Associate Professor Alex Monteith

Alex Monteith

Born Béal Feirste Belfast, Na Sé Chontae Northern Ireland;
Lives at Te Piha, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Alex Monteith is a multi-disciplinary artist, filmmaker, and Associate Professor whose practice intersects environmental activism, oceanic geographies, and contemporary art. Born in Éire/Ireland during the Na Trioblóidí (the troubles) she migrated to Aotearoa/New Zealand in the ‘80’s with family.  A former Irish National Women's Surfing Champion (2001), she draws on her intimate knowledge of marine environments to create large-scale artistic interventions addressing colonial impacts on ocean ecologies in Aotearoa and internationally. Since 2008, her collaborative projects have engaged with critical environmental issues, from water quality to maritime disasters, notably through her "Surface Movements" series and works responding to the Rena shipwreck. Exhibitions have included Whiria ko te iwi tuna as a member fo the Toiaa Taiao collective (Tihikura Hohaia, Alex Monteith, Maree Sheehan), the survey show Accelerated Geographies Alex Monteith Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (2010),  a solo exhibition at MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main (2012), Rencontres Internationales, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2007 & 2011), she was an exhibiting artist in the 4th and 5th Auckland Triennials of 2010 and  2013,  Sydney Contemporary in 2015 and 2013, and the Asia Pacific Trienalle 10 at QAGOMA with Kā Paroro o Haumumu 2021 and with Arists for Waiapu Action in APT11 in 2024, Thailand Biennale Phuket: Eternal [Kalpa] 2025-26. She was a recipient of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand New Generation Award, 2008 and a Walter’s Prize finalist in 2010. She currently explores virtual reality storytelling in relation to Aotearoa's seafloor ecologies.

Alex Monteith is an Associate Professor at the Te Waka Tūhura Elam School of Fine Arts, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland, where she is a founding member of BENT which supports art, exhibitions and projects by rainbow candidates at the Elam. Her current research is into how underwater videography and virtual reality (VR) could be used for storytelling in relationship to biodiversity collapse from pollution in awa / moana water columns with a focus on problems caused by runoff and sediment.

Works are held in the Govett-Brewster Collection, The Chartwell Collection, the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, and The University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau Collection. Film & Video work has been screened in NZ (NZIFF), France, LUX screenings in NZ and UK & the Glasgow Short Film festival.