Ann Shelton (born 1967) is a New Zealand photographer and academic.

Early life and education

Shelton was born in

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The schoo ...

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

in 1995 and a Master of Fine Arts at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 2002.

Career

Shelton began her career as a photojournalist working for daily newspapers, before deciding she wanted more control over her images and deciding to go to art school. As an artist, her work mixes conceptual and narrative traditions of photography. In large-scale, hyper-real photographs she explores histories of people and of places, often bringing forgotten or controversial histories to light. Shelton has also shown a steady interest in the nature of the archive, exploring the collections of others in her work. Shelton first came to attention with the series ''Redeye''. Selected from thousands of photographs taken over a period of two years, the work documents

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

's art scene and its gallery openings, performances and underground events, especially those taking place around the

artist-run space An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

Teststrip Teststrip was an artist run gallery that operated in Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth larges ...

. Shelton has acknowledged Abigail Soloman-Godeau's essay 'Inside/Out' as an influence on the ''Redeye'' works. Described by the artist as a 'social diary', the series was described by

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

photography curator Ron Brownson as 'some of the most inventive and risk taking in recent art in New Zealand,'. Her 2000 series ''Abigail's Party'' consists of seven photographs which initially look like documentary shots of modernist homes' living rooms. However each image was staged in Shelton's own home. Discussing the works, Ingrid Neilson wrote:

Shelton hints at the difference between her images and the ‘real thing’, through her use of colour. While documentary photographs of modernist design are usually black and white, Shelton’s works are full, vibrant colour. Through reconstructing modernism, Shelton also has the opportunity to rewrite its history, and she does so with a feminist twist. Her use of luscious, juicy colours, tactile fabric, domestic settings, and titles such as ''Calendar Girl'', ''Golden Girl'' or ''Show Girl'', feminise and sexualise these modernist spaces.

One of Shelton's best-known works is the multi-part ''A library to scale''. The artist took as her subject over 3,500 volumes of media clippings and handwritten transcriptions pasted into notebooks and hardback books by amateur historian Frederick B. Butler over a period of 60 years. She discovered the volumes at

Puke Ariki Puke Ariki is a combined museum and library at New Plymouth, New Zealand which opened in June 2003. It is an amalgamation of the New Plymouth Public Library (founded in 1848) and the Taranaki Museum (founded in 1919). Its name, Māori for "hill ...

museum while undertaking a residency at the nearby

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is a contemporary art museum at New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The gallery receives core funding from the New Plymouth District Council. Govett-Brewster is recognised internationally for contemporary art. H ...

. Fascinated by Butler's enormous project and the richly visual sight of the shelves and shelves of collaged notebooks stored at the museum, Shelton went on to make several works relating to the archive: large-format photographs that reproduce the shelves; videos which show the pages of individual books being turned; and photographs of individual pages from Butler's own diaries. The works have been shown in solo presentations and also as part of group exhibitions examining the nature of the archives, such as ''Collect/Project'' at the

Adam Art Gallery Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

and ''Unpacking my library'' at Te Tuhi. Shelton has frequently employed techniques of doubling, reversing and inverting photographs. She refers to this approach as 'visual stammering', and uses it to draw attention to the subjectivity of photography. ''Doublet (after'' Heavenly Creatures''), Parker/Hulme crime scene, Port Hills, Christchurch, New Zealand'' (from 2001) from her ''Public Spaces'' series (2001–2003) for example is a diptych made up of a single image of a curve of a forest path, one moving to the left and one to the right. The seemingly banal image draws its power from the site it documents, the location of the murder of Honorah Parker, later dramatised in Peter Jackson's film ''

Heavenly Creatures ''Heavenly Creatures'' is a 1994 New Zealand biographical psychological drama film directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his partner, Fran Walsh, and starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey in their feature film debuts ...

''. In another work, ''Wintering, after a Van der Velden study, Otira Gorge'' from 2008, Shelton works from a preparatory sketch by Dutch-born artist Petrus van der Velden held in the collection of the Hocken Library at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, choosing the rough drawing over the artist's dramatic oil paintings of the same topic. A recent series, ''jane says'', created for her 2016 exhibition at

''Dark Matter'', features plants traditionally associated with treatments for women's fertility placed in

ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The tradition dates back to Heian period, when floral offerings were made at altars. Later, flower arrangements were instead used to adorn the (alcove) of a traditional Japan ...

-like arrangements against vibrant coloured backgrounds. The artist spent a year researching, collecting, arranging and photographing the plants, which include

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

and

yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

. She says:

Ikebana, as I understand it, is the concept that nature is perfect, but there is just a little bit too much of it. It needs distilling and minimising and controlling. I was thinking about what would be an appropriate way to photograph these plants, something that would convey the control they are capable of asserting.

Between 2008 and 2018 Shelton served as a trustee of Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington's longest running artist-run space. She co-chaired Enjoy's board from 2010-2012 and was its Chair from 2012–2018.

Exhibitions

*1997 ''Redeye'', Manawatu Art Gallery,

Artspace Artspace may refer to: * Artspace (website), an online marketplace based in New York City * Artspace, New Haven, an art gallery in downtown New Haven, Connecticut * Artspace Mackay, Mackay, Queensland, Australia * Artspace NZ, a visual arts cent ...

, Auckland, Robert McDougall Art Annex,

Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as t ...

*2000 ''Abigail's Party'',

; ''The Strip'', Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide. *2003 ''K Hole'', Lopdell House Gallery, Auckland *2004 ''A kind of sleep'',

*2005 Ann Shelton: Bifocal, Forrester Gallery, Oamaru *2006–2007 ''A library to scale'',

Enjoy Public Art Gallery Enjoy Contemporary Art Space is a contemporary art space in Cuba Street arts area of Wellington, New Zealand. Commonly known as 'Enjoy', the gallery was founded in 2000 by artists Ciaran Begley, Ros Cameron and Rachel Smithies as an artist-run ...

, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Starkwhite Gallery, Auckland,

Centre for Contemporary Photography The Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP), in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria, is a venue for the exhibition of contemporary photo-based arts, providing a context for the enjoyment, education, understanding and appraisal of contemporary practic ...

, Melbourne (in various configurations at each gallery) *2007 ''26 photos of a house'', Ramp Gallery, Hamilton *2008 ''Room Room'',

City Gallery Wellington City Gallery Te Whare Toi is a public art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. History City Gallery Te Whare Toi began its life as the Wellington City Art Gallery on 23 September 1980 in a former office block located at 65 Victoria Street, now ...

and Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland; ''Once more with feeling'',

Hocken Library Hocken Collections (, formerly the Hocken Library) is a research library, historical archive, and art gallery based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Its library collection, which is of national significance, is administered by the University of Otago. T ...

, Dunedin *2012 ''In a forest'', (excerpts)

The Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...

; ''a library to scale'', New Zealand Pavilion, Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt; ''In a forest'' (excerpts), The Australian Center for Photography, Sydney, * 2013 ''The city of gold and lead'',

Sarjeant Art Gallery The Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui at Pukenamu, Queen's Park Whanganui is currently closed for redevelopment. The temporary premises at Sarjeant on the Quay, 38 Taupo Quay currently house the Sarjeant Collection, and all exhibitions a ...

; ''doublethink'' (off-site project) Govett-Brewster Art Gallery *2015 ''House Work:'' ''A project about a house'', Enjoy Public Art Gallery, with words by

Pip Adam Pip Adam is a novelist, short story writer, and reviewer from New Zealand. Background Adam was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. She attended the New Zealand Film and Television School in Christchurch before moving to Dunedin. Adam has an MA ...

*2016 ''Ann Shelton: Dark Matter'', Auckland Art Gallery *2019 ''Close to the wind'', Two Rooms, Auckland, curated by Heather Galbraith

Collections

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

University of Auckland Art Collection

Publications

*Ron Brownson (ed), ''Ann Shelton: Redye'', Auckland: Rim Books, 1997. *Greg Burke (ed), ''A kind of sleep'', New Plymouth: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, 2005 * Francis Pound, ''A library to scale'', Auckland: Rim Books, 2006. * Jeremy Cooper, ''Passion and Compassion'', Wellington: Enjoy Public Art Gallery 2007 * Martin Patrick, ''Room Room'', Wellington and Whanganui: City Gallery Wellington and McNamara Gallery, 2008 * Natalie Poland, ''Once more with feeling'', Dunedin: Hocken Library, 2008 *Hanna Scott, ''Sightseeing'', Auckland: Rim Books, 2010. * Ann Shelton and Stephen Turner, ''Wastelands'', Auckland: Rim Books, 2010. *Emma Bugden, ''A tree obverse'', Lower Hutt: The Dowse Art Museum, 2012. *Sarah McClintock (ed), ''The city of gold and lead'', Whanganui: Sarjeant Art Gallery, 2013. * Ann Shelton and Sarah Caylor, ''Holland Street'', Wellington: Rim Books, 2013. *Meredith Robertshawe, ''Ann Shelton: doublethink'', New Plymouth: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, 2013. *Alice Tappenden (ed), ''A Spoonful of Sugar'', Auckland: Rim Books, 2015. *''Dark Matter,'' Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, 2016.

Artist books

* Ann Shelton, ''Metadata'', Auckland: Starkwhite, 2011

References

External links

Artist websiteAnn Shelton interviewed about Salvation Army's former Rotoroa Island Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre
Arts on Sunday,

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

, 10 May 2009
Interview with Ann Shelton
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2011
Ann Shelton interviewed on 'City of Gold and Lead'
Standing Room only,

, 28 July 2013
Interview about ''Dark Matter'' exhibition
Standing Room only,

, 27 November 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelton, Ann 1967 births Living people New Zealand artists New Zealand women artists New Zealand photographers New Zealand women photographers People from Timaru Elam Art School alumni