Shannon Te Ao

Shannon Te Ao was born 1978, Sydney. He is of Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent and lives and works in Wellington.  He is an artist, writer and curator whose current research interests include performance and video art practices. The majority of Te Ao's recent artistic output has seen him investigating and responding to material drawn from Māori paradigms, testing the implications of alternative creative, social and linguistic models in relation to contemporary video art and other performative practices. He teaches at Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University in Wellington, NZ.

Exhibitions include: Mā te wā, Mossman,Wellington, New Zealand; Ka mua, ka muri, Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada; Ka mua, ka muri, Oakville Galleries, Toronto, (all in 2020);

my life as a tunnel, Hopkinson Mossman, Auckland and The Dowse Art Museum, Wellington, NZ (all in 2018); With the sun aglow, I have my pensive moods, The Edinburgh Art Festival, Scotland, UK and Te Tuhi, Auckland, NZ; Untitled (McCahon House Studies), City Gallery Wellington; Tenei ao kawa nei, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, NZ; Two shoots that stretch far out, Taipei Contemporary Art Centre, Taiwan; Te huka o te tai, Artspace, Auckland (all in 2017). Shannon Te Ao was Rita Angus Artist in Residence, Wellington (2012) and was the recipient of the Walters Prize (2016).