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Andy Leleisi’uao

Andy Leleisi’uao is a New Zealand born Samoan. He lives and works as an artist in Mangere, South Auckland. His earlier work critiqued cultural and social injustices. His more recent works often explore alternative worlds.

Senior Pacific Artist Award – Andy Leleisi’uao

Award recipients have been recognised for their excellence, innovation and contribution to Pacific arts in the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards. Senior Pacific Artist Award 2021 – Andy Leleisi’uao

Andy Leleisi’uao grew up in Mangere, South Auckland with his sister Aova’a and his parents Pepe (Lalomauga, Upolu) and Tuifa’asisina Tinou’amea (Palauli, Savai’i). His work sits between modern and post-modern Pacific Art. At times his confrontation of issues of social, cultural and political Samoan diaspora from a New Zealand-born Samoan (Kamoan) perspective has drawn the ire of more conservative communities. Andy believes such issues and weaknesses need to be addressed openly. In the early 2000s his work shifted, becoming more universal, focussing more on the human condition while exploring alternative worlds.

Group Exhibitions:

Aug 2021 6 Degrees of Separation, Upstairs Gallery, Titirangi.

Jun Barrel Store Colony II, Corbans Estate, Henderson.

Storytellers, Arthause, Remuera, Auckland.

Mar Paperbag Project, Corbans Estate, Henderson.

Feb The New Salon, Milford Galleries, Dunedin.

Feb 2020 Linwood Ethnic Show, Linwood Community Centre, Christchurch.

Nov 2019 The Wakatipu Chronicals, Milford Galleries.

May WWJD, Vunilagi Vou Gallery, South Auckland.

Oct 2018 MPA#1 Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

Solo Exhibitions:

Nov 2021 An Uncanny Catharsis of Unrequited Bones, Artis Gallery, Auckland.

Jul Umbilical Brown, PG192 Gallery, Christchurch.

Nov 2019 Kamoan Mine, Hastings Art Gallery, Hastings.

Nov An Unwished Heart, Franklin Arts Centre, Pukekohe, Auckland.

Jul 2018 A Clouded Diaspora, Milford Galleries, Queenstown.

Mar Mangere Aroha, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

Oct 2017 An Unlovely Sorry, Fresh Gallery, Otara, Auckland

Dec 2015 Ghosts of a Second Samoan, MAC – Nga Tohu o Uenuku, Auckland

Apr The Checkmate of Wild Rainbows, Vero Centre, Auckland.

Jul 2012 Quasimodo Love, Papergraphica, Christchurch.

“So the artist recognizes that our being human is invested not simply in our existence as individuals, but also in our collective existence as social beings. Our ability to rise above our individual physical selves and to see ourselves as part of a larger project, to project onto the world, and onto human life, a purpose that exists only because we as human beings create it. ” – Arthur Buerms, Gallerist, curator based in Belgium, 2021.