Joan Gragg

Joan Elisabeth Gragg (born 1943) is an artist and educator from the Cook Islands. Gragg's painting career spans five decades.[1] She founded the Cook Islands' first and only premier art gallery, Beachcomber Contemporary Art (now Bergman Gallery), in 1991.[1] Gragg graduated with a Master of Art and Design degree from Auckland University of Technology in 2010.[2][3] There was an opportunity for Gragg to work towards a doctorate in art but she has discounted that for the meantime.[4]

Joan Gragg
Born
Joan Elisabeth Gragg

1943 (age 79–80)
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Known forPaintings of people in the Cook Islands

Gragg's practice centres on the changes to everyday life in the Cook Islands, 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.[4] 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]

Selected solo exhibitions
  • 2023: The Nuku, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands[6]
  • 2021: Underneath the Mango Tree, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands[7]
  • 2011: Patia Te Pere, BCA Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands[8]
  • 2010: Seeing the Funny Side, Cook Islands National Museum, Rarotonga, Cook Islands[8]

Selected group exhibitions
  • 2023: Horizon, Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand[9]
  • 2020: Tatou 2, The Story of Us, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands[8]
  • 2002: Aue Te Mataora, BCA Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands[8]

References
  1. "Religious celebration basis of Gragg's new exhibition". Cook Islands News. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  2. Tangaroa, Mahiriki. "University of the South Pacific Cook Islands Public Art Collection Catalogue (1986-2014)" (PDF). University of the South Pacific. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  3. "Check a graduate's qualification". AUT. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  4. "Joan-artist of the "now"". Cook Islands Herald. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  5. Gragg, Joan Elisabeth (2010). Seeing the funny side: focusing on Cook Islands humour in the experience of the religious pageant Nuku (Thesis). Auckland University of Technology.
  6. "The Nuku". artguide.artforum.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  7. "Underneath the Mango Tree". Artnow. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  8. "Joan Gragg - CV". Artsy. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  9. "Horizon". The Big Idea. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
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