Joan Gragg
| |
|---|---|
| Born | Joan Elisabeth Gragg 1943 (age 80–81) |
| Alma mater | Auckland University of Technology |
| Known for | painting, drawing |
| Notable work | The Nuku (2008) |
| Style | everyday life and people in the Cook Islands |
Joan Elisabeth Gragg (also Joan Rolls-Gragg, Joan Rolls Gragg; born 1943) is a senior artist and educator from the Cook Islands, with painting career spanning five decades.[1] She founded the Cook Islands' first and only premier art gallery, Beachcomber Contemporary Art (now Bergman Gallery), in 1991. Gragg graduated with a Master of Art and Design degree from Auckland University of Technology in 2010.[2][1] There was an opportunity for Gragg to work towards a doctorate in art but she has discounted that for the meantime.[3]
Gragg's practice centres on the changes to everyday life in the Cook Islands,[4] exploring changes over the decades, with people drifting further apart with the introduction of new technology such as new forms of transportation as opposed to walking, and single plastic chairs instead of traditional wooden benches.[3] According to Gragg, she aims to showcase the "joy, camaraderie, love, and all the other great things that happen in a community in the Cook Islands",[1] and to visually express the humour of the Cook Islands through her art.[5]
Gragg has been exhibited extensively in the Cook Islands, as well as in New Zealand. Her work is held in numerous private and major public collections throughout the Cook Islands as well as New Zealand. Such as Cook Islands National Museum,[6] University of the South Pacific,[7] and the Belinda Fletcher Collection.[8]
