Shane Cotton

Shane William Cotton (born 3 October 1964) is a New Zealand painter whose work explores biculturalism, colonialism, cultural identity, Māori spirituality, and life and death.

Life Cotton was born in Upper Hutt with Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Hine and Te Uri Taniwha iwi affiliations (his father a member of the Ngāpuhi iwi and his mother European). His home marae is at Ngāwhā, near Kaikohe. Cotton studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch, graduating in 1988. He met his wife, Luanne, who is an architect, at art school. Cotton went on to gain a Diploma of Education from Christchurch College of Education and worked as a teacher. He lectured at Massey University, Palmerston North, in the Māori visual arts programme from 1993 In 1993 he started painting sepia-toned works that took inspiration from those in the late 19th-century buildings, In these he explored "colonial and post-colonial" "Māori and Pākehā cultural histories". Works from this period include a 17-metre-tall painting that was commissioned for SkyCity Auckland, which opened in 1996; the painting is now in SkyCity's International Convention Centre, which opened in 2026.

Cotton received both the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship which opened in 2004. He was the New Zealand representative in the 2005 Prague Biennale. His work was included in the 17th Biennale of Sydney 2010. In 2015 Cotton was commissioned by the Australian War Memorial to make a print to commemorate the ANZAC Centenary.

Cotton's work includes Māori iconography and culture, such as shrunken heads, mokomokai, and native birds such as tūī, and European symbols and items. His paintings have explored questions of colonialism, cultural identity, Māori spirituality, and life and death. Describing his practice, Cotton said in 2012, "Biculturalism, how our histories have been interwoven over time, things that have come out of that connection – culture, politics, societal living – have been the driving factors in my work."

In 2008, he received a Laureate Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation. 2012 Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the visual arts, in the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours

Selected solo exhibitions 1990 Nature Forms Myth, Last Decade Gallery, Wellington 1992 Strata, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch 1993 Collections: New Work by Shane Cotton, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington 1994 New Works, Claybrook Gallery, Auckland New Painting, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington 1995 Shane Cotton: Recent Paintings, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth Te Ta Pahara, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch. Shane Cotton: Recent Paintings, Darren Knight Gallery, Melbourne Ta Te Whenua, Manawatu Art Gallery Palmerston North 1996 New Painting, Anna Bibby Gallery, Auckland New Painting, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington 1997 New Painting, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch Square Style, Mori Gallery, Sydney 1998 Local, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington Shane Cotton, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland 1999 New Painting, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch Shane Cotton, Hocken Library Gallery, University of Otago, Dunedin New Paintings, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington. Also shown at the Mori Gallery, Sydney and Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland 2000 Te Timatanga: From Eden to Ohaeawai, Dunedin Public Art Gallery Curated by Justin Paton. 2001 Blackout Movement, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland New Paintings, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch 2002 Powder Garden, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington Birds Eyes Views, Mori Gallery, Sydney 2003 Shane Cotton Survey 1993–2003, City Gallery Wellington Shane Cotton: Recent Painting, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland Shane Cotton: Paintings, SOFA Gallery, School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Christchurch Shane Cotton: New Paintings, Brooke-Gifford Gallery, Christchurch 2004 Shane Cotton Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki. Curated by Robert Leonard the exhibition was based on the City Gallery Wellington survey exhibition Shane Cotton Survey 1993–2003 2005 Pararaiha, Sherman Galleries, Sydney New Zealand representative in the Prague Biennale 2006 Shane Cotton, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington Shane Cotton, Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland 2007 Shane Cotton, Sherman Galleries, Sydney Red-Shift, Sherman Galleries, Sydney Helgoland, Brooke Gifford Gallery, Christchurch 2008 Coloured Dirt, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington 2010 Smashed Myth, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Sydney New Work, Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland To and Fro Rossi & Rossi Gallery, London 2011 Supersymmetry, Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland 2012 Shane Cotton: the Hanging Sky, IMA Brisbane. Curated by Justin Paton the exhibition was developed by the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū in association with the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane. The exhibition was shown at the IMA, Brisbane, the Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW and City Gallery Wellington. Smoking Gun, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne 2014 Baseland Christchurch City Gallery & Ilam Campus Gallery, Christchurch The Voyage Out, Rossi & Rossi Gallery, Hong Kong