Artists

Born in Auckland in 1957, Catherine Manchester grew up in the coastal settlement of Eastbourne, near Wellington.

She gained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Victoria University in 1978, and graduated from Otago Polytechnic in 1984 with a Diploma in Fine Arts (majoring in painting).

After receiving a Creative New Zealand grant in 1986, the following year Catherine was awarded the Rita Angus Residency in Wellington.

Catherine went on to be selected as a finalist in a number of New Zealand art awards, including the Adam Portraiture Award (2006), Greater Wellington Regional Arts Prize (2018 and 2021), Craigs Aspiring Art Prize (2023) and New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts Prize for Visual Art (2025).

Public galleries to have hosted solo exhibitions of the artist’s work include Forrester Gallery (Oamaru) in 1994, Aigantighe Art Gallery (Timaru) in 1998, Suter Art Gallery (Nelson) in 2012, and Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History (Masterton) in 2013.

Among the private galleries throughout New Zealand that have exhibited Catherine's work over the past 40 years are Carnegie Gallery (Dunedin) in the 1980s, Brooke Gifford (Christchurch) and Janne Land Gallery (Wellington) in the 1990s, and Ferner Gallery (Wellington and Auckland) for 10 years, including solo exhibitions at Ferner Gallery in 1998, 1999 and 2003.  

In 2016 a retrospective of Catherine's works, curated by Greg Chaston, was exhibited at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington.