Megan Dunn

Guest writer

Megan Dunn is the former co-editor of The Spinoff Art. She is the author of one sly book about a book called Tinderbox. In her spare time, she interviews mermaids.

Detail from The Tree of Life, Kushana Bush, 2020.

Art in the waiting room

There is art at the hospital, even in intensive care – but the price of seeing it is everything.

By Megan Dunn | 10th May, 2020

Takaka: night and day, 1948, by Colin McCahon

A road trip through Colin McCahon’s vision of Aotearoa

Megan Dunn talks to Justin Paton, the "master of accessible art writing".

By Megan Dunn | 11th December, 2019

Jacqueline Fahey, Georgie Pies for Lunch, 1977. (Detail.)

Sex, love and Georgie Pie: a fan letter to Jacqueline Fahey

At Wellington's New Zealand Portrait Gallery for one last week is Jacqueline Fahey's Suburbanites, a survey show showcasing 60 years of the artist's riotous oil paintings. Megan Dunn writes a fan letter, in lieu of a review.

By Megan Dunn | 30th October, 2019

Left, Rita Angus: Self-portrait, 1936–7. Collection of Dunedin Public Art Gallery, purchased 1980. Reproduced courtesy of the Rita Angus Estate. Right, Portrait of Rita Angus, 1969, photographed by Marti Friedlander, Collection of Te Papa.

A New Zealand modernist in London: The Royal Academy celebrates Rita Angus

In 2020 the Royal Academy of Arts opens the exhibition Rita Angus: New Zealand Modernist. It's the first-ever show of a New Zealand artist in an institution that dates back to the days of Captain Cook.

By Megan Dunn | 9th October, 2019

How the Guerrilla Girls are still shaking up the art world after 30 years

How the Guerrilla Girls are still shaking up the art world after 30 years

The Guerrilla Girls are an infamous group of feminist art activists who've been calling out sexism and prejudice in the art world since the 80s. On the eve of her first trip to New Zealand, group member 'Frida Kahlo' talks to Megan Dunn.

By Megan Dunn | 27th September, 2019

Things I Learned at Art School: Yvonne Todd

Things I Learned at Art School: Yvonne Todd

The acclaimed photographer on the appeal of fashion, Madonna's aging process and what photography students never need to photograph again.

By Megan Dunn | 4th September, 2019

Emma McIntyre photographed in Frances Hodgkins: Framed by Karen Walker, 2019.

Subverted symmetry: Karen Walker on framing Frances Hodgkins

Fashion, beauty and modernism all play a part in the exhibition Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys. Megan Dunn talks to fashion designer Karen Walker about her Hodgkins-inspired fashion collection.

By Megan Dunn | 27th August, 2019

Ronnie van Hout working on Quasi.

The man behind The Hand: Artist Ronnie van Hout on why he made Quasi

The giant hand that captivated and disgusted the nation is now settling into its new Wellington home. Spinoff arts editor Megan Dunn talked to Ronnie van Hout, the man who made Quasi.

By Megan Dunn | 25th August, 2019

Simon Denny (Photo: Jesse Hunniford/MONA)

Things I Learned at Art School: Simon Denny

Things I Learned at Art School is a new series featuring artists discussing how they do what they do and know what they know. In the second instalment, Megan Dunn talks to Berlin-based New Zealander Simon Denny about Michael Parekowhai, teaching and technology, and an idea involving the online shoe store Zappos that didn't work out.

By Megan Dunn | 17th August, 2019

Joshua Petherick, Condolence (vi), 2019, patinated polyurethane foam, 2019.

Pastorale: an art show about the environment, minus the moralising

The best little art show about the environment is big on charm and low on preaching and you can find it at Robert Heald Gallery in Wellington for one more week. Megan Dunn reviews.

By Megan Dunn | 13th August, 2019