About Askew One
Reared in the Aotearoa New Zealand graffiti scene, Elliot O’Donnell or Askew One (as he is widely known), has forged a career that spans decades, continents and creative approaches; from graffiti to design, gallery exhibitions to mural works, illustration to video production. A self-taught multi-disciplinary artist, O’Donnell’s artistic trajectory emerged amidst the multi-cultural melting pot of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, the capital of the South Pacific and New Zealand’s largest urban centre; the surrounding environment and diverse cultural influences providing an enduring impact. From these local roots, O’Donnell’s international reputation has grown through collaborations, commissions and exhibitions. Currently residing in Portland, Oregon with his wife and daughter, he has cemented a legacy as one of Aotearoa’s most successful post-Millennial creative exports.
Seeing graffiti as a kind of alchemy where art is created from basic means, O’Donnell immersed himself in the style writing culture in his early teens, beginning a life-long entanglement that remains his most consistent influence. From organising Auckland’s first graffiti festival to establishing a number of exhibition spaces, publishing the graffiti magazine Disrupt, and authoring InForm: New Zealand Graffiti Artists Discuss Their Work (Reed Books, Auckland, 2007), the first significant book on Aotearoa graffiti culture, O’Donnell has been at the forefront of New Zealand graffiti for three decades, as an artist, organiser and public advocate. O’Donnell’s artistic evolution has, in many ways, mirrored the maturation of New Zealand urban art, embracing mural and studio work as extensions of his graffiti roots and seeking new pathways and themes.
Absorbing influences, exploring ideas and pushing boundaries, O’Donnell’s art has constantly evolved, revisiting and refining ideas through new filters and re-evaluating process and purpose with an insatiable curiosity. His investigation of letterforms has served as both an ongoing discussion around graffiti’s long-held traditions, while also revealing new directions beyond those foundational parameters, manifesting as studies for paintings, murals, animations, and sculptures. O’Donnell’s expansive post-graffiti practice has explored portraiture, text, abstraction, and investigations of the urban environment, constantly balancing aesthetic and conceptual concerns. The use of technology has been a central feature of O’Donnell’s process, unearthing new terrain and allowing for a conversation between the potential found in the digital and the honesty of the analogue. Shifting between screen, street and studio, compositions are transformed and unlocked as dynamic animations with shifting perspectives that reimagine the artist’s accumulated knowledge and reframe his questions of the world.
Selected Exhibitions
2022
• Supersonic Art Invitational - Hashimoto Contemporary - Los Angeles, USA
• Urban Influence Paris - Urban Art Fair - Paris
2021
• Continuum - joint exhibition with Jasmine Gonzalez - Fiksate Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
• TMD: An Aotearoa Graffiti Story - group exhibition - Dowse Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
2018
• Time/Space - solo exhibition - Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, New Zealand
• Entropic World - solo exhibition - Galerie 42b, Paris, France
• Less Is More, Group show, 1AM gallery, 10 August - 1 September, San Francisco, USA
• Imago: A History of Portraits, MUCA, 18 July - 4 November, Munich, Germany
2017
• Paradox - group exhibition and mural festival - Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, New Zealand
• Urban Art Fair, Galerie 42b Booth, 19-23 April, Paris, France.
• Galerie 42b group show, 2-29 February, Paris, France.
2016
• Post-Colonial - Solo Exhibition - Innerstate Gallery, Detroit, MI, USA
• Rarities & Oddities, Studio 40, 14-16 May, Auckland, New Zealand
2015
• Post-Graffiti Pacific - group show - aMbush Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2014
• Diaspora - solo exhibition - Known Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• Oceanic - exhibition with Fintan Magee - London, UK
2013
• The Evolving Face - solo exhibition - The Tate, Sydney, Australia
• Entropy - solo exhibition - Innerstate Gallery, Detroit, MI, USA
2012
• Smoke Signals - solo exhibition - Australis House -Auckland, New Zealand
Selected Murals & Festivals
2022
• RWC Building Supplies mural - Phoenix, Arizona, USA
2021
• Te Ara Institute of Canterbury - 2 story mural - Christchurch, New Zealand
• Rag & Bone Brooklyn Pop Up Store - store front mural - Brooklyn, NY, USA
2020
• Street Prints Papaioea festival - 3 story mural - Palmerston North, New Zealand
• Street Prints Mauao festival - carpark mural & youth workshop - Tauranga, New Zealand
• Bay Dreams festival - mural and activation for Seat - Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
2019
• Westfield Newmarket - 6 murals in 3 zones - Auckland, New Zealand
• Mural Oasis project - 5 murals - Primm, Nevada, USA
• Roskilde Festival - 2 murals - Roskilde, Denmark
• Tribute to Rita Angus - 5 story mural - Wellington, New Zealand
2018
• Re:Discover Armadale festival - mural - Armadale, Western Australia
• 1000 Trees Project - mural - Shanghai, China
• Marcy Playground basketball court - mural- Brooklyn, NY, USA
2017
• Street Prints Mauao Festival - 3 story mural - Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
• Paradox - group exhibition and mural festival - Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, New Zealand
• Murals in the Market - mural with Sydney G James - Detroit, MI, USA
• Sea Walls Churchill festival - mural - Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
• Boon festival - mural- Hamilton, New Zealand
2016
• Ono’u festival - mural with Charles and Janine Williams - Rai’ātea, French Polynesia
• Pow Wow Worcester - 3 story mural - Worcester, MA, USA
• Sea Walls San Diego - mural - San Diego, CA, USA
• The Greenest Point - mural with Vexta - Brooklyn, NY, USA
• Urban Nation Berlin - 5 story mural- Berlin, Germany
• Sea Walls Napier - mural - Napier, New Zealand
• Re:Discover Bunbury - mural - Bunbury, Western Australia
• Street Prints Mauao - mural - Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
2015
• Billie Holiday portrait - mural - Miami, FL, USA
• Heart of the City - 4 story mural - Auckland, New Zealand
• Ono’u - 3 story mural with Sofles - Papeete, French Polynesia
• Murals in the Market - mural - Detroit, MI, USA
• Unexpected Fort Smith - mural - Fort Smith, AR, USA
2014
• Incommon - 6 story mural for Commonwealth Games - Glasgow, Scotland
• Ono’u - 6 story mural - Papeete, French Polynesia
• Pow Wow Hawai’i - mural - Honolulu, Hawai’i
2013
• Rise festival - 4 story mural - Christchurch, New Zealand
• From the Ground Up - mural with Mark Henare - Christchurch, New Zealand
• Hit the Bricks - mural -Newcastle, Australia
• Wonderwalls - mural - Wollongong, Australia
• Tribute to Ralph Hotere - mural - Auckland, New Zealand
• Pow Wow Hawai’i - mural - Honolulu, Hawai’i
• Tankfarm - mural project - Auckland, New Zealand
2012
• Lost Island Lost Angels - mural - Downtown Los Angeles, CA, USA
Other Career Highlights
2012
• Opened exhibition and shared workspace Studio 40 - Auckland, New Zealand
2008
• Defended and won Write 4 Gold international graffiti battle with TMD Crew - Leipzig, Germany
2007
• Authored In/Form: New Zealand Graffiti Artists Discuss Their Work (Reed Publishing/Raupo)
2006
• Competed and won Write 4 Gold International graffiti battle with TMD Crew - Chemnitz, Germany
2005
• Disrupt The System/2005 Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit - Auckland, New Zealand
• Organised Kings Of Style graffiti battle - Auckland, New Zealand
2004
• Disrupt The System/2004 Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit - Auckland, New Zealand
2003
• Disrupt The System/2003 Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit - Auckland, New Zealand
• Opened Auckland’s first dedicated graffiti exhibition space, Disrupt Gallery
• Launched independant record label Disruptiv Music
2002
• Founded commercial mural company Disruptiv Limited with Jonny Wartmann and Deirdre Dawson
• Launched New Zealand’s first internationally distributed graffiti publication Disrupt Magazine
• Disrupt The System/2002 Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit - Auckland, New Zealand
2001
• Disrupt The System/2001 Aotearoa Hip Hop Summit - Auckland, New Zealand
2000
• Founded and Organised Disrupt The System graffiti festival - Auckland, New Zealand