Bing Dawe

For Christchurch-based sculptor Bing Dawe, art is a vehicle for communicating his wider concerns about political, cultural and environmental issues. Birds particularly feature in his work as he seeks to reveal how humankind’s advancement and urban development impacts on their natural environment.

Upon graduating from the University of Canterbury, School of Fine Arts in the mid 1970s, Bing Dawe has exhibited his paintings and sculptures extensively throughout New Zealand and overseas. He has held over 40 solo exhibitions including a major survey exhibition at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in 1999. His work is represented in many public and private collections, both in New Zealand and internationally. He has gained public commissions in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Rotorua. Dawe has also influenced subsequent generations of sculptors in his role as tutor and Programme Co-ordinator for the Diploma of Craft Design (now Bachelor of Design) at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.