Jim Wheeler
Works
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Jim WheelerCome What May, 2022Bronze & concrete55 x 15 cm -
Jim WheelerFive Finger - Fruit, 2021Bronze55 x 32 cm
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Jim WheelerFive Finger Wreath, 2022Bronze80 x 80 x 31.5 cm
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Jim WheelerFive Finger Wreath Maquette, 2023Cast & fabricated bronze18 x 18 x 7 cm
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Jim WheelerForm of Nature - Pittosporum, 2022Bronze50 x 18 cm
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Jim WheelerKauri - After the Storm, 2023Bronze61 x 38 x 25 cm
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Jim WheelerKauri Storm Fall A/PFURTHER VERSIONS AVAILABLE
Bronze38 x 60 cm -
Jim WheelerLancewood - Fertile Branch, 2023Bronze37 x 45 x 35.5 cm
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Jim WheelerLong Life - A/P, 2022Bronze & Italian stone plinth53.5 x 50 cm
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Jim WheelerMangemange - Rocky Bay, 2022Cast and fabricated bronze62 x 59 cm
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Jim WheelerPohutukawa - Matariki, 2020Bronze75 x 57 x 45 cm
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Jim WheelerPohutukawa New Leaves - Version I, 2022Bronze88 x 33 cm
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Jim WheelerPuriri - Form of Nature 2/10, 2022Bronze40 x 21.5 cm
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Jim WheelerSanctuary , 2020Bronze6 x 9.5 x 9.5 cm
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Jim WheelerSilver Beech Icon, 2019Bronze70 x 27 x 13 cm
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Jim WheelerSolstice, 2014Cast iron10cm diameter - two pieces
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Jim WheelerTempest, 2022Bronze on metal plinth2.1 m height
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Jim WheelerWindfall Kauri , 2025Bronze68.5 x 25.5 x 28.5 cm
Biography
Born in North Carolina, Jim Wheeler is the son of a professional forester and describes himself as an ‘amateur botanist’, having studied both art and biology at university. His continued interest in plants and how plant communities evolve still informs his sculptural practice today.
Wheeler studied art under Setsuya Kotani and sculptor Peter Agostini, earning a BA with Honours at the University of North Carolina before becoming an apprentice at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in the 1970s. In 1981 he immigrated to New Zealand to help set up Art Works sculpture foundry.
A member of the Medal Artists of New Zealand group, his reputation as one of the country's foremost bronze sculptors has led to a number of significant commissions, including the NZ Olympic Academy Leonard A. Cuff Medal, The Arts Foundation of NZ Governors’ Medal and the XXX America’s Cup Medal, and The NZ Music Hall of Fame award.
Wheeler has been professionally exhibiting for over forty years. His work is held in The British Museum, London, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA, The Auckland Museum, The James Wallace Trust and The NZ Embassy Residency, Paris. He has also been included in major New Zealand sculpture exhibitions including Sculpture in the Gardens, Auckland Botanic Gardens, Brick Bay Sculpture Park, Matakana, Sculpture Onshore, Sculpture on the Gulf, Tai Tapu Sculpture Gardens, Christchurch and Shapeshifter, The New Dowse.
Wheeler's next solo exhibition will be opening at ARTIS Gallery during October 2025.
Exhibitions
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MANZ - Medal Art New Zealand
Our Nature 14 March - 3 April 2023ARTIS Gallery is the host gallery for Medal Art New Zealand (MANZ) – a group of New Zealand’s leading contemporary sculptors. This 2023 biennial exhibition has thirty artists presenting medals and /or small sculptures.Read more -
Jim Wheeler
Following Nature 2 - 22 August 2022At the root of Jim Wheeler’s practice is his adoration for the earth. This sculptor’s forty year practice has been spent in service to Venus and Mother Nature. Standing at...Read more -
MANZ - Medal Art New Zealand
A Place to Stand 30 March - 18 April 2021This 2021 biennial exhibition has thirty-one artists presenting medals and /or small sculptures. A diversity is demonstrated in the works that make up this exhibition and is also reflective of...Read more -
MANZ - Medal Art New Zealand
About Face 19 March - 14 April 2019ARTIS Gallery is the host gallery for Medal Art New Zealand (MANZ) – a group of New Zealand’s leading contemporary sculptors. This 2019 biennial exhibition has thirty-four artists presenting medals...Read more
