Paul Nathan (Bonco)
Lives and works in Auckland.
MFA Elam School of Fine Arts
ph. +64 21 705 755
email. bonco321@gmail.com
To join my mailing list for updates of news and shows please email me with "mailing list" in subject line.
Bonco, Paul Nathan's alter ego, was created while the artist was completing his Masters of Fine Arts at Elam, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Situated within the field of geometric abstraction, Bonco is interested in discovering the spiritual, through an investigation of the modernist grid, and its variations. While appearing scientific, mathematical and modern, the grid’s mythical power is that it acts as a symbolist window, offering an opportunity to explore the Universal.
This site contains up-to-date work created as Bonco explores ideas around a Utopian world, Boncosmos. By using the grid as a proxy for society and then subverting it, he is searching for its “unseen” structure. His aim is to construct a truly dynamic yet harmonious environment - a 'good world' as it were.
Solo Shows
2024 "Citizen Account", Föenander Galleries, Auckland, NZ (4th October-22nd October)
2023 "Star Stare Start", Starkwhite, Auckland, NZ (20th October-19th November)
2023 “Union”, South British Insurance Co Building, Ak, in association with Arttform (Aug 23-Feb 24)
2022 "Ladder", Scott Lawrie Gallery, Auckland, NZ (27th August-17th September)
2022 "Step", Sidewalk Gallery - Studio One - Toi Tu, Auckland, NZ (11th May-10th June)
2021 "Bites", Tentacle for Artweek, Auckland, NZ (5th-14th November)
2021 "Count the stars - if indeed you can", Suite Gallery, Auckland, NZ (13th-31st October)
2021 "5:15", Billboards through out NZ in association with ArtAche (28th December-17th January)
2020 "Retrace", Tentacle for Artweek, Auckland, NZ (10th-18th October)
2020 "Peshat", Northart, Auckland, NZ (2nd August-27th September)
2019 “All are Architects of Fate”, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, NZ (9th-12th April)
2012 "Generation Ink", Saatchi & Saatchi Head Office, New York, USA.
2012 "Ink", Magic Cobra Tattoo Society, New York, USA.
Two Person Shows
2024 "Untragic Endings", with Helene Bizouerne at 250 Gallery, Auckland, NZ (21st Aug-1st Sept)
2022 "A measured approach", with Andrew Rankin at Public Record, Auckland, NZ (16th Oct-6th Nov)
Group Exhibitions
2024 "Dawn Whistle", Artor Contemporary, Auckland (23rd Aug-30th Sept)
2023 "Cyclone Relief Show", Arthaus Contemporary, Auckland (4th-13th May)
2023 "New Space Selection", Broker Gallery, Queenstown (1st April-31st May)
2023 "NZ Printmaking and Painting Awards", Waikato Society of Arts, Hamilton (14th-23rd April)
2022 "Epilogue - A Group Sow", Scott Lawrie Gallery, Auckland (14th-24th Dec)
2022 "Same Same, But Different", Scott Lawrie Gallery, Auckland (19th Nov-10th Dec)
2022 "Aotearoa Art Fair", The Cloud, Auckland (16th-20th November)
2022 "Witness", Climate Festival Art Show, Auckland, NZ (28th-30th October)
2022 "Dancing with Myself", Artfull at Shepperson Centre, Auckland (23rd October-28th January)
2022 "Urban Walls Exhibition", City Rail Link, Auckland, NZ (7th October-February 2023)
2022 "Sensation_22", Scott Lawrie Gallery, Auckland, NZ (9th-30th April)
2022 "Fluid AF", Broker Gallery, Queenstown, NZ (7th-28th April)
2022 "Painting:Disrupted" Arthaus Contemporary, Auckland, NZ (23 March-10th April)
2022 "Molly Morpeth Canaday 3 Dimensional Award Show", Whakatane Gallery (13 February-9th April)
2021 "Apple, star, banana", Broker Gallery, Queenstown, NZ (8th December-21st January)
2021 "Ways Forward: 3 Painters", Grey, Auckland, NZ (17th-26th March)
2021 "Molly Morpeth Canaday Award Show", Whakatane Gallery (13 February-4th April)
2019 “Emblem and Myth”, Elam Graduate Show
2019 “Salon Des Refuses”, Pah Homestead, Auckland, NZ (4th September-20th October)
2018 “The Claustrum”, Projectspace Gallery, Auckland, NZ. (20th-23 June)
2018 “Critical Groupings” Lot 23, Auckland, NZ (12th-21st June)
2018 “Te tangi a te awa”, Tacit Gallery, Hamilton, NZ. (12th-31st May)
2017 “Put down your shield. You are already dead”, Elam Graduate Show
2017 "Shaping Up", Antoinette Godkin, Auckland, NZ. (25th July-19th August)
2014 "Tattoo & The Art of the Ink", Leeds Gallery, Leeds, UK. (5th May-4th June)
2011 "State of the Arts", Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, NZ. (27th June)
2008 "Reflect", International Center of Photography, New York, USA.
Awards
2023 Finalist in NZ Printmaking and Painting Awards.
2022 Finalist in Molly Morpeth Canaday Three Dimensional Artform Award.
2021 Finalist in Molly Morpeth Canaday Award.
2020 Gordon Harris Art Supplies Prize for MFA.
2019 Finalist in Wallace Art Awards.
2018 RT Nelson Emerging Artist Award, NZ Art Show.
2009 PDN Magazine, Honorable Mention, Fine Art/Personal Work.
2008 Herbert Keppler Scholarship, International Center of Photography, NY, USA.
Education
2019 Masters of Fine Arts, Elam, University of Auckland, NZ.
2017 Post Graduate Diploma, Elam, University of Auckland, NZ.
2008 General Studies, International Center of Photography, New York, USA.
2007 Film Making, New York Film Academy, New York, USA.
1995 Works of Art Course, Sotheby’s, London, UK.
1991 Bachelor of Arts, University of Canterbury, NZ. (Art History and Art Theory)
Collections
International Center of Photography, New York, USA.
Wallace Arts Trust Collection, NZ.