Pete Wheeler, 'Intro', 2024. Oil, oil stick, ash and pigment on linen, 1950mm x 1450mm. The Central Art Gallery.
Photo Credit
Pete Wheeler, 'Outro', 2024. Oil, oil stick and ash on linen, 1980mm x 1570mm. The Central Art Gallery.
Photo Credit
Pete Wheeler, 'TBT', 2024. Oil, oil stick, ash and pigment on linen, 1980mm x 1620mm. The Central Art Gallery.
Photo Credit
In an unwavering fascination with life and death, Pete Wheeler’s works in How to Slay a Dragon present as a colourful juxtaposition. Swathes of charming pastels and brights are interrupted by areas of darker hues as skeletal forms float in colour fields anchored by symbols of time and the cycle of life. Parallels and opposites through colour and theme—joy and sorrow; fear and bravery; living and dying—are expressed with Pete’s signature vim and vigour.
Born in Geraldine, Aotearoa, Pete Wheeler has returned to live in Ōtepoti Dunedin after living and working in Berlin, Germany, for 10 years. Pete lived in Ōtepoti during the late 1990s and early 2000s, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Otago Polytechnic in 2000. In 2009 he gained a Master of Fine Arts from Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. Pete has held solo shows in New Zealand, Australia, America and Europe and has multiple works in the James Wallace Collection, Zabludowicz Collection (London) and Martin Sosnoff Collection (New York).
In an unwavering fascination with life and death, Pete Wheeler’s works in How to Slay a Dragon present as a colourful juxtaposition. Swathes of charming pastels and brights are interrupted by areas of darker hues as skeletal forms float in colour fields anchored by symbols of time and the cycle of life. Parallels and opposites through colour and theme—joy and sorrow; fear and bravery; living and dying—are expressed with Pete’s signature vim and vigour.
Born in Geraldine, Aotearoa, Pete Wheeler has returned to live in Ōtepoti Dunedin after living and working in Berlin, Germany, for 10 years. Pete lived in Ōtepoti during the late 1990s and early 2000s, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Otago Polytechnic in 2000. In 2009 he gained a Master of Fine Arts from Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury. Pete has held solo shows in New Zealand, Australia, America and Europe and has multiple works in the James Wallace Collection, Zabludowicz Collection (London) and Martin Sosnoff Collection (New York).
