Auckland, New Zealand | shannon@shannonnovak.com | www.shannonnovak.com | @shannon_novak_
Shannon Novak creates work that strives to lift the emotional weight carried by queer communities, work that seeks to ease anxiety, counter depression, and preserve lives. He dismantles the structures that restrict queer lives and instead builds spaces that recognise, celebrate, and protect them. Through collaborative painting, photography, installation, sculpture, and curatorial projects, Novak’s practice unfolds in galleries, in public spaces, and in the moments between. His work traces darkness and light across time yet always leans toward hope, imagining futures where queer communities can live openly and safely. Guided by respect and care, his collaborations often intersect queer activism, the shifting terrain of emerging technologies, and the layered histories of his Croatian heritage as they meet his queer identity.
Novak founded the Safe Space Alliance, a global LGBTQI+ led nonprofit organisation that aims to help people identify, navigate, and create safe spaces for LGBTQI+ communities. Museums and galleries have joined from around the world including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York City, New York, USA), MCA Denver (Denver, Colorado, USA), Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, Massachusetts, USA), Remai Modern (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), and Museum of London (London, United Kingdom). Novak also founded Velebit, a project that aims to grow safety in relationships with emerging technologies.
Novak has developed work for national and international institutions, festivals, and public spaces, including the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (Auckland, New Zealand), Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia), Ningbo Museum of Art (Ningbo, China), Stanford University (Stanford, California, USA), Institute of Contemporary Art San José (San José, California, USA), The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (Dallas, Texas, USA), St. Lawrence University (Canton, New York, USA), and Georgia Museum of Art (Athens, Georgia, USA).
Novak graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Applied Information Systems from the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki, New Plymouth (New Zealand), and later gained a Master of Education (Hons) from Massey University, Palmerston North (New Zealand) in 2009. He then graduated with a Master of Fine Arts (Hons) from the University of Auckland (New Zealand) in 2014. Novak has completed a number of artist residencies, was the inaugural recipient of the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa Artist Partnership (New Zealand) in 2022, and has been engaged in public commissions in New Zealand, Australia, and the USA.
Education
2014 Master of Fine Arts (Hons), Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
2009 Master of Education (Hons), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
2001 Bachelor of Applied Information Systems, Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) | Te Kura Matatini o Taranaki, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 Trust. Me., Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
2023 Parthenogenesis, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2021 Biological Exuberance, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2021 Symplegma, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, New Zealand
2019 17 Years, Anderson Rhodes Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2017 The Expanded Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
2013 A Garden for Orpheus, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2011 One Song, Three Composers: CentralTrak, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA
Selected Two-Person Exhibitions
2022 The Unfurling, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand (collaborative installation with Pasha Clothier)
2020 I Extend My Arms, Aotea Square, Auckland, New Zealand (collaborative installation with Jeff Nusz)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 A Taste of Honey, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, USA
2021 Make Visible: Queensland, The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10), Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2020 Queer Algorithms, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2016 Soft Architecture, Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2013 Freedom Farmers: New Zealand Artists Growing Ideas, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand
2013 Dazibao, Ningbo Museum of Art, Ningbo, China
2012 Quietly Confident, Ilam Campus Gallery, The University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Selected Public Commissions & Projects
2025 Te Kōpua o Hiku, Panmure, Auckland, New Zealand (collaborative public artwork with Janine Williams)
2024 Random Acts, Te Ara I Whiti - The Lightpath, Auckland, New Zealand
2023 Te Haeata (Anew), Burnett Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
2019 Alight, Central Business District, Auckland, New Zealand
2016 Modulation, Courtenay Place Park, Wellington, New Zealand
2013 Score Generators, Aotea Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
2011 Odic Time Piece, New Plymouth Clock Tower, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Selected Curatorial Projects
2021 Mānawatia Takatāpui/Defending Plurality, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga, New Zealand
2019 Sympathetic Resonance, The Suter Art Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand
Awards & Residencies
2023 Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Artist Residency, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2022 Inaugural recipient of the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa Artist Partnership, New Zealand
2022 The University of Southern Queensland Artist Residency, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
2020 Creative New Zealand, Arts Grants, Queer Community Project in Taranaki, New Zealand
2016 Atlantic Center for the Arts Residency, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA
2011 The University of Texas at Dallas Artist Residency, Dallas, Texas, USA
Collections
ANZ Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand
City Art Collection, Wellington City Council, Wellington, New Zealand
Dunedin Public Art Gallery Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand
Hocken Collections, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
J. Conrad Dunagan Library Special Collections, University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, Texas, USA
Massey University Visual Arts Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
New Zealand Portrait Gallery Collection, Wellington, New Zealand
Pataka Art + Museum Collection, Porirua, New Zealand
PricewaterhouseCoopers Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
Puke Ariki Collection, New Plymouth, New Zealand
QAGOMA Research Library Special Collections, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roswell Museum and Art Center Collection, Roswell, New Mexico, USA
Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui Collection, Whanganui, New Zealand
The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū Collection, Nelson, New Zealand
University of Auckland Art Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
University of Southern Queensland Art Collection, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
University of Waikato Art Collection, Hamilton, New Zealand
Westpac New Zealand Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
Selected Bibliography
2025 Afemata, M. “New Panmure Bridge Opens, Blending Culture, Innovation and Connection”. Stuff, August.
2021 Minissale, G. “Rhythm in Art, Psychology and New Materialism”. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2019 McWhannell, F. “Sex in the Gallery: Shannon Novak’s Sub Rosa”. The Pantograph Punch.
2018 Stanhope, Z. “Home Truths: The Politics of Debility in Recent Projects by Shannon Novak”. Art New Zealand, 168, pp. 66-69.
2014 Cleland, S. “So Close... Yet: Shannon Novak and New Zealand's Augmented Modernism”. Manhattan Phrase, pp. 15-20.
2012 Button, J. “States of Consciousness: Synesthetic Responses in the Works of Shannon Novak”. One Song, Three Composers, pp. 32-35.
Selected Lectures & Presentations
2025 “When Friends Turn Fatal: Conversational AI’s Safety Meltdown”, Artist Lecture, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
2024 “Layers of Representation”, Panelist, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
2023 “Light in Art: Painted, Camera, Artificial”, Panelist, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand.
2018 “Lines of Research”, Panelist, Te Tuhi, Auckland, New Zealand.
2013 “Augmented Reality Interventions in Urban Space”, Artist Lecture, Parsons The New School for Design, Manhattan, New York, USA.