Johnny Penisula (1941-2023)

Image: Johnny Penisula, 2021. Photo courtesy of Raymond Sagapolutele. 

Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust are immensely saddened to hear of the passing of the renowned master stone carver, Johnny Penisula (MNZM). A trailblazer, Johnny has been a key figure in Pacific contemporary arts since the early 1970s and was the first contemporary Pacific artist to exhibit in Aotearoa New Zealand.  

A personal message from our Patron Fatu Feu’u:  

“Johnny is one of our great Samoan Master carvers, with a generous heart. He was the type of person who would drop the tools and tell everybody of the origin of his ancestors. His willingness to teach anybody regardless of their ethnicity...I am honoured and privileged to have worked with him for over 40 years. On behalf of Tautai, the Board, artists and our wider Moana community, Ia manuia lou malaga Johnny.” 

A personal message from our board member Lonnie Hutchinson:

“I met Johnny at a Tautai Sculpture Symposium in the mid 90’s. He was a master stone carver and he was very generous with his knowledge of stone, all types of stone from Aotearoa and the Pacific. Johnny participated in many of the Tautai Sculpture Symposiums he contributed his skills to help others starting out in stone and wood sculpture. His favourite stone was Argillite/ Pakohe a black stone found mainly on the coast in the Nelson Marlborough area.

i Le filemu

Moe Mai ra rangatira”

Born Ioane Reuelu Penisula on April 8, 1941, in Sāmoa, Johnny began painting when he was 13 years old. He moved to New Zealand in 1962, eventually settling in Invercargill. Johnny took up a job at Ocean Beach Freezing Works in Bluff(1) by day and by night, he was taking art classes to pursue his desire to become an artist. A self-taught painter, Johnny studied fine arts by correspondence in the mid to late seventies. It was during his studies that he was exposed to other art mediums like sculpture and found he was a natural who excelled and quickly mastered using many different sculptural materials.  

As a sculptor, he experimented with a diverse range of sculptural materials including steel, aluminium, fibreglass, bone, argillite, greenstone and limestone before deciding upon a preferred medium of stone. Attached to the challenge, permanence and ancient tradition of stonework, one of his favourite stones to work with was the Gabro stone, plentiful in Southland where he resided for the last sixty years.  

Some notable and memorable achievements include Le Folauga: the past coming forward - Contemporary Pacific Art from Aotearoa New Zealand, the first exhibition of contemporary Pacific art from New Zealand to be shown in a major fine arts museum in Asia. Le Folauga opened at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan from 13 December 2008 to 5 April 2009. In 2002, Penisula received the Creative New Zealand Senior Pacific Arts award in recognition of artistic excellence and contribution to the arts. In 2007, he was named the recipient of the Macmillan Brown Pacific Artist in Residence at the University of Canterbury. In 2009, Penisula was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to art. He also proudly exhibited regularly with his son Lyle Penisula (2).  

A highly respected and honoured man, Johnny's works seamlessly fused his Sāmoan heritage, influence and upbringing with his fine arts knowledge and being a proud Southlander. Johnny's contribution to contemporary arts was pivotal for Pacific arts and artists, and his vast body of work and accolades throughout a career that spanned over fifty years, are a testament to the great legacy that Johnny leaves behind.

Our alofa, prayers and condolences go out to Johnny's wife Mavis Penisula and the Penisula aiga.  

Image: Johnny Penisula, 2021. Photo courtesy of Raymond Sagapolutele. 

(1) https://tpplus.co.nz/arts-music/invercargill-stone-artist-johnny-penisula-looks-back-on-his-career/ 

(2) https://www.pantograph-punch.com/posts/Tufuga-and-dad