Wilderness Gallery is a Travellers' Choice award-winning art gallery at 29 Tancred Street, Hokitika, on New Zealand's West Coast. It has been a passion project for photographer Juergen Schacke and his family for many years, growing to include work from other New Zealand artists and artisans who capture the wild nature of the country.
All artworks sold at the gallery are made in Aotearoa New Zealand, spanning photography, copper, woodware and bronze pieces. Juergen Schacke's own wildlife and landscape photography, shot across the West Coast, features in corporate and private collections worldwide, and is offered as limited edition Giclée archival prints and photo blocks.
The gallery is ranked #1 of 22 things to do in Hokitika on Tripadvisor, with visitors describing it as a beautiful art gallery with unique crafted souvenirs. It closes over winter but is happy to open on request, with visits also able to be arranged during the week via the Hokitika Craft Gallery on 25 Tancred Street.
On Tancred Street in Hokitika, Wilderness Gallery has become one of the West Coast's standout stops for New Zealand-made art and giftware, ranked #1 of 22 things to do in Hokitika on Tripadvisor. The gallery grew out of a passion project by photographer Juergen Schacke and his family, and has since expanded to showcase work from other New Zealand artists and artisans who share a love for the country's wild landscapes.
At the heart of the gallery is Juergen Schacke's own wildlife and landscape photography. His connection to the West Coast comes through clearly in his images, which feature in corporate and private collections around the world. Rather than leaning on heavy post-production, Schacke focuses on getting the shot right in the camera and in the field - as he puts it, the magic happens in the moment, not in the digital darkroom.
The gallery offers Schacke's photography as limited edition Giclée archival prints, with most images printed in editions of 75. Prints are available on high quality archival canvas - Schacke's own preference - or archival watercolour paper, and canvas prints can be bought either stretched and framed or unstretched and rolled for easier overseas shipping. For a different way to display a piece, photo blocks mount images on finished white blocks in landscape format, with a hole on the back for hanging or the option to simply stand them on a shelf or mantelpiece.
Beyond photography, Wilderness Gallery stocks copper, woodware and bronze pieces from other New Zealand artists and artisans, rounding out a collection focused entirely on work made in Aotearoa. It's a range built to reflect the gallery's own description of itself: fresh, inspiring and contemporary.
Wilderness Gallery closes over the winter months but is happy to open by request. During the week, visitors can also call into the Hokitika Craft Gallery on 25 Tancred Street to arrange a visit. For anyone further afield, the gallery ships within New Zealand and internationally, and is happy to provide a shipping quote for overseas orders, with tracked international courier mail as the preferred option.
With a Travellers' Choice award and a string of glowing Tripadvisor reviews describing it as a beautiful art gallery with unique crafted souvenirs, Wilderness Gallery has built a strong reputation among visitors exploring Hokitika and the wider West Coast.