Dashper was regarded as one of New Zealand’s most well-known contemporary artists. Born in Auckland, he graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1981. A painter, sculptor printmaker and photographer, his work focused on the histories, theories and popular ideas of abstraction, conceptualism and minimalism. In 2007, work from the last 25 years of his practice was the subject of a major touring retrospective in America, curated by Christopher Cook and David Raskin. His first NZ retrospective, Julian Dashper: Professional Practice, was held at the Gus Fisher Gallery in 2010.