INFO
| Name | Kerry Ann Lee (she/her) |
| Born | 1979 |
| Country of Birth | Aotearoa |
| Place of Residence | Pōneke Wellington |
| Ethnicities | Chinese (Cantonese) |
| Artform | Visual arts, Design, Zines, Socially engaged art |
| Decades Active | 2000s, 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Kerry Ann Lee is an artist, illustrator, graphic designer, writer, educator, zine maker and distributor. Her distinctive collage artworks spring from a lifelong love of printed matter and punk and DIY fanzine culture. As well as exhibiting in art spaces all over Aotearoa, Lee has developed extensive international networks by connecting with other independent publishers and artists, and undertaking residencies in China, Taiwan, the USA, Mexico and Australia.
Lee is a third-generation Cantonese artist who grew up in Pōneke Wellington, where her parents ran a takeaway restaurant on Willis Street called the Gold Coin Café. Many of Lee’s artworks explore Cantonese diaspora life. Running through her work are themes of food, family and home, as well as a dream-like cultural hybridity that reflects the bittersweet history of Chinese settlement. Lee’s largest installation to date is Return to Skyland (2018–19), which was commissioned by Te Papa to be shown alongside Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality, presenting a contemporary, local Chinese response to the exhibition. Return to Skyland has since been acquired for the Te Papa art collection.
Stylistically, Kerry Ann Lee draws on a range of influences: from cut-and-paste punk posters and zines to Chinese paper cutting traditions. Her work has been used as cover art for several publications, including Nina Mingya Powles’s Magnolia, 木蘭 (2020) and The New Animals by Pip Adam (2018). Lee also created the promotional artwork for Nathan Joe’s play Scenes from a Yellow Peril (2021; 2022). She has been involved in many zine fest events and art book fairs, and since 2001 Lee has run Red Letter Distro, “a punk rock mail-order catalogue-cum-’occasional distro’ of zines, comics and artist publications”. Lee also occasionally DJs under the name Croque Madame.
Strengthening community and creating opportunities for mutual support have been a consistent focus for Lee. She participated in the first Chinese Arts Hui at Corban Estate Arts Centre in 2013 and subsequent gatherings. In 2018, she spearheaded the month-long Asian Aotearoa Arts Hui (AAAH) held in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and continues to organise AAAH programmes as Creative Director. The programme featured a symposium and opening party at Te Papa, as well as talks, workshops, exhibitions and masterclasses at Massey and across the city. Between 2020 and 2022, Lee served as Tia Tuarua (co-chair) on the Enjoy Contemporary Art Space board alongside Natalie Jones.
Lee has taught design at Otago Polytechnic and Massey University’s College of Creative Arts (CoCA). She is currently College Director – International at CoCA’s School of Design. Massey is also Lee’s alma mater; she graduated from CoCA with a Master of Design in 2008.
Lee has taught design at Otago Polytechnic and Toi Rauwhārangi, Massey University’s College of Creative Arts (CoCA), where she is an Associate Professor at Ngā Pae Māhutonga, Wellington School of Design.
LINKS
Enter the lounge with Kerry Ann Lee — Kiwese
The Gravy, Series 3 Episode 11 | NZ On Screen
Playing Favourites with Kerry Ann Lee | RNZ
A Kiwi in Shanghai — Asia Downunder
ASIA: Art Stories in Aotearoa | Episode 6: Design | RNZ
Better off Read with Kerry Ann Lee
Hither and Thither — Enjoy Contemporary Art Space
Lee's takeaway art brings back memories | Stuff.co.nz
Work, survival and affinities: growing up at the Gold Coin Café | The Spinoff
Ordinary Things in Ordinary Places by Connie Brown — Enjoy Contemporary Art Space
Mentorship of Fresh Talent a theme at Asian Aotearoa Arts Hui 2018
Where Currents Converge by Amy Weng — Hainamana
Decolonising design as a practice of care | RNZ
The Porirua People's Library: sharing ideas instead of books | RNZ
Key works / presentations
2021 — Ho Sun Nian, Courtenay Place Lightbox Park, Wellington
2019 — Perpetual Spring, Van Rensburg Galleries, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong
2019 — At the bottom of every wishing well is a mama asking if you've eaten yet, Silo 6, Auckland, curated by Adriel Luis, Kālewa Correa, Lawrence-Minh Davis & Dina Jezdic
2018–2019 — Return to Skyland, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
2017 — Fruits in the Backwater, Pātaka Art + Museum, Porirua
2014 — Knowledge on a Beam of Starlight, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington
2013 — The Unavailable Memory of Gold Coin Cafe (exhibited in Hither and Thither), Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Wellington, curated by Claudia Arozqueta
2009–2010 — Da Shi Jie/ The Great World: Shanghai Works 2009–2010 [大世界：2009–2010 创作于上海], Toi Pöneke Gallery, Wellington
2008 — Home Made: Picturing Chinese Settlement in New Zealand, Toi Pōneke Gallery
Key awards
2022 — Artist in Residence, Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico
2016 — Participating Artist, SOMA Summer 2016, Mexico City
2012 — Artist in Residence, AIRTaipei, Taipei Artist Village, Taipei
2009–2010 — Asia New Zealand Foundation artist in residence at island6 Arts Center, Shanghai
2009 — Fulbright Award to attend the Summer Residency Program at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City.
