One of the Pacific's most significant artists, Pule was born in 1962 on the island of Niue and moved to New Zealand in 1964.
From the mid-1990s, his powerful, enigmatic, and personal paintings attracted great interest, and his work came to be widely shown.
Famously inspired by hiapo, the innovative barcloths of nineteenth-century Niue, Pule has communicated through his work a fascination with Polynesia’s past and present, but his work ranges far more widely, responding to tribal culture as well as environmental and social issues of our time.
Pule express himself through painting, drawing, and also poetry.
John Pule
Born 1962
Based in Auckland — New Zealand
Sage Culture Gallery — Los Angeles, CA
2017 Exhibition — The Ancient Oceans
Gow Langsford Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2016 Exhibition — Return To The First Time of My Life / Liu Ke He Mogo Fakapa He Haaku a Moui
Tauranga Art Gallery — Tauranga, New Zealand
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
Wellington City Art Gallery — Wellington, New Zealand
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum — Auckland, New Zealand
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
New Zealand High Commission — Tonga, New Zealand
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
Pew Foundation — Easter Island - Rapa Nui, Chile
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo — Santiago, Chile
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
Tjibaou Cultural Centre — New Caledonia
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
Academy of Fine Arts — Wellington, New Zealand
2011-2016 — Kermadec: Nine Artists in the South Pacific
Gow Langsford Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2015 Exhibition — The Great World (Fonua Galo)
Gow Langsford Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2015 — Spring Catalogue
Gow Langsford Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2014 Exhibition — Frieze
Gow Langsford Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2012 Exhibition — The Blue Plateau of Polynesian Memory
Gow Langsford Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2011/12 Exhibition — Hauaga
Wellington City Gallery — Wellington, New Zealand
2010 Exhibition — Hauaga
Dunedin Art Gallery — Dunedin, New Zealand
2010 Exhibition — Hauaga
Auckland Art Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2010 Exhibition — Hauaga
John Leech and Gow Langsford Galleries — Auckland, New Zealand
2009 — Spring Catalogue Exhibition
Gow Langsford Gallery — Auckland, New Zealand
2009 Exhibition — Nothing Must Remain