Wi Taepa

Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa (born 1946, in Wellington) is a significant figure in contemporary New Zealand ceramics, and a leading figure in contemporary Māori clay art.

Early career and training

After leaving school, Taepa worked as a window display designer for a Wellington department store for five years. He enlisted with the New Zealand Army in 1968 and served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1972.

Career as a clay artist

Taepa dates his interest in clay back to the 1960s, when he saw an exhibition of ceramics by an English artist, Jo Munro, at Willeston Gallery in Wellington. In 1985, while living in Levin and working at Kohitere, he attended night classes with the Levin Pottery Club. In 2013 Uku Rere, an exhibition of the five founding members, was held at Pataka Art + Museum. In 2014 Uku Rere subsequently toured to Whangarei Art Museum: Te Manawa Toi, the Suter Art Gallery: Te Aratoi o Whakatu, Waikato Museum: Te Whare Taonga o Waikato, Tairawhiti Museum: Te Whare Taonga o te Tairawhiti, and Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science + History, Palmerston North.

Taepa has exhibited both nationally and internationally including a solo exhibition Wi Taepa at City Gallery Wellington (2012), Ngā Toko Rima at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (2005), Kiwa at Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver (2003), and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (1995). He has received support from Creative New Zealand to attend residencies and carry out research.

In 2016 a major survey of Taepa's work, Wi Taepa: Retrospect was organised by Pataka Art + Museum. The exhibition travelled to Auckland Art Gallery in 2018.

Taepa has continued to teach, including at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. He says 'I'm interested in using clay as a form of creative expression. Teaching is also an art, so combining clay and teaching is an enjoyable challenge'.

Public collections

Taepa's work in held in private collections and also in public collections including the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Auckland Art Gallery.

Family

Taepa descends from a line of Te Arawa master carvers. He assisted his uncle, Taunu Tai Taepa, with carving the pulpit in Rangiātea Church, Ōtaki.

Further information

Wi Taepa: Retrospect, exhibition catalogue, Pātaka Art + Museum, 2016 Clay artist Wi Taepa’s retrospective, Standing Room Only, RNZ, 29 April 2018 John Hurrell, The Clay Artistry of Wi Taepa, EyeContact, 4 June 2018 Bridget Reweti, A Hole in the Pocket (on Māori artists working with ceramics), The Pantograph Punch, 11 June 2018