Iain Cheesman

Lives in Auckland

Iain Cheesman is primarily a maker of objects that link sculpture with painting, poetry and the concept of drawing. There is often an underlying sense of humour within his work. This is a medium of communication that delivers more than an initial reaction, where there is often a slow defuse of more serious concerns. The materials he uses are diverse and vary between bodies of work. A commonality of his artworks is that they are made by hand and the mark of the handmade is apparent.

Education

2009                MFA, Elam, Auckland University

2002                BFA (Painting); Otago Polytechnic School of Art

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023 /24         The River is, Ashburton Art Gallery Foyer Wall Project

2023              Nurture Nature, Ashburton Art Gallery

2021/2022 Zen and the Art of Accumulation, Sculpture in the Gardens, Auckland Botanical Gardens

2021               An Accumulation of… The Tuesday Club, Auckland

2020               Signs of Earlier, The Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru

2019                Which Way From Where we Came, The Vivian Gallery

2018                tHe, The Vivian Gallery

2017                BOOM, The Vivian Gallery

2017                Signs of Earlier 1, The Vivian Gallery

2016                PLANK, Brick Bay Sculpture Park, Warkworth.

2015                SIN TAX, The Young gallery, Wellington.

2015                Visionary Moments, Pah Homestead, Auckland.

2014                Welcome to the Stooge factory, Corbans Estate, Auckland.

2011                Needy, FHE Galleries, Auckland.

2004                An Automatic Welcome, The Physics Room, Christchurch.

2003                Hey You Mad Man, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Rear Window.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2019                ‘Spring’ Sydney, The Establishment Hotel.

2016                Drain the swamp, cut the wood, put up the flagpole, Ashburton Art Gallery, with Wayne Youle and Jacquelyn Greenbank.

2016                Post Midden, The Vivian Gallery, Matakana with Wayne Youle and Jacquelyn Greenbank.

2016                An ABCERD Egress, Chambers Art Gallery, With Audrey Baldwin.

2014                Sticks in the Mud, with Rob Cherry, The Young Gallery, Wellington.

2011               WORD, Gow Langsford Gallery.

Selected Bibliography

think objects think, Ian Cheesman Publication, 2022.

Signs of Earlier, Aigantighe Art gallery, Timaru, 2020.

tHe, Poems, The Vivian Gallery publication, 2018.

BOOM. Poems, The Vivian Gallery 2017.

The Mess Age, Poems, Iain Cheesman 2015.

Sticks in The Mud, The Young Gallery, 2014.

Artspace publication ‘Follow the White Rabbit’ 2006.

129 Oaks, Catalogue essay by Pennie Hunt June 2006.

Home Front, Catalogue essay by Pennie Hunt May 2006.

Sampler series, Physics Room essay by Andrew Wood June 2004.