ABOUT EVAN WOODRUFFE
Evan Woodruffe (b.1965) brings the extraordinary into the ordinary. Whether on a wall or a luxury motorcar, his paintings build complex relationships between colour and pattern to form what writer Lucinda Bennett referred to as Wet Maps, “living, breathing ecosystems, and visualisations of a new kind of urbanism”, where the world itself is fluid and porous.
Through a close collaboration with PAULNACHE, Evan sustains an unpredictable and exciting exhibition schedule, with works that range from the gargantuan 3m x 9m multi-panelled painting 6th April 2019 to his tiny painted pill capsules, both shown at until science finds a cure for our condition, remain medicated (2019). Together, they have expanded Evan’s audience through gallery exhibitions, art fairs including Sydney Contemporary (2017) and Melbourne’s Spring 1883 (2016), and projects in Auckland, Wellington, and Singapore.
Evan has regularly shown at public institutions, including his significant contribution to the NZ Special Exhibition at 8th Beijing Biennale (2019). He produced a major exhibition for Tauranga Art Gallery (2018), a large temporary work for Dunedin Public Art Gallery (2015), performance work for the 5th Auckland Triennial (2013), and worked with Whakatane Museum to produce a show based on their photographic archives (2013).
Painting remains the core of Evan’s practice, both as artworks in themselves and providing the imagery for printing onto fabrics, furniture, automobiles, and architecture. Collaboration with designers and performers has extended his painting practice off the wall and into our 3D world.
Evan is a long-standing supporter of the visual arts, not only as an artist, but as a collector, sponsor, teacher, and advocator. He has run Akepiro Street Studios, home to over a dozen artists, since 2008, and is a regular contributor to community events such as Artweek Auckland.
Evan Woodruffe in collaboration with Elibra Fleur, Auckland Art Fair 2016
EDUCATION
MFA (1st Class), University of Auckland
Post-Graduate Art & Design, AUT
AWARDS
2011 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award
2003 Becroft Premier Award
COLLECTIONS
NZ Department of the Prime Minister
NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade
Wallace Art Trust
Parkin Collection
Private Collections in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, China, USA, & Spain.
Evan Woodruffe is Brand Ambassador for da Vinci Artist Brushes and
Brand Ambassador for Schmincke Artist Colours.
He is a Member of WeCreate (New Zealand).
Read more
Publications
Woodruffe, E. (2019). Bejing and beyond, Art News 39/4.
ElGenaidi, D. (2018). A View from the Easel Hyperallergic.
Gardiner, S. (2017). Dabbling with Consciousness, Art Collector (SC17 Special Edition).
Seed, J. (2016). Assertively Decorative, Huffington Post.
Bennett, L. (2016). Wet Maps: Evan Woodruffe’s Painted Networks, Art New Zealand 157
Seed, J. (2015). Heightened Perceptions, Poets & Artists 65.
Marshall, J. (2005). The Dialectic of Terror & Temptation, Art New Zealand 117.
Videos
Re: Evan Woodruffe, artist and Collector 2019
In the Studio Wallace Arts Trust 2017
Interview 2017
Graffiti Lounge 2016
Evan Woodruffe Hypnic Jerks 2015
Selected Exhibition Links
Art Beijing 2021
Charting PAULNACHE 2021
Beacon, with Teresa HR Lane, Artweek Auckland 2020
WWW PAULNACHE 2020
Poetry of the White Cloud Blue Roof Museum, Chengdu 2019
Beijing International Art Biennale National Art Museum, Beijing 2019
Until science finds a cure for our condition, remain medicated PAULNACHE 2019
cobalt float, Gallery 9, Sydney 2019
the world is porous, Tauranga Art Gallery 2018
Art of Performance collaboration with Jaguar Singapore 2018
9×2=18 PAULNACHE 2018
Nowhere to Somewhere, PAULNACHE 2018
Sydney Contemporary PAULNACHE 2017
Village Huha PAULNACHE 2017
Spring 1883 Melbourne PAULNACHE 2016
Lost Dimension, WooSpace, Beijing 2016
Auckland Art Fair PAULNACHE 2016
Graffiti Lounge, PAULNACHE 2016
Intellectual Fashion Show, Gus Fisher, Auckland 2016
Hypnic Jerks PAULNACHE 2015
Dodge, Rear Window, Dunedin Public Art Gallery 2015
Here Comes Everyone OREXART 2015
Considered, M Contemporary, Sydney 2015
UNfold FourFOLD, Ferriera Projects, London 2015
Melbourne Art Fair PAULNACHE 2014
tattered by attempting moonbeams OREXART 2014
7 x 2 = 14 PAULNACHE 2014
Art for the People! with Catherine Ellis, 5th Auckland Triennial, Auckland Art Gallery 2013
Drawn Back Te Koputu a te whanga a Toi, Whakatane 2013
The Memory Archive OREXART 2012
Voyeur, with Imogen Taylor, K’Road, Auckland Art Week 2012
Time is a Thief OREXART 2011
The Dangerous Looseness of Doom OREXART 2010
Scene OREXART 2008
Lost Blue Heaven OREXART 2005
Laid Down OREXART 2003
