24 NOV - 10 OCT 2023
'From The Vault' Group Show
Limn Gallery presents ‘From the Vault’ - an exhibition of unshown, sold out, rare, and one-off artworks. Taking place at Limn Gallery, 119 Ponsonby Road, Auckland from 7pm 24th November to the 10th of December.
‘From the Vault’ will showcase a selection of artworks that have never graced our gallery walls before, have previously sold out, or are considered rare-finds or one-off’s. This will be your chance to snap up some of the gems we have kept hidden away since we opened the gallery almost 4 years ago.
'From the Vault' will feature a mix of prints, sculptures, and original works by the following artists:
Takashi Murakami · KAWS · Askew One · Jimi Grins · Petra Leary · Ben Eine · Tristan Eaton · POSE · BE@RBRICK · James Jean · SEEN · BANKSY · RAUL · Markus Genesius · PichiAvo · Levi Hawken · CRASH · Shepard Fairey · Matt Gondek.
Sponsored by our friends at Burger Fuel, JOIY Wine, and Urbanaut Brewing Co.
View the works HERE
Artist Line Up
Click on the artists photo to learn more.
About the Artist: Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts as well as commercial media and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts. He is widely recognized for his ability to adapt the aesthetics of Japanese traditional art to operate within the context of popular culture.
About the Artist: Takashi Murakami
Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts as well as commercial media and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts. He is widely recognized for his ability to adapt the aesthetics of Japanese traditional art to operate within the context of popular culture.
About the Artist: Kaws
Brian Donnelly, known professionally as KAWS is a multi-faceted artist straddling the worlds of art and design in his prolific body of work that ranges from paintings, murals, and large-scale sculptures to product design and toy-making. His iconic “XX” signature has its roots in the beginning of his career as a street artist in the 1990s, when he began altering found advertisements by incorporating his own masterful paintings. His work are exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
About the Artist: Kaws
Brian Donnelly, known professionally as KAWS is a multi-faceted artist straddling the worlds of art and design in his prolific body of work that ranges from paintings, murals, and large-scale sculptures to product design and toy-making. His iconic “XX” signature has its roots in the beginning of his career as a street artist in the 1990s, when he began altering found advertisements by incorporating his own masterful paintings. His work are exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
About the Artist: Askew One
Askew One is a multi-disciplinary artist mostly renowned for his graffiti art paintings. Widely regarded as one of the New Zealand graffiti scene’s driving forces, he has managed to remain at the forefront of the movement (both in New Zealand and throughout the world) whilst working tirelessly behind the scenes in a diverse array of projects. With an abundance of achievements and experiences almost 20 years in the graffiti scene which include a guest artist invite to Primary Flight - Art Basel Miami and taking out two consecutive ‘Write 4 Gold’ world titles as part of TMD crew (who remain undefeated), Askew is also versed in graphic design, illustration, photography, publishing, music and moving image.
About the Artist: Askew One
Askew One is a multi-disciplinary artist mostly renowned for his graffiti art paintings. Widely regarded as one of the New Zealand graffiti scene’s driving forces, he has managed to remain at the forefront of the movement (both in New Zealand and throughout the world) whilst working tirelessly behind the scenes in a diverse array of projects. With an abundance of achievements and experiences almost 20 years in the graffiti scene which include a guest artist invite to Primary Flight - Art Basel Miami and taking out two consecutive ‘Write 4 Gold’ world titles as part of TMD crew (who remain undefeated), Askew is also versed in graphic design, illustration, photography, publishing, music and moving image.
About the Artist: Jimi Grins
Jimi Grins is an Auckland based pop artist and designer that has collaborated with creatives from all around the world, working in illustrative, product and character design and in hand paintings. Grins has worked for Portugal based NFT company and has also produced product artwork for craft beer company Garage Project here in New Zealand. Grin’s work is heavily influenced through cartoons and graffiti, forming a collage-like blend of twisted characters and colors for the world to enjoy.
About the Artist: Jimi Grins
Jimi Grins is an Auckland based pop artist and designer that has collaborated with creatives from all around the world, working in illustrative, product and character design and in hand paintings. Grins has worked for Portugal based NFT company and has also produced product artwork for craft beer company Garage Project here in New Zealand. Grin’s work is heavily influenced through cartoons and graffiti, forming a collage-like blend of twisted characters and colors for the world to enjoy.
About the Artist: Petra Leary
Petra Leary is an award winning New Zealand born aerial photographer. Her ability to capture her subjects from unique perspectives is striking and groundbreaking. She has an innate design sensibility, reflected in her unique process all the way from conception to post-production. An intrepid world traveler she hunts out unusual landscapes, captures them from unforeseen angles such as her signature bird’s eye angle from above, and manipulates and accentuates colours in post-production to create her final work. Her work is simple yet bold in arrangement and composition. Belying this effortlessness are deeply honed technical skills, and a knowing iconoclastic eye for pop culture.
About the Artist: Petra Leary
Petra Leary is an award winning New Zealand born aerial photographer. Her ability to capture her subjects from unique perspectives is striking and groundbreaking. She has an innate design sensibility, reflected in her unique process all the way from conception to post-production. An intrepid world traveler she hunts out unusual landscapes, captures them from unforeseen angles such as her signature bird’s eye angle from above, and manipulates and accentuates colours in post-production to create her final work. Her work is simple yet bold in arrangement and composition. Belying this effortlessness are deeply honed technical skills, and a knowing iconoclastic eye for pop culture.
About the Artist: Ben Eine
Ben Eine (British, b.1970) is a street artist who was born in London, UK as Ben Flynn. He is most famous for his work Alphabet Street, but gained international fame when one of his works was presented to President Obama as a gift. Eine started out as a writer, and then eventually transitioned into a street artist. He specializes in creating work on store-fronts that consist of over-sized letters and bright colors. His work can be seen in cities all over the world, including San Francisco, Paris, Tokyo, Dublin, Stockholm, and London.
About the Artist: Ben Eine
Ben Eine (British, b.1970) is a street artist who was born in London, UK as Ben Flynn. He is most famous for his work Alphabet Street, but gained international fame when one of his works was presented to President Obama as a gift. Eine started out as a writer, and then eventually transitioned into a street artist. He specializes in creating work on store-fronts that consist of over-sized letters and bright colors. His work can be seen in cities all over the world, including San Francisco, Paris, Tokyo, Dublin, Stockholm, and London.
About the Artist: Tristan Eaton
Tristan Eaton is perhaps best known for his large scale public murals, found throughout the world from New York to Paris to Shanghai, which he executes in freehand spray paint; a technical and personal nod to his own history and respect for graffiti culture, while honoring traditional painting and muralism with his thoughtful and dynamic subject matter and compositions. All of these experiences become touchstones in Eaton's fine art practice where techniques new and old meet unusual and innovative ideas paired with an assortment of methods and materials both traditional and modern, all of which find a home and harmony in his work. Eaton’s work can be seen in the Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) permanent collection.
About the Artist: Tristan Eaton
Tristan Eaton is perhaps best known for his large scale public murals, found throughout the world from New York to Paris to Shanghai, which he executes in freehand spray paint; a technical and personal nod to his own history and respect for graffiti culture, while honoring traditional painting and muralism with his thoughtful and dynamic subject matter and compositions. All of these experiences become touchstones in Eaton's fine art practice where techniques new and old meet unusual and innovative ideas paired with an assortment of methods and materials both traditional and modern, all of which find a home and harmony in his work. Eaton’s work can be seen in the Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) permanent collection.
About the Artist: POSE
Modern pop artist POSE has remained distinguished in his inventive ability to take everyday, throw-away things and introduce them into the world to communicate something much deeper. While his work relies on harnessing very simple human emotions like love, loss and triumph, it’s presented in a complex union of vivid colors and layered application that aims for something much more profound than what’s at the literal, surface level.
POSE’s diversity as a visual artist is apparent in grandiose outdoor settings through large-scale murals to the intricate bodies of work developed within his studio.
About the Artist: POSE
Modern pop artist POSE has remained distinguished in his inventive ability to take everyday, throw-away things and introduce them into the world to communicate something much deeper. While his work relies on harnessing very simple human emotions like love, loss and triumph, it’s presented in a complex union of vivid colors and layered application that aims for something much more profound than what’s at the literal, surface level.
POSE’s diversity as a visual artist is apparent in grandiose outdoor settings through large-scale murals to the intricate bodies of work developed within his studio.
About the Artist: Bearbrick
The first BE@RBRICK was birthed by MediCom Toy in Japan in 2001, and no one could have anticipated the subsequent impact it would have on popular culture. The bear-like figure has attracted an impressive array of star-studded collabs, which bridges streetwear, fashion and art in a colourful flurry of desirable collectibles, and it has moved into art galleries as well as the homes of A-list celebrities. BE@RBRICKS are collectable figures comprised of nine parts — a head, torso, hips, arms, hands, and legs with joints that can move, which come in a range of materials and sizes. The figures are sold in series with two drops a year, with the series in turn consisting of four types (basic, standard, artist and secret.) The standard category can be further sub-divided into different recurring themes, and each BE@RBRICK series and theme also has its own level of rarity
About the Artist: Bearbrick
The first BE@RBRICK was birthed by MediCom Toy in Japan in 2001, and no one could have anticipated the subsequent impact it would have on popular culture. The bear-like figure has attracted an impressive array of star-studded collabs, which bridges streetwear, fashion and art in a colourful flurry of desirable collectibles, and it has moved into art galleries as well as the homes of A-list celebrities. BE@RBRICKS are collectable figures comprised of nine parts — a head, torso, hips, arms, hands, and legs with joints that can move, which come in a range of materials and sizes. The figures are sold in series with two drops a year, with the series in turn consisting of four types (basic, standard, artist and secret.) The standard category can be further sub-divided into different recurring themes, and each BE@RBRICK series and theme also has its own level of rarity
About the Artist: James Jean
James Jean is a Taiwanese American visual artist, known for both his commercial work and fine art gallery work. He is known in the American comics industry as a cover artist for various books published by DC Comics, garnering five consecutive Eisner Awards, three consecutive Harvey Awards, two gold and one silver medal from the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles and a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators of New York. He is also known for his work for Prada, ESPN and Atlantic Records. His work, which has been collected in numerous volumes, has been compared by The New York Times to that of Maxfield Parrish.
About the Artist: James Jean
James Jean is a Taiwanese American visual artist, known for both his commercial work and fine art gallery work. He is known in the American comics industry as a cover artist for various books published by DC Comics, garnering five consecutive Eisner Awards, three consecutive Harvey Awards, two gold and one silver medal from the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles and a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators of New York. He is also known for his work for Prada, ESPN and Atlantic Records. His work, which has been collected in numerous volumes, has been compared by The New York Times to that of Maxfield Parrish.
About the Artist: SEEN
Seen is a American street artist best known for his graffiti works which covered MTA train cars along the New York subway system during the 1970s. Characterized by bright block letters and cartoonish depictions of human figures, the artist’s paintings and tattoos are influenced by comic books and television shows. Born Richard Mirando in 1961 in the Bronx, NY, he first began spray painting in 1973, alongside his graffiti crew United Artists. By the early 1980s, Seen had transitioned to work on canvas and began participating in shows alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
About the Artist: SEEN
Seen is a American street artist best known for his graffiti works which covered MTA train cars along the New York subway system during the 1970s. Characterized by bright block letters and cartoonish depictions of human figures, the artist’s paintings and tattoos are influenced by comic books and television shows. Born Richard Mirando in 1961 in the Bronx, NY, he first began spray painting in 1973, alongside his graffiti crew United Artists. By the early 1980s, Seen had transitioned to work on canvas and began participating in shows alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
About the Artist: BANKSY
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Whether plastering cities with his trademark parachuting rat, painting imagined openings in the West Bank barrier in Israel, Banksy creates street art with an irreverent wit and an international reputation that precedes his anonymous identity. Banksy has gained his notoriety through a range of urban interventions, from modifying street signs and printing his own currency to illegally hanging his own works in institutions such as the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art.
About the Artist: BANKSY
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Whether plastering cities with his trademark parachuting rat, painting imagined openings in the West Bank barrier in Israel, Banksy creates street art with an irreverent wit and an international reputation that precedes his anonymous identity. Banksy has gained his notoriety through a range of urban interventions, from modifying street signs and printing his own currency to illegally hanging his own works in institutions such as the Louvre and the Museum of Modern Art.
About the Artist: Raul
Raul is an Italian artist living and working between the USA and Europe. His style is easily recognisable through his iconic brushstrokes and symbols. He works organically and at speed, using emotion and memory as an inspiration.
He describes his art as coming from the people he meets on his travels, a visceral connection with music and different cultures. It is this search of finding meaning that stands out in his work; the artist studies different cultures as he travels the world researching symbolic languages, energies and meanings, these are translated into his artwork. This language of symbols has led him to exhibit and collaborate worldwide, painting murals in Miami’s art district, Wynwood, Cadillacs in LA and shoe collaborations with high fashion brand, Geox in Italy.
About the Artist: Raul
Raul is an Italian artist living and working between the USA and Europe. His style is easily recognisable through his iconic brushstrokes and symbols. He works organically and at speed, using emotion and memory as an inspiration.
He describes his art as coming from the people he meets on his travels, a visceral connection with music and different cultures. It is this search of finding meaning that stands out in his work; the artist studies different cultures as he travels the world researching symbolic languages, energies and meanings, these are translated into his artwork. This language of symbols has led him to exhibit and collaborate worldwide, painting murals in Miami’s art district, Wynwood, Cadillacs in LA and shoe collaborations with high fashion brand, Geox in Italy.
About the Artist: Markus Genesius
Markus Genesius aka WOW123 is a graffiti mage who started painting walls in 1988. His distinct style has been shaped over the years and has released a multitude of works in various locations around the globe, he is considered to be one of the most important figures of the German graffiti art.
In recent times, the artist has become fully occupied with the television grid e.g. the German TV test signal which was tuned during the night to mark the pause of the program. This rather known motif seems to trigger Genesius to examine different variations of the color fields and lines. Therefore, these abstractions can be perceived as reminiscent of Minimalism and even early video art.
About the Artist: Markus Genesius
Markus Genesius aka WOW123 is a graffiti mage who started painting walls in 1988. His distinct style has been shaped over the years and has released a multitude of works in various locations around the globe, he is considered to be one of the most important figures of the German graffiti art.
In recent times, the artist has become fully occupied with the television grid e.g. the German TV test signal which was tuned during the night to mark the pause of the program. This rather known motif seems to trigger Genesius to examine different variations of the color fields and lines. Therefore, these abstractions can be perceived as reminiscent of Minimalism and even early video art.
About the Artist: PichiAvo
PichiAvo is a duo of artists from Valencia, Spain. Recognised for their skill at creating connections between painting and sculpture in urban settings, they adopt a thoroughly innovative approach in their artistic fusions. A balanced combination of classical art and the most contemporary urban art can be identified in their work.
They trained in Fine Art and in Design and met on the graffiti art scene in Valencia, forming the PichiAvo duo in 2007. From that moment they worked on developing joint projects, pursuing an unremitting search for a style of their own: graffiti and classical art.
About the Artist: PichiAvo
PichiAvo is a duo of artists from Valencia, Spain. Recognised for their skill at creating connections between painting and sculpture in urban settings, they adopt a thoroughly innovative approach in their artistic fusions. A balanced combination of classical art and the most contemporary urban art can be identified in their work.
They trained in Fine Art and in Design and met on the graffiti art scene in Valencia, forming the PichiAvo duo in 2007. From that moment they worked on developing joint projects, pursuing an unremitting search for a style of their own: graffiti and classical art.
About the Artist: Levi Hawken
Levi Hawken began his artistic career as a graffiti artist in Auckland City during the mid 1990s. In the past eight years his work has taken a turn, from the once public forum of the walls and spaces in our cities, to a more private and formal review of his own style. Conflicted with the nature of street art through the constant personal and public battle, seeing one’s art removed, vandalized and challenged from within the graffiti community, and the public as a whole, Levi has made the poignant decision to take back ownership of his works by composing them on canvas, away form the public domain. This shift has made a marked influence in the way Levi now handles his medium and subject matter. His artistic practices include painting, drawing and sculptural work and can now be seen as a keepsake of the art that once was.
About the Artist: Levi Hawken
Levi Hawken began his artistic career as a graffiti artist in Auckland City during the mid 1990s. In the past eight years his work has taken a turn, from the once public forum of the walls and spaces in our cities, to a more private and formal review of his own style. Conflicted with the nature of street art through the constant personal and public battle, seeing one’s art removed, vandalized and challenged from within the graffiti community, and the public as a whole, Levi has made the poignant decision to take back ownership of his works by composing them on canvas, away form the public domain. This shift has made a marked influence in the way Levi now handles his medium and subject matter. His artistic practices include painting, drawing and sculptural work and can now be seen as a keepsake of the art that once was.
About the Artist: CRASH
Coming of age in the Bronx in the 1960s and ’70s, John “Crash” Matos first picked up a can of spray paint at the age of 13 to cut his teeth as a graffiti artist by “bombing” the subway trains in the New York City rail yards. He has not stopped since. His bold, blocky signature CRASH greeted subway riders in the 1970s and ’80s, New York’s economically dire, artistically fertile days. By the 1980s, with the embrace of his work by galleries and at the urging of his friend and contemporary, Keith Haring, Crash was translating his explosive outdoor murals to the canvas’s more contained plane. He remains busy with commissions and collaborations, claiming that his future holds “more work, more painting, more strats, more walls, more lobsters, more steaks…in other words more living to do.”
About the Artist: CRASH
Coming of age in the Bronx in the 1960s and ’70s, John “Crash” Matos first picked up a can of spray paint at the age of 13 to cut his teeth as a graffiti artist by “bombing” the subway trains in the New York City rail yards. He has not stopped since. His bold, blocky signature CRASH greeted subway riders in the 1970s and ’80s, New York’s economically dire, artistically fertile days. By the 1980s, with the embrace of his work by galleries and at the urging of his friend and contemporary, Keith Haring, Crash was translating his explosive outdoor murals to the canvas’s more contained plane. He remains busy with commissions and collaborations, claiming that his future holds “more work, more painting, more strats, more walls, more lobsters, more steaks…in other words more living to do.”
About the Artist: Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary street artist, graphic designer, activist, illustrator, and founder of OBEY Clothing. He first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campaign while attending the Rhode Island School of Design. Andre the Giant Has a Posse is one of the first and most important "viral" Street Art campaigns, showing the ability and force of this new illegal means of expression. Over the years Fairey has transformed into one of the most well-known muralist /street artists in the world.
About the Artist: Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary street artist, graphic designer, activist, illustrator, and founder of OBEY Clothing. He first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campaign while attending the Rhode Island School of Design. Andre the Giant Has a Posse is one of the first and most important "viral" Street Art campaigns, showing the ability and force of this new illegal means of expression. Over the years Fairey has transformed into one of the most well-known muralist /street artists in the world.
About the Artist: Matt Gondek
Matt Gondek is a Deconstructive Pop Artist, whose work is possessed with a punk rock spirit, celebrating rebellion and destruction. With a visceral pop color palette and a disarmingly playful tone, he tears down cartoon idols, akin to slaughtering our modern day gods. Born in 1982, his creative voice is rooted in the 90s; as a true conduit of his generation and their potentially pointless search for meaning and purpose amidst a cruel life in a flawed world. He boasts sold out exhibitions in his home of Los Angeles as well as New York, Paris, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.
About the Artist: Matt Gondek
Matt Gondek is a Deconstructive Pop Artist, whose work is possessed with a punk rock spirit, celebrating rebellion and destruction. With a visceral pop color palette and a disarmingly playful tone, he tears down cartoon idols, akin to slaughtering our modern day gods. Born in 1982, his creative voice is rooted in the 90s; as a true conduit of his generation and their potentially pointless search for meaning and purpose amidst a cruel life in a flawed world. He boasts sold out exhibitions in his home of Los Angeles as well as New York, Paris, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.