Terry Stringer b. 1946

Terry Stringer is a leading New Zealand sculptor and a key figure in the history of art in New Zealand.

Born in Cornwall, England in 1946, Stringer trained at Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland.  He graduated with Honours in 1967 and in the following years received virtually every significant scholarship and award available to New Zealand artists.  

Working predominately in bronze, the majority of Stringer's sculptures depict figures and still-life subjects. Allusions to his interest in classical antique art and literature can be seen and influences of cubism are also displayed in the faceting and juxtaposition of form.

His signature works have become synonymous with high profile public sites throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand. These include The Risen Christ in Christchurch's Cathedral Square (now in storage), his Grand Head in Wellington, and Mountain Fountain, in the forecourt of Auckland's Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, The World Grasped to showcase the renewal of Newmarket, New Zealand's most affluent retail precinct. He has just completed (2012) Dance to the Music of Time, a gateway sculpture for the City of Nelson.

Throughout his career Terry Stringer has exhibited extensively, with solo shows in Auckland, Sydney, Los Angeles and London. He is represented in major public collections, including the Auckland and Christchurch Art Galleries, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Alexander Turnbull Library.  

Stringer was awarded the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Scholarship four times - 1977, 1981, 1982 and 1986.  His contribution to New Zealand art was acknowledged in 2003, when he was the recipient of the country's national honour, the ONZM (Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit).

Stringer has held three solo exhibitions with ARTIS - 'Model with the Sculptor's Hands' in 2016, 'Some New Sculpture' in October 2018 and 'ASPECTS' in 2020. Each being sell-out exhibitions.   Stringer's next solo exhibition at ARTIS opens on 26 November 2024.