Bruce Hunt b. 1964

 BRUCE HUNT.  

b. 1964

Bruce Hunt was born in Wellington and educated at Wellington College and Victoria University.  He has been a full-time artist since 1983 and has exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand.  

Hunt – an artist and photographer - has been exploring New Zealand’s unique landscapes for over 40 years, walking the ridgelines of our rugged back-country and bringing back images of its rippling form.

Hunt’s depictions of the landscape in the South Island, New Zealand,  have the immediate hallmarks of topographical accuracy, while also evoking the unmistakable essential moods, atmospheres and interlocking structures, which make this land so extraordinary and distinctive.

Hunt’s work explores the form and pattern of the land through elevated viewpoints. He is fascinated by the history and myth that envelops certain places, as well as the geomorphic processes that create – whether it be the vast tussock-clad hills of the Lindis and Danseys Pass regions,  or the wide arid stretches of the Hakataramea and MacKenzie Basins.

These landscapes, often depicted in the glow of dawn or dusk, achieve remarkable depth, luminosity and atmosphere – Hunt “takes you there”. He captures the subtle play of light and consequent shadow and the muscular geology of the land.  The canvas seems to be covered in “folds of soft velvet” – as he layers translucent paint in warm shades over cool, to produce an inner radiance, which is Hunt’s trademark.

Having moved to Wellington from Dunedin two years earlier, Hunt relocated to the far north of New Zealand in 2025.  Several of his recent works from this period,  depict the western coast north of Wellington - an area known for its sweeping sand dunes and active conservation efforts to protect various bird species. These paintings capture a different kind of moody, remote landscape from the hills and tussock country of Central Otago and Canterbury.

Hunt has been represented at ARTIS since 2014.