The world-bending art of Reuben Paterson (b. 1973, Auckland, New Zealand: Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāi Tūhoe, Tūhourangi, Scottish) reaches back to his childhood experiences of the glistening waters and sparkling black sands of Tamaki Makarau's West Coast. His signature use of glitter carries all these memories and the people, presences, and histories to which they connect. Always pushing what he describes as the 'limitless' material and conceptual possibilities of glitter, Paterson's paintings, sculptures, animations, and installations share an optical energy that harnesses the mesmerising effects of pattern, colour, and texture.

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 (genealogy)-based modes of cultural knowledge. 

Based in New York, Reuben Paterson has exhibited nationally and internationally since 2000. He has staged recent solo exhibitions at City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi (2023), Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū (2022) and The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (2020), and has featured in significant group exhibitions such as the largest survey of contemporary Māori art, Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2020); Contemporary Asian and Pacific Art, The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia (2016); and E Tu Ake, the Musee du quai Branly, Paris, France; the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand; Museo Nacional las Culturas, Mexico City, Mexico; and Musee de la Civilisation, Quebec City, Canada (2011-13). Paterson has participated in major international art fairs and biennales, including The Beauty of Distance: Songs of survival in a precarious age, 17th Biennial of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (2010); Asia Pacific Triennial, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (2009); nEUclear Reactions, Prague Biennial, Czech Republic (2010); and the 9th Pacific Biennial, Republic of Palau (2001). Paterson’s recent public art commissions include Guide Kaiārahi at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (2021-26); Te Maiea, Aotea Square, Auckland (2021); and The Golden Bearing, Puketerata Garden of National Significance, Taranaki, New Zealand (2016). His works are housed in major public and private collections across Australasia. Paterson’s commitment to reaching outside of the art world and connecting art, industry, fashion and politics has led to long term collaborations with WORLD Fashion house and Dilana Rugs. 

Aaron Lister 2023