Overview

b. 1976, Gore, New Zealand
Lives and works in Christchurch, New Zealand

Steve Carr is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice is embedded in the curiosities of the everyday. Objects suspended in moments of transformation-from fruit, balloons, shuttlecocks, fireworks-are playfully transmuted from their original meaning. His executions are adventurous, also featuring the artist himself as the subject of change where he has become half-animal, a strange man-child, and a pre-teen girl. He has turned fire extinguishers into glass, bear rugs into wood, tyres into bouquets, and even himself into popcorn. Working predominantly in lens-based practices and sculpture, Carr interferes with and explores a range of materials and entities. The resulting works masterfully conceptualise the banality of human existence with humour and provocation, placing him as a leading figure within New Zealand contemporary art practice.

Born in Gore in 1976, Carr graduated with an MFA from the University of Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts in 2003. Currently living and working in Christchurch, he has been a Senior Lecturer at the University of Canterbury's Ilam School of Art since 2016. He was the co-founder of the Blue Oyster Gallery in Dunedin, a board member of Auckland's Artspace (2002-04) and a board member of Christchurch's The Physics Room (2016-19).

Carr has exhibited widely both in New Zealand and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include New Arrangements, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch (2024), In Bloom (IndigiGrow), MCA, Sydney (2023), Making Arrangements, STATION Gallery, Sydney (2023), Making Space, Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton (2022), Fading to the Sky, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Titirangi (2021), In Bloom (2020-) an ongoing touring public sculpture with living plants presented at various locations, Chasing the Light, City Gallery Wellington (2019)/National Gallery of Victoria (2019)/Christchurch Art Gallery (2018). He is represented in Australia by STATION (Melbourne/Sydney), and in New Zealand by Gow Langsford since 2024.

Works
  • Steve Carr, Carr Tyre, 2025
    Carr Tyre, 2025
  • Steve Carr, Deflated Balloon 1, 2025
    Deflated Balloon 1, 2025
  • Steve Carr, Deflated Balloons, 2025
    Deflated Balloons, 2025
  • Steve Carr, Doggie Poo Bag, 2025
    Doggie Poo Bag, 2025
  • Steve Carr, Many Steves, 2025
    Many Steves, 2025
  • Steve Carr, In Bloom (IndigiGrow), 2023
    In Bloom (IndigiGrow), 2023
  • Steve Carr, A Deflated Basketball with Water, 2022
    A Deflated Basketball with Water, 2022
  • Steve Carr, A Pillow with a River Rock, 2022
    A Pillow with a River Rock, 2022
  • Steve Carr, A Sculptural Assemblage with Water, 2022
    A Sculptural Assemblage with Water, 2022
  • Steve Carr, A Tyre with a Glass Sphere, 2022
    A Tyre with a Glass Sphere, 2022
  • Steve Carr, Albedo, Flavedo No.6, 2020
    Albedo, Flavedo No.6, 2020
  • Steve Carr, Smoke Bubble No. 5, 2016
    Smoke Bubble No. 5, 2016
  • Steve Carr, Smoke Bubble No. 6, 2016
    Smoke Bubble No. 6, 2016
  • Steve Carr, Smoke Bubble No. 7, 2016
    Smoke Bubble No. 7, 2016
  • Steve Carr, Watermelon, 2015
    Watermelon, 2015
  • Steve Carr, Transpiration, 2014
    Transpiration, 2014
  • Steve Carr, Screen Shots: Swiss Pink, 2011
    Screen Shots: Swiss Pink, 2011
  • Steve Carr, Donuts, 2007
    Donuts, 2007
  • Steve Carr, Cock, 2005
    Cock, 2005
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