Artists

 

   

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Julia Holden is a New Zealand artist based in Christchurch since 2012. Julia’s arts practice foregrounds painting in multi-disciplinary projects combining painting with performance, photography, sound and film. Consistently experimenting with modes of representation and presentation, she has developed innovative relational painting practices employing strategies focused upon encouraging public interaction, community connection and a wider social engagement.

Recent projects include Lyttelton Redux (2016-17), a 23 portrait audio-visual project connecting present-day locals with historical figures with Lyttelton connections, and highlighting their significant contributions toward NZ’s development. I’m Your Fan (2016) viewed the artist-self in relation to the artist’s primary influence or artistic hero. Live, public ?Performance Paintings are a recent development in her practice including Draped Nude (2017) at Auckland Art Gallery, Caroline (2017), NZ Portrait Gallery, Wellington, and?Leo (2016) at The Arts Centre, Christchurch.

Holden’s stop-motion animated paintings works extend the rhythms, narrative and potential meanings of the painted image. Each frame is individually rendered in the permanent material of oil paint, and yet only a handful of actual paintings survive as a kind of residue of the process. These works investigate the discipline of painting in self-reflexive, narrative fictions gently probing the notion of painting as a private, repetitive, meditative daily practice, ritual or habit.

Julia Holden graduated BFA at Elam, School of Fine Arts, Auckland, in 2007 and gained Master of Fine Arts by Research from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, in 2011. ?While in Australia Holden was a finalist in The Churchie, 2011, exhibited in SafARI 2012, and was a finalist in The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2011 and 2012.

Since moving to Christchurch in 2012, Holden has directly engaged with rebuild projects, exhibits regularly and worked as guest Lecturer at Ilam School of Fine Arts, Christchurch.

Exhibitions

2018 Julia Holden: Performance Painting. NZ Portrait Gallery, Welington
Fan Fiction. PG Gallery, Christchurch

2017 Lyttelton Redux, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch

Draped Nude (Audrey Baldwin, after Henri Matisse), performance painting, Auckland Art Gallery
Caroline (Ruby Cumming, after Leo Bensemann), performance Painting, New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington
Tiny Mural, The Social, Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch
Making Space, (group show), Wellington

2016 Lyttelton Redux,?Installation and Walking Tour, Lyttelton
Leo (Sam Clague, after Rita Angus), peformance painting, Christchurch City Council Beca Heritage Week,?The Arts Centre, Christchurch
The Front Room, group show. NEXT Gallery, Christchurch
The Lyttelton Venus, performance painting,?Lyttelton Arts Factory, Lyttelton
I?m Your Fan, Chambers241, Christchurch
Olympia,?performance painting, Chambers241, Christchurch

2015 Through the Glass Ceiling,?Tin Palace, Lyttelton

2014 its like now, CPIT Artbox installation, Christchurch
#WishYouWereHereChch, billboard installation and postcards, Christchurch
#WishYouWereHereChch, billboard installation and postcards, Wellington
#WishYouWereHereChch, billboard installation and postcards, Auckland
Julia Holden, 30 Upstairs Gallery, Courtenay Place, Wellington
38 Days, CPIT Artbox, Christchurch
Wish You Were Here: Present Tense,?The Inconvenience Store, Christchurch

2013 38 Days (Part I & II), Federation Square Screens and?No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne
The Extraordinary Shapes of Geoffrey Rush, The The Arts Centre, Melbourne
Drawn Together (group show), Lyttelton
Scattershot (group show) Pop-up gallery, Christchurch
Wish You Were Here: Postcards from the Red Zone,?Pop-up gallery, Christchurch

2012 Off the Strip New Genres Festival 2012, Centre for Contemporary Art, Las Vegas, USA
The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, (finalist) Sydney
SafARI 2012,?Sydney Artist Run Spaces Unofficial Fringe to the Biennale. Sydney
AUSthetic 2012, Federation Square Screens, Melbourne
ThreeOneSixOh 2012?Experimental Film Festival, Melbourne

2011 The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize?(finalist) Sydney
The Churchie National Emerging Art Award?(finalist) Griffith University Art Gallery
State of Design Festival, South Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne
ThreeOneSixOh?Experimental Film Festival, Melbourne
Master of Fine Art Graduation Exhibition, Monash University, Melbourne

2010 Digital Fringe, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne
Seventh Gallery, Gertrude Street, Melbourne
Gertrude Street Projection Festival, Melbourne
Choice, C3 Gallery, Abbotsford Convent, Collingwood, Melbourne
Erotica, Artworkers Alliance Art Prize, PS Gallery, Paddington

2009 Drawing Time.? Monash University Faculty Gallery. Monash University, Melbourne
dreambetweenday. Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Collingwood.? Melbourne
Linden Postcard Show 2009. Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts.? Melbourne

2007 Emerging Artists, City Art Rooms, Auckland
Paintings and Sculpture, pop-up exhibition space, Auckland
Group Show, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland University School of Fine Arts, Auckland

Qualifications

2011 Master of Fine Arts by Research. Monash University, Melbourne

2007 Bachelor of Fine Arts. Auckland University School of Fine Arts, Auckland

1991 New Zealand Certificate in Architectural Drafting, Wellington Polytechnic, Wellington

?Grants and Awards

2018 Tylee Cottage Residency and Lillian Ida Smith Award, Whanganui
Outstanding contribution to Heritage, Highly Commended, Canterbury Heritage Awards, Christchurch
BP Portrait Award, shortlisted finalist. London, UK
ZAFAA18, finalist. Ashburton Art Gallery, Ashburton

2016 CNZ Quick Response Grant towards Lyttelton Redux
Christchurch City Council Community Arts Grant

2014 Wish You Were Here, Arts Foundation Boosted Fundraising Campaign

Wish You Were Here: Christchurch, Arts Foundation Boosted Fundraising Campaign

2013 Wallace Art Awards Salon des Refuse, The James Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland

2009 Monash Postgraduate Travel Scholarship to Europe, Melbourne

2008  Ake Ake Fund, Private Arts Trust, Auckland
2007  Gordon Harris Painting Award. Elam, Auckland University School of Fine Arts, Auckland
2006  Jean Hamlin Scholarship. Elam, Auckland University School of Fine Arts, Auckland

Bibliography

Grant Banbury, Paint and Projection: the Portraits of Julia Holden, Art New Zealand, Number 163, Spring 2017, pp. 80-83
Claire Voon, After an Earthquake Destroyed a Museum, an Artist Stepped in to Fill the Void,?Hyperallergic, 16 February 2017

Dr Warren Feeney, Julia Holden discusses her post-quakes works, The Press, Arts Section, Christchurch, 13 November 2016

Joel Ineson,Lyttelton Redux turns port town locals into significant parts of their own history The Press, Christchurch,
7 November, 2016.

Dr Warren Feeney, 10 Exhibitions to see in Christchurch, The Press, Christchurch. 7 November, 2016

Dr Warren Feeney, Julia Holden Discusses Her New Exhibition ? I?m Your Fan?, The Press, Arts Section, Christchurch, 1 March, 2016
Dr Warren Feeney, This is us, right now, The Press, Go section review, Christchurch, 20 November, 2014

Michelle Duff, Postcards from the Red Zone. The Sunday Star Times, 1 June, 2014

Robert Nelson, The Age, The Arts section. Melbourne, 20?May, 2009

 

Radio
Jessie Mulligan, Lyttelton’s Famous Faces Return. RadioNZ, Jessie Mulligan 1-4pm, 10 February, 2017

Lyn Freeman, After the Earthquakes, Lyttelton Redux, RadioNZ, Standing Room Only. 2 July, 2017

Wallace Chapman, Wish You Were Here Art Project, RadioNZ, Sunday Morning, 22 June 2014

Jessie Mulligan, Best song ever written  If It Be Your Will, RadioNZ, Jessie Mulligan 1-4pm, 2 April 2014

 

Related Employment
2015 Lecturer (Part-time) Canterbury University School of Fine Arts, Christchurch

SCAPE 8 Tour Manager, Christchurch

2009 Committee Member, ?Time, Transcendence Performance? conference, Monash University. Melbourne

1994  Present: Storyboard and Concept Artist on NZ and Australian film and television productions

Other Activities

2017 Public talk, Lyttelton Redux: Concepts and Processes. Canterbury Museum

The Friends of Christchurch Art Gallery Art Auction, contributed artwork
Women of SCAPE Art Auction, contributed artwork

2016 The Friends of Christchurch Art Gallery Art Auction, contributed artwork
Women of SCAPE Art Auction, contributed artwork

2015 Canterbury Universitys permanent Earthquake Digital Archive. all works and activities from 2013-14 CEISMIC.org?http://www.ceismic.org.nz/search?q=julia+holden&category=Videos#page1