Simon Richardson Life and Still Life

Dunedin-based artist Simon Richardson’s exhibition Life and Still Life features a selection of portraits - including nationally significant writers and artists - and still lifes. The 15 paintings and drawings in this exhibition have all been sourced from private collections.

Simon Richardson was born in Gore in 1974. He studied at the Dunedin School of Art and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1996. Since then, he has been a full-time artist.

Richardson has been awarded the Canadian Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant three times, which has enabled him to visit European museums, helping to inform his approach to portraiture. In 2016, his portrait of his daughter ‘Mila’ was selected for the BP Portrait Award at the National Gallery, London, making Richardson the first New Zealander to be selected. In 2024, he was a finalist in Australasia’s prestigious portraiture awards, the Archibald Prize, with a painting of renowned New Zealand photographer Fiona Pardington.

During his career, he has held four solo exhibitions in Dunedin (Marshall Seifert Gallery) and Auckland (Jonathan Grant Gallery), and his work is included in many national and international collections, including the Eastern Southland Gallery which purchased his portrait of Hone Tuwhare in 2004.

Richardson has also had many important commissions including the official civic portrait of then Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin, Christ’s College Headmaster Simon Leese, and, more recently, the Auckland University’s official portrait of former Vice Chancellor, the late Stuart McCutheon.

Richardson lives and works at his home studio in Broad Bay, Dunedin, with his wife Gepke and children Mila and Eben.”

Gallery Programmes Officer, Marcella Geddes says … “Simon has long been on our hit list of artists we were interested in exhibiting. As Simon works meticulously, this exhibition has been gestating for some years. Given his connection to Gore, our the Gallery’s 40th Anniversary year seemed like the perfect time to bring the show together. The exhibition presents a selection 12 paintings and three drawings featuring portraits and still lifes. All have been sourced from private

collections, except for the Eastern Southland Gallery’s portrait of poet Hone Tuwhare painted by Simon in 2004.”

Admission free.

Gallery Hours: Monday to Friday 10am – 4.30pm, Weekends and Public Holidays 1-4pm. Closed Good Friday.

Image Credits:

- Simon Richardson, Marmite on Toast with Green Formica, 2025, oil paint and egg tempera on panel, Collection of the Artist

For further information please contact:

Eastern Southland Gallery, 03 208 9907 Jim Geddes [email protected] Marcella Geddes [email protected]