Chris Bailey

Ngāti Hako, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Porou, Irish

Chris is a renown Māori sculptor and carver who studied at the University of Auckland under Dante Bonica, where he trained in working with stone, flax fibre, and timber.

Chris has worked in the arts for over 20 years, gravitating towards the harder stones of granite and basalt, and has developed form driven stone works in a larger scale. His sculptures are physical and symbolic markers of place, identity, and history.

Over the years, Chris has been a part of a range of notable exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Including ‘Te Aho Mutunga Kore – The Eternal Thread’ (2005), 53rd Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy (2009), Sculpture by the Sea in Sydney, Australia (2013 and 2014), Imago Mundi: New Zealand Collection exhibition in Treviso, Italy (2016), and more recently Wai Tohu at the Waikato Museum and Nō Hea Koe? At Milford Galleries (2022).

As well as his stonework, Chris has also refined his carving skills with timber, particularly working alongside carvers of Piritahi Marae on Waiheke Island. He has taken on many commissions over the years, most notably, Pou Tā Te Rangi art installation for the Britomart Precinct (2011), Tauranga Waka & Horotiu for Auckland CBD (2018), Ngāti Pāoa Tohu at Commercial Bay (2020), and Poutāhuhu to Entry of Hundertwasser Arts Centre in Whangārei (2021).

Chris was recognised for his exquisite work as an artist in 2005, when he was granted lifetime Toi Iho status by Creative NZ, after which was nominated for and received the Wallace Art Trust New Zealand Sculptor award (2014).

In recent years, Chris has continued to broaden his craft and has been working with bronze, exploring the greater freedom with his forms. Today Chris resides and works on Waiheke Island where he has commenced projects such as the Pou legacy project, where timber pou were made and placed throughout the landscape on Waiheke Island to act as visual prompts to engage the public in Māori narratives about the land and its history.

Drawing on his Ngāti Hako, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Porou and Irish ancestries, Chris Bailey’s sculptures are physical and symbolic markers of place, identity, and history. Predominantly working in stone and wood, Bailey exploits the characteristics of each medium to their fullest; his wooden ‘pou’ reach skywards and rounded stone forms possess a weightiness that extends far beyond physical mass. One of Bailey’s commissions, Pou Tu te Rangi (2011), stands in the Sanctuary Garden of Auckland’s Britomart Precinct. The seven pou represent a family and Bailey explores ideas of “te kotahitanga (being as one), te piritahi (coming together), and te mahi tahi (working as one).” (2)

Based on Waiheke Island, with an academic background in Māori Culture and Heritage, Bailey has worked as an artist for over 20 years and has exhibited both nationally and internationally. He has been awarded a number of Creative New Zealand grants and in 2010 was the subject of a documentary Chris Bailey – Ringa Whao, which looked at his journey to becoming a sculptor. Bailey has been recognised by the New Zealand Art Council for his stone work and as such granted Toi Iho status which formally recognises authentic Maori art of a high artistic quality. In 2009 he was one of a selection of designers and artists whose work was shown in the New Zealand Room at La Maddalena, the 53rd Venice Biennale. His work appears in many private and public collections, most notably the New Zealand Maritime Museum, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the New Zealand Arts Council.