Richard Frater

Biography

Richard Frater, What remains of a naturalist, 2024. Installation view, Klosterruine, Berlin

Richard Frater, What remains of a naturalist, 2024. Installation view, Klosterruine, Berlin

Richard Frater, What remains of a naturalist, 2024. Installation view, Klosterruine, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Off season, 2023. Installation view, Kunstverein München. Photograph: Max Geuter

Richard Frater, Off season, 2023. Installation view, Kunstverein München. Photograph: Max Geuter

Richard Frater, Off season, 2023. Installation view, Kunstverein München. Photograph: Max Geuter

Richard Frater in At Thresholds, City Gallery Wellington, 2022. Photograph: Cheska Brown

Richard Frater, Invitation Dilemma (wood pigeon, Akademie der Kunste, Hansaviertel), 2022, silver gelatin print from 35mm film, 265 x 440mm, Edition of 3 + 1 AP

Richard Frater and Pauline Rhodes, Bluets, 2021 Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Invitation dilemma (hawfinch, Akademie der Kunste, Hansaviertel), 2020, silver gelatin print from 35mm film, 540 x 375mm, Edition of 3 + 1 AP

Richard Frater and Pauline Rhodes, Bluets, 2021. Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Invitation dilemma (wood pigeon, Akademie der Kunste, Hansaviertel), 2020, silver gelatin print from 35mm film, 640 x 440mm, Edition of 3 + 1 AP

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (live rock version), 2018, fossilised coral, 3D printed macroscopic graphs, coral organism, marine aquarium, bio-media, plexiglass, 1460 x 400 x 400mn, Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Compound, 2017, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin

Richard Frater, Compound (detail), 2017, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (oyster version), 2017, living oyster, Brita water filter karaffe, modified oyster shell, marine aquarium, water-pumps, plexiglass, biological filter, chiller, 1300mm x 400mm x 400mm, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin, 2017

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (oyster version), 2017, living oyster, Brita water filter karaffe, modified oyster shell, marine aquarium, water-pumps, plexiglass, biological filter, chiller, 1300mm x 400mm x 400mm, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin, 2017

Richard Frater, April (detail), 2015-17, modified Greenpeace ‘Standing up for the Earth’ calendar, Canon camera body, stainless steel tube, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and case, dimensions variable, Installation view, ACCA, Melbourne

Richard Frater, April (detail), 2015-17, modified Greenpeace ‘Standing up for the Earth’ calendar, Canon camera body, stainless steel tube, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and case, dimensions variable, Installation view, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany

Richard Frater, April (detail), 2015-17, modified Greenpeace ‘Standing up for the Earth’ calendar, Canon camera body, stainless steel tube, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and case, dimensions variable, Installation view, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany

Richard Frater, Not yet titled, 2017, Ambrotype (collodian positive print on glass) of commissioned souvenir ring with personal engraving by Jens Hansen (official ringmaker for “The Lord of the Rings”), 2015, constructed from silver residue extract from processed 16mm film, research footage shot in Wellington in 2011, 200mm x 140mm

Richard Frater, Living Cities 2011–, 2015, film trailer, 16mm film telecine transfer, 02:23min

Richard Frater, Living Cities 2011–, Installation view, Adam Art Gallery, 2015

Richard Frater, Living Cities 2011–, 2015 Installation view, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington

Richard Frater, What remains of a naturalist, 2024. Installation view, Klosterruine, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Off season, 2023. Installation view, Kunstverein München. Photograph: Max Geuter

Richard Frater in At Thresholds, City Gallery Wellington, 2022. Photograph: Cheska Brown

Richard Frater and Pauline Rhodes, Bluets, 2021 Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater and Pauline Rhodes, Bluets, 2021. Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (live rock version), 2018, fossilised coral, 3D printed macroscopic graphs, coral organism, marine aquarium, bio-media, plexiglass, 1460 x 400 x 400mn, Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Compound (detail), 2017, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (oyster version), 2017, living oyster, Brita water filter karaffe, modified oyster shell, marine aquarium, water-pumps, plexiglass, biological filter, chiller, 1300mm x 400mm x 400mm, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin, 2017

Richard Frater, April (detail), 2015-17, modified Greenpeace ‘Standing up for the Earth’ calendar, Canon camera body, stainless steel tube, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and case, dimensions variable, Installation view, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany

Richard Frater, Not yet titled, 2017, Ambrotype (collodian positive print on glass) of commissioned souvenir ring with personal engraving by Jens Hansen (official ringmaker for “The Lord of the Rings”), 2015, constructed from silver residue extract from processed 16mm film, research footage shot in Wellington in 2011, 200mm x 140mm

Richard Frater, Living Cities 2011–, Installation view, Adam Art Gallery, 2015

Richard Frater

Born 1984, Wellington (NZ). Lives and works in Berlin (DE)

Richard Frater often begins with the fragility and complexity of life processes –creating artworks that bring visibility to the interactions between organisms and the material world. His works frequently reveal the disruptions and interruptions that humanity and the built environment have brought to these processes.

Frater graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland in 2006, followed by a Master of Fine Arts from Glasgow School of Art in 2012. Significant solo exhibitions include: What remains of a naturalist, Klosterruine, Berlin (2024); Off season, Kunstverein München (2023); Common Birds, Oracle, Berlin (2018); Compound series, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2017) and Living Cities 2011-, Adam Art Gallery Te Pataka Toi, Wellington (2015). Frater’s work has also been included in international exhibitions and group presentations including: Image Ecology, c/o Berlin (2023); Im Volksgarten, Kunsthaus Glarus, Switzerland (2020); Farewell Photography, Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, Mannheim (2017); Umwelt Inversion, Galerie Conradi, Hamburg (2016) and Let’s Destroy the Earth but Keep Humans, Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich (2014). In 2020 Frater was awarded the Parehuia Artist’s Residency at McCahon House, Titirangi.

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Richard Frater, What remains of a naturalist, 2024. Installation view, Klosterruine, Berlin

Richard Frater, What remains of a naturalist, 2024. Installation view, Klosterruine, Berlin

Richard Frater, What remains of a naturalist, 2024. Installation view, Klosterruine, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Image Ecology, 2023. Installation view, c/o, Berlin

Richard Frater, Off season, 2023. Installation view, Kunstverein München. Photograph: Max Geuter

Richard Frater, Off season, 2023. Installation view, Kunstverein München. Photograph: Max Geuter

Richard Frater, Off season, 2023. Installation view, Kunstverein München. Photograph: Max Geuter

Richard Frater in At Thresholds, City Gallery Wellington, 2022. Photograph: Cheska Brown

Richard Frater, Invitation Dilemma (wood pigeon, Akademie der Kunste, Hansaviertel), 2022, silver gelatin print from 35mm film, 265 x 440mm, Edition of 3 + 1 AP

Richard Frater and Pauline Rhodes, Bluets, 2021 Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Invitation dilemma (hawfinch, Akademie der Kunste, Hansaviertel), 2020, silver gelatin print from 35mm film, 540 x 375mm, Edition of 3 + 1 AP

Richard Frater and Pauline Rhodes, Bluets, 2021. Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Invitation dilemma (wood pigeon, Akademie der Kunste, Hansaviertel), 2020, silver gelatin print from 35mm film, 640 x 440mm, Edition of 3 + 1 AP

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (live rock version), 2018, fossilised coral, 3D printed macroscopic graphs, coral organism, marine aquarium, bio-media, plexiglass, 1460 x 400 x 400mn, Installation view, Michael Lett, Karangahape Road

Richard Frater, Compound, 2017, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin

Richard Frater, Compound (detail), 2017, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (oyster version), 2017, living oyster, Brita water filter karaffe, modified oyster shell, marine aquarium, water-pumps, plexiglass, biological filter, chiller, 1300mm x 400mm x 400mm, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin, 2017

Richard Frater, Stop Shell (oyster version), 2017, living oyster, Brita water filter karaffe, modified oyster shell, marine aquarium, water-pumps, plexiglass, biological filter, chiller, 1300mm x 400mm x 400mm, Installation view, KW Institute, Berlin, 2017

Richard Frater, April (detail), 2015-17, modified Greenpeace ‘Standing up for the Earth’ calendar, Canon camera body, stainless steel tube, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and case, dimensions variable, Installation view, ACCA, Melbourne

Richard Frater, April (detail), 2015-17, modified Greenpeace ‘Standing up for the Earth’ calendar, Canon camera body, stainless steel tube, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and case, dimensions variable, Installation view, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany

Richard Frater, April (detail), 2015-17, modified Greenpeace ‘Standing up for the Earth’ calendar, Canon camera body, stainless steel tube, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and case, dimensions variable, Installation view, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany

Richard Frater, Not yet titled, 2017, Ambrotype (collodian positive print on glass) of commissioned souvenir ring with personal engraving by Jens Hansen (official ringmaker for “The Lord of the Rings”), 2015, constructed from silver residue extract from processed 16mm film, research footage shot in Wellington in 2011, 200mm x 140mm

Richard Frater, Living Cities 2011–, 2015, film trailer, 16mm film telecine transfer, 02:23min

Richard Frater, Living Cities 2011–, Installation view, Adam Art Gallery, 2015

Richard Frater, Living Cities 2011–, 2015 Installation view, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington