Christina Joy Barton (born 1958), known as Tina Barton, is a

New Zealand art New Zealand art consists of the visual and plastic arts (including woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from New Zealand and comes from different traditions: indigenous Māori art, that of the early European (or Pākehā) settlers, an ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, curator and gallery director. She is currently director of 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 " ...

Education

Barton completed a Masters of Art in art history at the

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 1987. Her thesis topic was the history of post-object art in New Zealand between 1969 and 1979.

Career

After completing her MA, Barton joined the

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 ...

as a research assistant. She worked as Assistant Curator at Auckland Art Gallery from 1988 to 1992, and as Curator of Contemporary New Zealand Art at the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

from 1992 to 1994. During her time at Te Papa Barton curated ''Art Now'', a major survey exhibition of contemporary New Zealand art practice intended to become a biennial event, a hope which did not materialize. She also co-curated, with Deborah Lawlor-Dormer, ''Alter / Image: Feminism and representation in New Zealand art 1973–1993'', an exhibition organised to mark the centennial of

women's suffrage in New Zealand Women's suffrage in New Zealand was an important political issue in the late nineteenth century. In early colonial New Zealand, as in European societies, women were excluded from any involvement in politics. Public opinion began to change i ...

. From 1995 to 2007, Barton lectured in the Art History department at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. During this time she continued to curate exhibitions, including ''Guests and Foreigners, Rules and Meanings (Te Kore)'', a major installation by

Joseph Kosuth Joseph Kosuth (; born January 31, 1945), an American conceptual artist, lives in New York and London,

at the then-recently opened Adam Art Gallery at Victoria University. Barton was appointed director of the Adam Art Gallery in April 2007. Significant exhibitions she has curated for the gallery include: *''I, HERE, NOW: Vivian Lynn'' (2007) *'' Anthony McCall: Drawing with Light'' (2010) *''Dark Sky'' (2012) (with Geoffrey Batchen) *''Beautiful Creatures: Jack Smith,

Bill Henson Bill Henson (born 7 October 1955) is an Australian contemporary art photographer. Art Henson has exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Venice Biennale, the National Gal ...

, Jacqueline Fraser'' (2013) *'' Simon Denny: The Personal Effects of Kim Dotcom'' In 2014, Barton co-edited a major anthology of art critic

Wystan Curnow Wystan Tremayne Le Cren Curnow (born 1939) is a New Zealand art critic, poet, academic, arts administrator, and independent curator. He is the son of Elizabeth Curnow, a painter and printmaker, and poet Allen Curnow. Biography Curnow was born ...

's writing with curator Robert Leonard. ''The Critic's Part: Wystan Curnow Art Writings 1971–2013'' was published by

Victoria University Press Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP (formerly Victoria University Press) is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2022, the press had published around 800 books. History Vi ...

and described by critic Jill Trevelyan as 'more than a collection of essays: it serves as an insight into the development of New Zealand art, illuminating a period of rapid change'. In the same year she was a juror for the 2014

Walters Prize The Walters Prize is New Zealand's largest contemporary art prize. Held biennially since 2002, the prize aims to 'make contemporary art a more widely recognised and debated feature of cultural life'. The prize is named in honour of New Zealand ab ...

. In 2015, Barton curated ''Billy Apple®: The Artist Has to Live Like Everybody Else'', a survey exhibition of

Billy Apple Billy Apple (born Barrie Bates; 31 December 19356 September 2021) was a New Zealand/USA artist, whose work is associated with the British and New York schools of pop art in the 1960s and NY's Conceptual Art movement in the 1970s. He worked alo ...

's work for Auckland Art Gallery. Barton has worked consistently with Apple; previous exhibitions include ''The Expatriates: Frances Hodgkins and Barrie Bates'' in 2004 and ''Billy Apply: New York 1969–1973'' in 2009, both at the Adam Art Gallery. In the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

, Barton was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to art history and curation.

Publications

*''Billy Apple® : a Life in Parts'', Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery, 2015. *Tina Barton and Robert Leonard, with Thomasin Sleigh, ''The critic's part : Wystan Curnow art writings 1971–2013'', Wellington:

, 2014. *''Beautiful Creatures: Jack Smith, Bill Henson, Jacqueline Fraser'', Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, 2013. *''I, here, now / Vivian Lynn'', Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, 2010. *''The expatriates: Frances Hodgkins and Barrie Bates '', Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, 2004. *''Ground/work: The art of Pauline Rhodes'', Wellington: Adam Art Gallery & Victoria University Press, 2002. *''Joseph Kosuth Guests and Foreigners, Rules and Meanings (Te Kore)'', Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, 2000. * ''Art now : the first biennial review of contemporary art'', Wellington: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 1994. * Tina Barton and Deborah Lawler-Dormer, ''Alter/image : feminism and representation in New Zealand art, 1973–1993'', Wellington: Wellington City Art Gallery, 1993. *''Surface tension : ten artists in the '90s'', Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery, 1992. *''Louise Henderson : the cubist years, 1946–1958'', Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery, 1991. *''After McCahon : some configurations in recent art'', Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery 1989.

Articles

*'Image/World : recent work by Andrew Beck', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 156, Summer 2015/2016, pp. 68–71 *'Round table : the state of art and discourse in New Zealand', ''Reading Room'', Auckland: Auckland Art Gallery, 2009 *'Not getting it', ''New Zealand Books'', vol. 18, no. 3, Spring 2008, p. 7 *'New horizons : New Zealand in Venice', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 101, Summer 2001/2002, pp. 41–44,90–91 *'Hammond's place', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 97, Summer 2000/2001, pp. 66–69 *'Joseph Kosuth in New Zealand', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 96, Spring 2000, pp. 60–64 *'Slipping through the net of art history', ''New Zealand Books'', vol. 8, no. 4, October 1998, pp. 8–9 *'Pushing the envelope : developments at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 87, Winter 1998, pp. 56–59 *'Vivian Lynn's Semi(r)otics', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 79, Winter 1996, pp. 54–57 *'Uncanny spaces : recent paintings by Caroline Williams', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 75, Winter 1995, pp. 57–59 *'Ten years on : reviewing the terrain for women in art in New Zealand', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 68, Spring 1993, pp. 50–52 *'David Tremlett at Artspace : a model for cultural exchange', ''Art New Zealand'', no. 65, Summer 1992/1993, pp. 60–63 *'Pleasures and dangers', ''Stamp'', no. 29, March 1992, p. 30 *'The last small world : Jim Allen's NZ environment No. 5', ''Midwest'', no. 1,1992, pp. 29–31 *Christina Barton and Priscilla Pitts, 'Unearthing nature : land projects by 4 artists, 1969–1980', ''Antic'', no. 5, June 1989, pp. 75–96

Further information

Interview with Tina Barton

RNZ National RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operat ...

, 14 September 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Tina New Zealand art historians Directors of museums in New Zealand Living people University of Auckland alumni 1958 births People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Victoria University of Wellington faculty New Zealand art curators Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand women curators