Matt Ellwood is an artist and educator with more than 25 years of professional experience in the arts sector merging his passion for both art and education. He has a Master of Fine Arts (First Class Honours and the Vice Chancellor’s scholarship) from the University of Auckland (2003) and a PgDip Teaching from the Auckland College of Education (1997).
Matt Ellwood is an artist and educator with more than 25 years of professional experience in the arts sector merging his passion for both art and education. He has a Master of Fine Arts (First Class Honours and the Vice Chancellor’s scholarship) from the University of Auckland (2003) and a PgDip Teaching from the Auckland College of Education (1997).
Matt Ellwood has been employed at Whitecliffe fulltime since 2007, before this he was a lecturer at Elam School of Fine Arts, and the Tuakana Mentoring Programme Co-ordinator for the Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries. He was a high school Head of Art Department before this, with several years of experience contracting to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Ministry of Education as a Visual Arts national examiner, panel leader, facilitator, advisor, curriculum resource developer, and professional development workshop presenter.
As a professional artist, Ellwood has an extensive exhibition record both nationally and internationally and has been included in important survey shows and publications such as the Govett Brewster Gallery’s review of contemporary New Zealand art and Warwick Brown’s Seen this Century. He is represented in Auckland by Melanie Roger Gallery where he has had five solo exhibitions over the past seven years. Ellwood is an award winning artist and has also received important artist residencies such as the ISCP in New York and the ASCC in Switzerland. He has been a regular exhibitor in curated art events such as the Biennial Headlands Sculpture on the Gulf and earlier in his career, was a regular finalist in national awards such as the Parkin Drawing Prize (Wellington) and the National Contemporary Art Awards (Waikato Museum).
Matt is currently a PhD candidate at AUT. His research thesis title is: Expanded drawing and the Gallery as Site: From the Drawing Lesson to the Pensive Image/Object.
He is also a father of two and a soccer dad.
Publications:
Selected Research and Exhibiting History
2024
Prototypes for Grid Enlargement Drawing Apparatus, Form Gallery, Whitecliffe, Auckland, NZ
Ellwood, Ford, McLaren, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, NZ (group)
Prototypes for Blind Contour Drawing Apparatus, Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery, AUT, Auckland, NZ
2022
Saintes et Dames, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, NZ (solo)
Fumble for Rhymes The Arts House Trust, Auckland, NZ (group)
2021
A.P.R, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, NZ (solo)
2020
Lively Collisions, Demo, Whitecliffe, Auckland, NZ (group)
The Wallace Art Awards, Pah Homestead, Auckland, NZ (finalist)
Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, NZ (finalist)
2019
Autumn Collection, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, NZ (solo)
The Wallace Art Awards, Pah Homestead, Auckland, NZ (finalist)
Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, NZ (finalist & highly commended award)
2018
The Wallace Art Awards, Pah Homestead, Auckland, NZ (finalist)
2017
The Future Machine, The Elms & Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, NZ (group)
The Wallace Art Awards, Pah Homestead, Auckland, NZ (finalist)
The Germaine Greer Series, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, NZ (solo)
Parkin Drawing Prize, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, NZ (finalist)
