Bergman Gallery is an international dealer galley representing and exhibiting artists from the broader Pacific region. Bergman Gallery is based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, opening in 2016 & Auckland, New Zealand, opening in 2022. Alongside a regular schedule of exhibitions, the gallery also participates in art fairs and offers an invitational artist in residence program.
Bergman Gallery and represented artist Mahiriki Tangaroa, participated in the European Cultural Centre's curated project, Personal Structures, Venice, Italy, April - November 2022 with the site specific exhibition Kaveinga - Angels of the Ocean.
Bergman Gallery services include private and corporate art consultation, valuations, acquisitions, lighting, art hanging and framing advice.
Bev Moon
New Zealand
Bev Moon is a New Zealand artist of Seyip, Taishanese, and Cantonese descent whose multidisciplinary practice spans drawing, sculpture, painting, and textiles. Her work examines cultural narratives shaped by her ancestry, tracing connections to Taishanese men who migrated to New Zealand during the 1880s gold rush. Through her practice, Moon reflects on familial resilience and the complexities of navigating social and cultural expectations.
A key work in her practice is Fortune (2021), a knitted yum cha banquet created during the Auckland lockdown. This installation honours her mother and grandmother — both accomplished cooks and knitters — who arrived in New Zealand among 500 Chinese women and children granted temporary refuge during the Sino-Japanese War. Fortune merges domestic craft and cultural memory, offering commentary on migration, labour, and survival.
Fortune has been exhibited in many public institutions across New Zealand, including Whirinaki Whare Taonga, University of Otago, Waikato Museum, Eastern Southland Gallery, Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Whanganui Regional Museum, and Wellington Museum. Her work is in the collection of multiple institutions including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Museum, and Forrester Gallery.
Fatu Feu’u
Samoa, New Zealand
Fatu Feu’u ONZM, a distinguished artist of Samoan heritage, was born in the village of Poutasi, Falealili, on the island of Upolu. Educated at Samoa College in Apia, he relocated to New Zealand in 1966 to pursue artistic study. His early years in Aotearoa were shaped by the mentorship and encouragement of established local artists, who recognised his potential and urged him to refine his practice. Feu’u has since maintained a prolific career, exhibiting regularly since 1983 across New Zealand and internationally. His work has played a pivotal role in shaping contemporary Pacific art discourse, integrating traditional motifs with modernist influences to articulate complex cultural narratives.
Fatu Feu’u was appointed an Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2001 New Year Honours. In October 2022 he was awarded the Senior Pacific Artist Award by Creative New Zealand, for his outstanding contribution to art and his role as a leader within the Pacific arts community. In December 2022, Fatu received the ICON Award, alongside Dame Jane Campion and Dame Robin White, by the NZ Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. In March 2023, Fatu received the Distinguished Alumni Award - Auckland University.
Works by Fatu Feu’u are included in the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery, Waikato Museum, Christchurch Art Gallery, University of Canterbury, University of Auckland, Auckland Council, Fletcher Trust, Chartwell Trust, and Arts House Trust.
Andy Leleisi’uao
New Zealand, Samoa
Andy Leleisi’uao is a contemporary Samoan-New Zealand artist known for his thought-provoking, socially engaged, and highly symbolic works. His art explores themes of migration, cultural identity, social justice, and the human condition, often through intricate, surreal, and allegorical narratives. By merging Pacific motifs with futuristic and dystopian elements, Leleisi’uao constructs alternative realities that challenge dominant perspectives on history, colonialism, and community.
A full time artist since 1996, Andy’s CV is accomplished in exhibitions, awards, and residencies. Andy was awarded a scholarship to attend AUT and received a Master of Fine Arts with honours in 2002. He has exhibited throughout New Zealand and has been involved in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Rarotonga, Germany, Taiwan, and the USA. In 2021, Andy was presented the Senior Pacific Artist award from Creative New Zealand.
His work is included in the permanent collections of Pātaka Art + Museum, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Chartwell Trust, Arts House Trust, Casula Powerhouse, Sydney and the Museum of Ethnography, Frankfurt, Germany.
Telly Tuita
Tonga, Australia, New Zealand
Wellington-based artist Telly Tuita was born in Tonga in 1980 and immigrated to Sydney at age nine. Living in Australia for most of his life, Tuita’s disconnect from his Tongan heritage has long informed his practice. Exploring his cultural identity and complex relationship with his ancestral home has led him to form a distinct visual language, Tongpop.
Tongpop is an intriguing blend of influence, historical and contemporary personalities, art, music, movies and literature, foundational pillars of the western canon blended with memories, icons, and patterns of the artists cultural origins. Within his practice, video, photography, painting, sculpture, and installation, Tuita navigates ideas of identity, home and belonging.
Telly Tuita completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at Western Sydney University in 2003 before undertaking a Bachelor of Art Education at the University of New South Wales in 2004. In 2011, Tuita completed a Master in Special Education through the University of Sydney.
Tuita’s large format public exhibition, Tongpop’s Great Expectations, opened on 3 January 2024 at the Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney, Australia. Telly was the most recent Artist in Residence at the Sydney Festival, in January 2025.
Sylvia Marsters
New Zealand, Cook Islands
Sylvia Marsters is a prominent artist of Cook Islands heritage, widely recognised for her meticulous and emotive depictions of Pacific flora. Marsters’ practice explores themes of nostalgia, cultural identity, and connection to place, often centering on hyper-detailed renderings of hibiscus, gardenia, and frangipani—iconic symbols of the Pacific landscape. Her work merges realism with a sense of romanticism, evoking both the personal longing of diasporic identity and a broader meditation on memory and belonging.
In 2003, she was awarded the Cook Islands Artist’s Residency by Creative New Zealand, allowing her to spend three months in Rarotonga. This experience profoundly influenced her practice, deepening her engagement with her ancestral homeland and shaping the thematic direction of her subsequent works.
Marsters has exhibited extensively in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Fiji, and internationally, including at VOLTA NY in 2014. In 2024, she marked her 100th exhibition with E Kura Reitumanava no Rarotonga at Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga. Her paintings, often described as ‘veritable roadmaps of patient brushstrokes,’ offer a lush, immersive viewing experience, transporting audiences to a Pacific environment where past and present coalesce.
Mahirki Tangaroa
Cook Islands, New Zealand
Mahiriki Tangaroa graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts, Canterbury University in 1997.
Finding inspiration in pre-colonial artefacts, legend and folklore, her research centres on the Cook Islands God of the Ocean, Tangaroa, the God of Agriculture and War, Rongo, and the unnamed Aitutaki goddess. Her works primarily address social evolution and identity from a contemporary Pacific perspective.
Mahiriki Tangaroa’s recent paintings have addressed multiple social issues surrounding the Cook Islands community. The Cook Islands nation itself is in a transitional phase, as its modern day identity evolves and seeks to reconcile with its past.
In 2022, Mahiriki Tangaroa presented the solo exhibition Kaveinga – Angels of the Ocean at the European Cultural Centre in Venice, Italy and participated in the significant group exhibition OCEANIA NOW: Contemporary Art from the Pacific at Christie’s in Paris.
Her extensive exhibition history includes shows in Rarotonga, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch, Sydney, New York, Paris, Stockholm, and Venice.
Tanja McMillan (Misery)
Australia, New Zealand
Tanja McMillan (Misery) is a renowned artist of French Polynesian Tahitian, Hakka Chinese, Australian, and New Zealand Pākehā descent. Her mother, a costume designer, and her great-grandmother, a commercial artist for the Auckland Civic Theatre, significantly influenced her early exposure to the arts.
During her teenage years at Auckland Metropolitan College, Tanja befriended graffiti artists, including Elliot O’Donnell (Askew One), who bestowed upon her the moniker “Misery.” This period marked the beginning of her journey into street art, where she developed distinct characters reflecting her emotions, life experiences, and dreams.
Tanja’s artistic style is deeply influenced by her diverse heritage and a profound appreciation for Asia-Pacific arts and crafts. She often incorporates elements from Japanese art, personifying objects to convey the concept of inherent energy in all things. Her works are characterised by a unique blend of sweetness and melancholy, capturing delicate gestures and expressions that are both delightful and instantly recognisable.
Beyond her personal practice, Tanja has engaged in various commercial collaborations with brands like Anna Sui, Casio Baby-G, Telecom, Serato, and Piaggio. She has exhibited her work internationally in cities such as Berlin, Taiwan, Paris, Hawaii, New York, Los Angeles, and throughout New Zealand, and Australia
Reuben Paterson
Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi
New Zealand
Reuben Paterson’s dynamic artwork has been dazzling viewers for the past two and a half decades. Working across painting, sculpture & video, his visually hypnotic and conceptually nuanced artwork has become widely known and celebrated. He is a leading artist of his generation.
Curator Aaron Lister has stated, ‘Paterson uses the transformative properties of light to reach beyond appearances and pry open the complex histories and tensions that sit just beneath the surface of all things. His art is made in celebration of exchange and encounter, hybridity and fluidity, spirituality and sexuality, and is especially attuned to the dynamics of queer identity and whakapapa-based modes of cultural knowledge. This rich tapestry of cultural touch points allows viewers to read his work in myriad ways.’
In 1997, Paterson completed a postgraduate degree, Elam School of Fine Arts University of Auckland. Subsequently, he was awarded New Zealand’s prestigious Moët et Chandon Award, which included a residency in Avize, France. Paterson has exhibited nationally and internationally since 2000. In 2023, Paterson’s first survey exhibition The Only Dream Left, curated by Aaron Lister and Karl Chitham, opened at City Gallery, Wellington | Te Whare Toi.
Reuben Paterson lives and works in New York City.
Sione Monū
New Zealand, Australia, Tonga
Sione Tuívailala Monū, born in 1993 in Auckland, New Zealand, is an interdisciplinary artist of Tongan descent. They divide their time between Canberra, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand, working across various mediums including photography, moving-image, fashion and adornment, performance, and drawing. Their work delves into themes of identity, family, and the Pasifika queer experience in the diaspora.
A significant aspect of Monū’s practice involves the Tongan fine art of flower design, known as nimamea’a tuikakala. Traditionally, this art form utilises fresh tropical flowers, but due to their scarcity in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Monū adapts by using vibrant plastic flowers sourced from local shops. This approach not only honours cultural traditions but also reflects the adaptability inherent in diasporic life.
Monū’s work has been showcased in numerous exhibitions across New Zealand and Australia. Notable solo exhibitions include Stories, City Gallery Wellington, 2023; Queer Encounters, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2023; Kindred: A Leitī Chronicle (w/ Manu Vaeatangitau), Auckland Art Gallery, 2022; 'Ao Kakala Ōtautahi, SCAPE Public Art Season 2021, and Leitī, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, 2021.
Kay George
New Zealand, Cook Islands
Kay George is a senior New Zealand and Pacific artist. Living between New Zealand and the Cook Islands for the past 35 years, George has observed and documented significant societal change within a Pacific context. Her extensive body of work generated over that time includes textiles, paintings, collage, installation, and photography.
George’s oeuvre presents the viewer an engaged, personal perspective, the artist living and working within a small Pacific community, bearing witness to substantial social evolution set within the political and economic subtext of the Cook Islands daily relationship with its post-colonial regional partner, New Zealand.
Issues of identity, migration, environmental and communal flux are indelible within the rich, coloured layers that have become synonymous with this artists practice.
Kay George’s CV includes exhibitions in Rarotonga, New Zealand, France, United States of America, Australia and New Caledonia.
Rhea Maheshwari
India, New Zealand
Rhea Maheshwari, born in 1993 in Mumbai, India, is a visual artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, New Zealand. Her work intricately weaves together Eastern and Western artistic traditions, drawing inspiration from 17th- and 18th-century Mughal miniatures, Buddhist and Tantric mandalas, and European Romanticism. Maheshwari’s compositions often feature geometric frameworks overlaid with organic elements such as flora, fauna, and mythological figures, creating richly detailed dreamscapes that explore psycho-spiritual themes.
Maheshwari holds a Master of Visual Arts (First Class Honours) from AUT in 2021. Her academic excellence has been recognised through several awards, including the Board’s Choice in the Eden Arts Art School Award, the Joint Overall Winner of the Eden Arts Young Artists Award, and the Gordon Harris Award for Excellence in Visual Arts.
Maheshwari work has been showcased at venues such as Centre of Contemporary Art, Corban Estate Arts Centre, Mairangi Arts Centre, The Physics Room, MAG Contemporary (New Delhi, India), Qorum Club (Hyderabad, India), Academie Minerva (Groningen, The Netherlands) as well as solo exhibitions in Queenstown Contemporary, and Depot Artspace, reflecting her growing prominence in both national and international art scenes.
Louie Bretaña
The Philippines, New Zealand
Louie Bretaña is an Auckland based Filipino | New Zealand artist with parental roots from both Manila and the Visayan province of Iloilo.
Bretaña’s discourse addresses the impact of colonialism, both historical and contemporary and it’s ongoing manifestation within a modern Pacific context. Bretaña’s astute observations are captured in engaging visual experiences including painting, sculpture, performance and jewellery.
Since 2016, Bretaña has participated in over 40 exhibition projects including the solo exhibitions Eat My Rice - Performance Art Week Aotearoa 2017, Playstation, Wellington; Syokes, Objectspace, Auckland, 2021 and Tumingala Sa Tinitingala Na Mga Tala, Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery, Titiranagi, 2021.
Louie Bretaña has a BFA with First Class Honours and MFA with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland Elam School of Fine Arts and a BFA from the College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines. He was awarded Artist of the Year, Filipino-Hero Awards 2024 from the New Zealand’s Filipino community.
Luise Fong
Malaysia, New Zealand
Luise Fong was born in Sandakan, Malaysian and grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. In the 1990s, Fong developed a distinctive post-modern style characterised by layered, abstract compositions that suggest organic forms and traces of human presence. Her work has been described as imaging microscopic and macroscopic aspects of the world, allowing viewers to make diverse connections and associations. She often employs circular, organic motifs and integrates materials like gold and silver leaf into her acrylic paintings. In 1994 she was the joint winner (with Bill Hammond) of the Visa Gold Art Award.
Fong’s work has been included in several important international exhibitions, including Cultural Safety: Contemporary Art from New Zealand, Frankfurter Kunstverein, 1995 and Trans/fusion: Hong Kong artists’ exchange, Hong Kong Arts Centre and Auckland Art Gallery, 1996. Fong was artist in residence at Colin McCahon House in Auckland in 2008.
Her work is held in numerous private and major public collections throughout New Zealand and Australia, including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery, Chartwell Trust Collection, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Christchurch Art Gallery, Waitako Museum, Rotorua Museum, University of Auckland, Fletcher Trust, Arts House Trust, University of Canterbury, and Dame Jenny Gibbs Collection.
Lucas Grogan
Australia
Lucas Grogan, born in 1984 in Cooma, New South Wales, is an Australian artist renowned for his distinctive blue-and-white artworks that span painting, textiles, and murals. Grogan’s work is characterised by intricate patterns, geometric designs, and the incorporation of text, often infused with acerbic wit and social commentary.
His artistic journey began with exhibitions in 2005, and by 2008, he gained significant attention when featured in the Biennale of Sydney at the age of 24. Grogan’s renowned Library series serves as time capsules, encapsulating competing ideologies, psychological insights, and reflections on current affairs. His inspirations are diverse, drawing from Islamic motifs, traditional Aboriginal paintings, and contemporary culture. He often employs sarcastic quotes, both famous and colloquial, painted freehand, adding layers of meaning to his pieces.
In 2013, he was awarded the Red Gate residency in Beijing, further expanding his international presence. His works have been exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, including cities like Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Auckland, Rarotonga, and London. His works are in numerous private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Newcastle Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Westfarmers, Deutsche Bank, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, and Ararat Gallery.
Luke Thurgate
Australia
Luke Thurgate is an artist living and working on Gadigal Land (Sydney, Australia). He teaches drawing and painting at the National Art School, where he graduated in 2021 with a Master of Fine Art. Luke has an extensive exhibition history including exhibitions at Grafton Regional Gallery, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Backwoods Gallery, Burra Regional Art Gallery, National Art School, and Adelaide Central Gallery.
Luke’s multi-disciplinary studio practice explores the construction and deconstruction of identity in relation to masculinity, sexuality, romance, and power. His current work uses the monster as a surrogate other to explore tensions between parody, sincerity, menace, pathos, transgression, and vulnerability. Luke’s work borrows from a range of sources, including popular culture, Catholic iconography, and queer historical archives.
Thurgate’s works are in numerous private and public collections, including The National Art School, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Macquarie University, University of South Australia, Catherine Croll Collection, and Alex Seton Collection.
Alison Leauanae
New Zealand, Samoa
Alison Leauanae was born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau and is of Samoan (Magiagi, Saleaula, Lano, Samata), Scottish (Galashiels) and English heritage. Through contemporary hand-stitched and hand-woven works on paper, she develops a visual language that reflects both her cultural heritage and the broader narratives of Pacific diaspora and global emigration.
Leauanae’s artistry weaves together the dual influences of her upbringing—threaded with the delicate craft of her palagi/Pākehā grandmother and the bold contemporary works of her Samoan uncle, I’iga Iosua To’afa. Her work begins with the meticulous act of pre-punching holes into paper, a meditative, almost ritualistic process that sets the stage for intricate stitching and weaving.
When viewing her works, one is invited to a place of introspection, to consider a personal response to what they see. Her interest in migration stories and histories, and how these experiences influence how one sees and interprets their worlds, are explored in her most recent works.
Leauanae was awarded the 2022 Upstairs Gallery Emerging Artist Award.
