John Badcock Bio

Born in 1952, John Badcock comes from a very artistic family. He began painting in Queenstown with his father Douglas over 45 years ago and has been a professional artist now for over four decades. He has had over 30 public gallery/museum solo exhibitions and over 40 dealer solo exhibitions. 

John has achieved ten New Zealand Art Awards, 2015 Wallace Art Awards – Finalist touring show and in 2007 was selected for the Archibald Salon des Refuses exhibition in Sydney, Australia. In 2008 he was elected to the South Canterbury Hall of Fame, Timaru.  2015 Culture Trip website - top 10 contemporary artists in New Zealand.

Collections of John’s work are held extensively throughout New Zealand at locations including James Wallace Arts Trust, Auckland, Christchurch Art Gallery, Hocken Library, Dunedin, New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington, Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru, Andersons Park, Invercargill, Sir James Wallace Private Collection and internationally at the Sackman Corporation in New York. 

John is a published portraitist in his work “Passing People – 100 portraits”. Also is in a film by Cowboy Productions titled “A Changing Landscape”. John has become renowned for portraiture and has been described as an expressionist. His vibrant, texturally sculptured portraits are a richness of emotional brushstrokes in paint dripping off the canvas, provoking thought and conversation, insight, and revealing a depth of understanding of the human condition.