Art New Zealand – Spring 2026

Summary

Charles and Janine Williams's Silo Park installation graces the cover of Art New Zealand Number 199, Spring 2026, priced at NZD 9.75, as the 96-page quarterly turns its editorial attention to the career of John Coley (1935-2026) in a memorial feature, alongside exhibition previews of Yuki Kihara, Gretchen Albrecht, Terry Stringer, Lorene Taurerewa, and the Adam Art Gallery's Peal the Bells project — anchoring another season of New Zealand contemporary art coverage.

The Coley tribute is the issue's anchor, examining the artist's six-decade output from the 1960s through his final projects before his death earlier this year. Yuki Kihara's project schedule receives a dedicated preview, continuing the magazine's coverage of the Samoan-Japanese artist's international trajectory. Terry Stringer's career survey is covered, along with his distinctive sculptural language. Len Lye's childhood memoir extracts provide a historical counterpoint to the contemporary features. The Peal the Bells project at Adam Art Gallery is flagged as a spring highlight. Rosemary Campbell's recent work and Viky Garden's exhibition programme are also included in the review section.

Regular features include the comprehensive exhibition calendar covering galleries across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and regional centres, plus book reviews of recent New Zealand art publications. The cover feature on Charles and Janine Williams's collaborative practice examines how their large-scale public installation work engages with industrial heritage sites. Toss Woollaston's legacy continues to be referenced across multiple reviews. Anita DeSoto and Charlotte Crichton appear in the exhibition previews section. ISSN 0110-1102.

Editor's Take

Art New Zealand Spring 2026 does what it has done for 199 issues: document the country's art ecosystem with scholarly seriousness. The strongest content is the John Coley memorial, which gives proper weight to a practitioner who was more important to New Zealand art than his international profile suggested. The weakest aspect is the structure — there is no editorial introduction or theme statement, so the issue reads as a stack of exhibition previews and reviews without editorial framing. The exhibition calendar remains invaluable but takes up nearly half the page count. This is for dedicated followers of the New Zealand art scene, not for casual browsers or international readers seeking an entry point.

Strengths
• John Coley memorial provides overdue critical assessment of a significant NZ artist
• Yuki Kihara and Terry Stringer features offer substantive exhibition context
• Comprehensive nationwide exhibition calendar remains a vital industry resource

Weaknesses
• No editorial framing or thematic introduction — reads as a preview stack
• Exhibition calendar consumes nearly 50 percent of page count

Verdict: Selective read — Essential for NZ art professionals; thin editorial framing limits appeal for international readers.