This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tahatai (talk | contribs) at 03:59, 30 December 2024 (Created page). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 03:59, 30 December 2024 by Tahatai (talk | contribs) (Created page)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Mark Colin Braunias (August 20, 1955 — December 17, 2024) was a New Zealand semi-abstract painter who experimented with quilt making and glass blowing. He won the $25,000 Parkin Drawing Prize (2021) and two Wallace Art awards. His work is held in important national art collections including Te Papa Museum, Christchurch Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the Sarjeant Art Gallery. Braunias lived and worked in the coastal town of Kawhia, and the city of Hamilton. His younger brother is the writer Steve Braunias.
Early life and family
Mark Braunias was born in Tauranga to an Austrian immigrant father, Johann Braunias, a housepainter, and a New Zealand-born mother. He attended Mt Maunganui College, and worked at the Waterfront Industry Commission offices at Mt Maunganui wharf. After extensive travel, he returned to New Zealand to attend the Ilam School of Art in Christchurch. He graduated with a BFA from Canterbury University, Ilam School of Fine Arts, in 1988, the year of his first solo exhibition.
As a child Braunias was inspired by the art his father created in his spare time. His brother Steve Braunias describes these as "conservatively painted landscapes."
Career
Jonathan Smart, owner of the Jonathan Smart Gallery in Christchurch, said Braunias made paintings "that lean towards abstraction that are also deeply human."
Braunias was a prolific artist who exhibited frequently for more than three decades throughout New Zealand. He showed at the Peter McLeavey Gallery 13 times and the Jonathan Smart Gallery ten times. He also exhibited at Anna Miles Gallery, Dunedin School Of Art, Bath Street Gallery, Ilam Campus Gallery, Gregory Flint Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, the Auckland Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Southland Museum and Art Gallery, The Tauranga Art Gallery, The Sarjeant Gallery, and the Christchurch Art Gallery, among others.
Awards
1992: Paramount Award, the Wallace Art Awards
2010: Fulbright-Wallace Arts Trust Award
2021: Parkin Drawing Prize
Art Residencies
2002: Dunedin Public Art Gallery
2005: William Hodges Fellowship, Invercargill
2007: Tylee Cottage, Whanganui
2011: Fulbright/Wallace scholarship for a residency at the Headlands Centre for the Arts, San Francisco.
2019: Dunedin School of Art
Collections
The work of Mark Braunias is held in public gallery and private collections including Te Papa Museum, Christchurch Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Sarjeant Art Gallery, Tauranga Art Gallery, Invercargill Art Gallery and Museum, Ashburton Art Gallery, Auckland University, Canterbury University, Massey University, Lincoln University, Fletcher Trust Collection, Art House Trust Collection and the State Library Of Queensland.
References
- "Steve Braunias: Well-known painter Mark Braunias dies". NZ Herald. 2024-12-30. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- ^ "Prolific artist Mark Braunias dies". Otago Daily Times Online News. 2024-12-18. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- "Prolific New Zealand artist Mark Braunias dies". RNZ. 2024-12-18. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- "Steve Braunias: when the family home is up for sale". NZ Herald. 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- "About". Mark Braunias. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- "BRAUNIAS, Mark". The Arts House Trust. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- "as others see us... • Invercargill Public Art Gallery". www.invercargillpublicartgallery.nz. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- "Tylee Cottage". Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery. 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2024-12-30.