton
Finalist, Walker and Hall Art Award, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
Finalist, National Small Sculpture Prize, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
2019
Finalist, Walker and Hall Art Award, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
2018
Winner Merit Prize, National Small Sculpture Prize, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
Finalist, Molly Morpeth-Canaday 3D Art Award, Whakatane
2015
Finalist, Walker and Hall Art Award, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
Finalist, Hutchins Work On Paper Prize, Tasmania, Australia
2014
Finalist, Wallace Trust Art Award (travelling exhibition) TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland
Finalist, Walker and Hall Art Award, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
Finalist, Molly Morpeth-Canaday Art Award, Whakatane
Finalist, National Small Sculpture Prize, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
2012
Finalist, National Small Sculpture Prize, Waiheke Art Gallery, Auckland
Finalist, Wallace Trust Art Award, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland
2011
Finalist, Wallace Trust Art Award, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre, Auckland
2009
Finalist, Anthony Harper Art Award, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
2003
'Art on the Bus' recipient (AK03 Travelling exhibition on Auckland buses)
Finalist, North Shore Art Award, Auckland
Finalist, Linden Postcard Art Award, St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia
2001
Winner ‘NZ Art and Faith' Award, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell, Auckland
Winner Painting section, Devonport Art Awards, Auckland
1997
Finalist Windsor and Newton Art Award
Art Work commission for A.I.T Post Graduate prospectus
Gallery Representation
Public Collections
Wallace Arts Trust