Judy Darragh

Darragh was born and raised in Christchurch. Her mother worked in a clothing factory and her father was a freezing worker. Darragh described being surrounded by "the joy of making" in her home environment,[4] and from an early age she enjoyed drawing and making things from craft materials such as Fimo and pipe cleaners.[5]

Darragh studied graphic design, graduating from Wellington Polytechnic with a Diploma in Visual Communication and Design in 1978.[6] Deciding that she was not "cut out for the (graphic design) industry,"[5] Darragh moved to Auckland where she gained a Diploma in Teaching from Auckland Secondary School Teachers College in 1980.[7] She has described how her teaching career has supported her art-making and provided her with a sense of freedom in her practice.[5]

In 1992, Darragh was one of eight artists who founded the artist-run space Teststrip in Auckland and this would run until 1997 wherein the space was closed.[8] Darragh then went on to start Cuckoo, an artist-run project based in Auckland that was described as 'the artist-run space without a space' [9] with four other artists in 2000.

In 2013, Darragh exhibited 'Doctor, 2013' at Gus Fisher Gallery in the show 'A Different view: artists address pornography.'[10] The exhibition examined the impact of the pornography industry on New Zealand society and sought to open up a conversation about the 'silent business'.[11] The artwork which she exhibited in this show (Doctor, 2013) was taken from a Hustler centrefold, then enlarged and printed onto a PVC skin which was a reference to the advertising industry.[11] Previous work has also included assemblages with dildos (Mussell Mirror[12] and Flicker of Life, 1987), as well as direct painting onto pornographic images using white-out.[13]

In the 1980s, under the alias Blossom, Darragh's comic strips were published in the New Zealand underground comic book series Strips.[14] Her comic strips have also been published in Three Words: An anthology of Aotearoa/NZ women's comics.[15]

Darragh developed her signature kitsch aesthetic while living in Auckland in the 1980s, where she was working as secondary school teacher.[5] She began making and selling domestic objects such as lamps and mirrors made from plastic plates at Cook Street Market[4] and collecting bric-a-brac from markets, second hand shops and op shops.[5][16] Her first assemblage works brought together these made and found objects into what she has described as "shrines".[5] She was interested in exploring the distinctions between high and low culture and art and craft (particularly crafts that have been historically undertaken by women)[5] and was influenced by Marcel Duchamp and his use of the readymade.[4][16][17] Darragh first exhibited her art at Artspace, in Auckland's George Fraser Gallery.[4]

In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, Darragh was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the arts.[18]

• Auckland Art Gallery[19]
• Govett-Brewster Art Gallery[20]
• Christchurch Art Gallery[6]
• Dunedin Public Art Gallery[21]
• Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa[22]
• Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato[23]
• Lincoln University Collection, Christchurch[24]
• Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Whanganui

• Conland, Natasha. Judy Darragh: So...You Made It? Exhibition Catalogue. Wellington: Te Papa Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-909010-98-0

• Judy Darragh's Website
• Judy Darragh, Artist: Studio Channel Art Fair
• Judy Darragh talk at the SPARK International Festival of Media, Arts & Design at Waikato Institute of Technology, August 2012
• Judy Darragh on Radio New Zealand Arts on Sunday