{{Short description|Cook Island artist and educator}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox artist | name = Joan Gragg | birth_name = Joan Elisabeth Gragg | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1943}} | birth_place = Rarotonga, Cook Islands | known_for = painting, drawing | style = everyday life of the Cook Islands | alma_mater = Auckland University of Technology | notable_works = The Nuku (2008) }} '''Joan Elisabeth Gragg''' (also '''Joan Rolls-Gragg''', '''Joan Rolls Gragg;''' born 1943) is a senior artist and educator from the Cook Islands, with painting career spanning five decades.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2023-04-11 |title=Religious celebration basis of Gragg's new exhibition |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/uncategorised/internal/features/art/religious-celebration-basis-of-graggs-new-exhibition/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |work=Cook Islands News}}</ref> She founded the Cook Islands' first and only premier art gallery, Beachcomber Contemporary Art (now Bergman Gallery), in 1991. Gragg graduated with a Master of Art and Design degree from Auckland University of Technology in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aut.ac.nz/about/search-for-graduates |title=Check a graduate's qualification |publisher=AUT |access-date=1 October 2023}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> There was an opportunity for Gragg to work towards a doctorate in art but she has discounted that for the meantime.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=Joan-artist of the "now" |url=http://www.ciherald.co.ck/articles/t339f.htm |access-date=2023-09-30 |work=Cook Islands Herald}}</ref>
Gragg's practice centres on the changes to everyday life in the Cook Islands,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-28 |title=‘Work here and enjoy living here’ |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/internal/features/art/work-here-and-enjoy-living-here/ |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=Cook Islands News |language=en}}</ref> exploring changes over the decades, with people drifting further apart with the introduction of new technology such as new forms of transportation as opposed to walking, and single plastic chairs instead of traditional wooden benches.<ref name=":1" /> According to Gragg, she aims to showcase the "joy, camaraderie, love, and all the other great things that happen in a community in the Cook Islands",<ref name=":0"/> and to visually express the humour of the Cook Islands through her art.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Seeing the funny side: focusing on Cook Islands humour in the experience of the religious pageant Nuku |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10292/908 |publisher=Auckland University of Technology |date=2010 |first=Joan Elisabeth |last=Gragg}}</ref> Gragg also stated she enjoys painting the beauty of everyday life in the Cook Islands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fotheringham |first=Caleb |date=2021-03-28 |title=‘Work here and enjoy living here’ |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/internal/features/art/work-here-and-enjoy-living-here/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Cook Islands News |language=en}}</ref> In 2024, Gragg was featured in Aotearoa Art Fair.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-16 |title=What Are Galleries Showing at New Zealand's Biggest Art Fair? |url=https://ocula.com/magazine/insights/aotearoa-new-zealand-art-fair-2024-directors/ |website=Ocula}}</ref>
In February 2025, a book on Marjorie Crocombe was published, Gragg and Tricia Thompson both noted Marjorie’s significant contributions to Cook Islands Māori language's preservation and education. The book was decorated with paintings by Gragg and Mahiriki Tangaroa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Rod |date=2025-02-22 |title=New book chronicles the legacy of ‘Pacific icon’ Marjorie Crocombe |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/internal/features/weekend/memory-lane/new-book-chronicles-the-legacy-of-pacific-icon-marjorie-crocombe/ |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=Cook Islands News |language=en}}</ref>
In July 2025, there was an exhibition titled ''To Tātou Mārāmā, Our Light'', celebrating the Cook Islands’ 60 years of self-governance, featuring four senior Cook Islands women Mahiriki Tangaroa, Sylvia Marsters, Kay George and Joan Gragg. The exhibition was opened by Catherine Graham, New Zealand High Commission to the Cook Islands. Gragg's work was a response to her childhood in Australia when she first heard about the announcement of Cook Island's self-governance.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2025-07-21 |title=Cook Islands’ 60th anniversary celebrated in new art exhibition |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/internal/features/art/cook-islands-60th-anniversary-celebrated-in-new-art-exhibition/ |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=Cook Islands News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=To Tātou Mārāmā – Our Light |url=https://artnow.nz/exhibitions/to-t%C4%81tou-m%C4%81r%C4%81m%C4%81-our-light |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=Artnow |language=en}}</ref>
Gragg has been exhibited extensively in the Cook Islands, as well as in New Zealand. Her work is held in numerous private and major public collections throughout the Cook Islands as well as New Zealand. Such as Cook Islands National Museum,<ref name=":2" /> University of the South Pacific,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.usp.ac.fj/usp-cook-islands/wp-content/uploads/sites/114/2022/04/14053220-20USP20Cook20Island20Art20Catalogue20v01.pdf |title=University of South Pacific Public Art Collection Catalogue |publisher=University of South Pacific |year=2022 |location=Rarotonga, Cook Islands |pages=22–23 |language=en}}</ref> and the Belinda Fletcher Collection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=williams |first=Kate Davidson and alden |date=2014-04-30 |title=Off the Wall |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/lifestyle-entertainment/arts/9993599/Off-the-Wall |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=Stuff |language=en}}</ref>
== Selected solo exhibitions == * 2023: ''The Nuku'', Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nuku |url=https://artguide.artforum.com/artguide/bergman-gallery-auckland-22221/the-nuku-215640 |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=artguide.artforum.com |language=en-US}}</ref> * 2021: ''Underneath the Mango Tree'', Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref>{{Cite web |title=Underneath the Mango Tree |url=https://artnow.nz/exhibitions/underneath-the-mango-tree |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Artnow |language=en}}</ref> * 2011: ''Patia Te Pere'', BCA Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Joan Gragg - CV |url=https://www.artsy.net/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Artsy |language=en}}</ref> * 2010: ''Seeing the Funny Side'', Cook Islands National Museum, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref name=":2" />
== Selected group exhibitions ==
* 2025: ''To Tātou Mārāmā, Our Light'', Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref name=":3" /> * 2024: ''Aotearoa Art Fair'', Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-11 |title=A feast for the eyes: Umukai transports viewers to the Cook Islands |url=https://www.cookislandsnews.com/internal/features/art/a-feast-for-the-eyes-umukai-transports-viewers-to-the-cook-islands/ |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Cook Islands News |language=en}}</ref> * 2024: ''Autumn Selection'', Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand<ref>{{Cite web |title=Autumn Selection |url=https://artnow.nz/exhibitions/autumn-selection-2 |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=Artnow |language=en}}</ref> * 2023: ''Ta Mataora,'' Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ta Mataora {{!}} Contemporary Hum |url=https://contemporaryhum.com/calendar/ta-mataora |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=contemporaryhum.com |language=en}}</ref> * 2023: ''Horizon'', Bergman Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand<ref>{{Cite web |title=Horizon |url=https://thebigidea.nz/events/exhibition-horizon-bergman-gallery |access-date=2020-09-30 |website=The Big Idea}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Verve |date=2023-10-15 |title=The Art of October |url=https://www.vervemagazine.co.nz/the-art-of-october-2023/ |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=Verve Magazine |language=en-NZ}}</ref> * 2020: ''Tatou 2'', The Story of Us, Bergman Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref name=":2" /> * 2002: ''Aue Te Mataora'', BCA Gallery, Rarotonga, Cook Islands<ref name=":2" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gragg, Joan}} Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:People from Rarotonga Category:Cook Island artists Category:Auckland University of Technology alumni