Auckland New Zealand is eclectic and modern city visually enhanced with street art and sculpture. You would be hard-pressed to find a business district in the city that didn’t have some sort of public art. Auckland street art ranges from classic painting to modern graffiti-like styles. Similarly, the city’s sculpture covers a range from traditional Maori carvings to funky and contemporary strands blowing in the wind. Each year, Auckland Art Week (October) brings it all together.
As art is visual, let me take you on a virtual Auckland street art tour through photography.
Auckland Art Week is in October. It is a great time to discover New Zealand art, either on your own or through a free walking tour. Auckland offers a variety of art tour options each year, sponsored primarily by Heart of the City.
Auckland Street Art
The Auckland Street Art tour is one we can do annually, as street art is an ever-changing medium. Always a bit different, it is generally my highlight of Auckland Art Week. The tour features permanent and temporary works that highlight various stages of the progression of street art from the illegal tagging of the 90s through today’s frequently sponsored and often commissioned Auckland Street Art.
If you are in New Zealand, any other time of year, you might enjoy this Auckland tour:
⇒ Check pricing and availability on the Auckland Street Art Walking Tour or Buy Now
Some of my favourite examples of Auckland Street Art:
Inner City Life is what the full piece of art reads. By Jonny 4Higher, this spray painting is one of several graffiti artworks that were once displayed on containers at Queen’s Wharf.
This is one of 16 New Zealand bird murals painted by Flox (Hailey King) in the Britomart car park. The image painted here is a critically endangered takahe, a bird I have been lucky enough to see twice, once on Tiritiri Matangi, and later at Zealandia in Wellington.
On the side of Mexico, a restaurant in Britomart, this piece is a good example of paste-up paper art, tailing on from the days in which it street art was illegal. It was quicker to do part of the art on paper and then paste it up.
More Auckland Street Art
Our guide Eleanor shares some of the background on this Tongan-influenced piece by Benjamin Work entitled: Tu’i ‘o e ngaahi Tu’i. It is on Fort Lane, just outside the sloping Everybody’s Bar. The area has an interesting history found here.
“Lane Change” is a relief piece by John Radford on Mills Lane.
An artwork of chalk on the wall outside of one of my favourite restaurants in Auckland.
This Auckland street art was commissioned for the 2014 Art Week and is a collaboration between Askew One, Elliot Francis Stewart and Gary Silipa.
For more great street art from around the world, check out these coffee table books:
Highlights of an Auckland Street Art Tour in 2016
In 2016 Heart of the City commissioned several talented New Zealand artists to create hearts for the city including Dick Frizzell, Askew One, Sara Hughes, Chris Heaphy, and Flox.
This Dragon by Chris Heaphy is on Federal Street. Notice the Maori warrior proudly standing on the whisker of the dragon and the European on horseback upon the claw.
This spray chalk and stencil carpet is a collaborative effort by several artists. The rain has been a huge challenge to this particular piece. Multiple reapplications were needed. It represents the tapestry of our lives and ancestors.
A mosaic memorial at the port where the Rainbow Warrior was sunk in 1985.
Entitled “Just a Wee Drop” also by Elliot Francis Stewart, this is hubby’s favourite example of Auckland street art.
Auckland Waterfront Artwork and Sculptures
Another year, another Auckland Art Week, another free walking tour. In 2014 we enjoyed a Waterfront Artwork and Sculpture tour as well as another Auckland street art tour.
These seven Pou (carved wooden posts) by Chris Bailey represent family, according to our guide.
This fountain, shaped like a dormant volcano, sits outside of Britomart, Auckland’s main transportation hub, over the train tunnels. In the winter steam rises from the centre when trains pass.
Fire Window by American Artist Eric Orr, 1996. The water runs down the steel sides, and at night flames are visible on the top.
The Flooded Mirror by Rachel Shearer. Hubby looks and listens as this art is about the sound that is heard through the vents as the water passes under the bridge.
“A Maori Figure in a Kaitaka Cloak” sculptured by Molly Macalister. The unconfirmed story told by one of our guides is that this piece was originally commissioned to sit outside of Britomart, but people wanted a more traditionally dressed warrior to a cloaked warrior, so it was moved.
All photos on this page ©Rhonda Albom. All rights reserved.
Practical Information on Auckland Street Art and Sculpture
- Auckland Art Week annually falls in October. It’s a colourful event encompassing much of the city with free walking tours, gallery exhibits, workshops, and lectures. It’s a coming together of all things artistic in the city.
- Sponsored by Heart of the City, many of the free walking tours and some of the other events require registration. See their official website.
- Auckland Artweek events take place at over 100 venues in ten neighbourhoods throughout Auckland.
- There are many very talented New Zealand artists. I hope you have discovered a few new favourites today.
More Street Art and Sculpture from Around the World
It’s no secret that I love street art. I search it out when we travel, I photograph it, and I share it here on Albom Adventures. If you are also a fan, check out these articles featuring some of my favourite collections:
- Christchurch Street Art Uplifts NZ’s Post-Quake City
- Bizarre Wellington Street Sculptures are Colorful Fun
- K Road Urban Art in Progress
- Interesting Newmarket Sculptures: More Auckland Art
- Explore Melbourne Street Art and Graffiti Laneways
- Discovering Street Art in Perth, Australia
- Plus a Street Art Around the World collaboration series featuring sample from New Zealand and Australia, Europe, Canada and United States, Central and South America, and Asia.
Have you had a chance to take a walk amongst the Auckland street art and sculptures? Which Auckland Artweek events peak your interest?
If you enjoyed this article, please share it on social media, including Pinterest. The two images here:
- An interesting typeface street artwork on Mills Lane in Auckland.
- These colourful ribbons and bells are from the artist, Tiffany Singh.
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