One White Book

I love the look of this new publication put together by New Plymouth's Govett Brewster Gallery which celebrates the gallery's landmark exhibition by Peter Robinson in 2008. Peter Robinson: Snow Ball Blind Time - the exhibition, marked only the second time the Govett Brewster had given over its entire gallery space to one artist. Occupying the entire 574 square metres of the gallery, Robinson's show took 18 months to create. The only other time one artist has been commissioned to create a single work for the entire gallery was in 1970, when Leon Narbey's Real Time took command of the building. This new book - more than an exhibition catalogue - traces Robinson's exploration of materials and ideas through the eight major projects since his formative ACK installation at Artspace, Auckland in 2006, which was seen as a pivotal change of direction in his artmaking practice. Born in Ashburton, Canterbury in 1966, Robinson currently lives in Auckland, where he is Associate Professor at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. He has held residencies in Germany and Australia, represented New Zealand at the 2001 Venice Biennale and was awarded the prestigious 2008 Walters prize for outstanding contributions to contemporary art in New Zealand for his work at ACK. The above book is now available through bookstores throughout New Zealand. www.govettbrewster.com

Len Lye - The Book

Image Courtesy Govett-Brewster Gallery & Len Lye Foundation

And so to another stunning publication from Govett-Brewster Gallery, this time in partnership with the Len Lye Foundation. Co-edited by the gallery’s Len Lye curator, Tyler Cann and poet, writer, critic, Wystan Curnow, ‘Len Lye,’ the book showcases one of New Zealand’s most inspirational and influential artists, throwing fresh light on the incredible diversity of his career. Len Lye (1901-1980) is best known in New Zealand as a kinetic sculptor but his international reputation was built around his experimental work in film. Poet, painter, experimental filmmaker and sculptor, Lye was born in Christchurch and travelled throughout the South Pacific and Australia, later working his passage to Britain on a steamship in 1926. He moved to New York in 1944. His work has featured in over 50 major exhibitions worldwide including in Paris’ Pompidou Centre, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate Modern. For this new look into his life and work – the most comprehensive visual presentation to date – over 1,000 new photographs were created and hundreds of them have been included in the book. The publication coincides with the largest and most comprehensive Len Lye exhibition ever, currently showing in the heart of Melbourne at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. In addition to all of that, I love the fact that Scottish poet, Alastair Reid declared Lye “the least boring person who ever lived.” Len Lye, the book is available through bookstores nationwide and it will be officially launched at the Govett-Brewster Gallery on September 25. http://www.govettbrewster.com/

Uncommon Senses - The Collectors

"The Living Room Project" Lee Mingwei. Image courtesy Govett-Brewster Gallery

Taiwanese-born, New York-based artist, Lee Mingwei is all for inter-personal exchange inspired by ordinary human events and activities; and in his first New Zealand exhibition at New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Gallery – “Uncommon Senses” – he presents two projects that include the participation of Taranaki locals. “The Living Room Project” (pictured) becomes the setting for one of my favourite kind of people – COLLECTORS! Assorted Taranaki collectors will ‘take the stage’ in The Living Room, each showing off their collectables for a two-week period. The collectors also become hosts/guides for a day, sharing their passion for collecting and showing off their respective gatherings of chosen objects to the wider public. Great concept; I love it! Included in the project will be collections of: Masks and carvings from Micronesia, West Africa and Canada; Tea cosies; Meccano; Taranaki transferware; Indian saris, shawls, scarves and brassware from the Arabic states; LPs and Posters; and Maori Potatoes. Lee’s exhibition kicks off on December 6th and runs through to March 16, 2009. If you’re a collector keen to see any one of the above collections, go to http://www.govettbrewster.com/ to check the dates for individual collections. The architecturally-minded meanwhile, might enjoy Lee’s second show, “Nomad Exquisite,” which showcases his abiding interest in architectural space, inspired by the work of Japanese architect, Tadao Ando and Ch’an Buddhist aesthetics.

Window Shopping - For Art

"Simple Matters" John Ward Knox. Image supplied by Govett-Brewster Gallery. 2008.

I LOVE this work by Auckland artist, John Ward Knox – simple, elegant, fragile – currently showing at Govett-Brewster Gallery in New Plymouth. His “Simple Matters” is the fifth installation in the gallery’s Open Window series curated by Melanie Oliver. Featuring the work of emerging artists, the series aims to “engage viewers in the commercial nature of the shop-front window and the attributes particular to window-gazing.” Ward Knox is currently study towards an MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland and is a member of the artist-run space Newcall. For this work Ward Knox has installed several unattached wires against the uppermost edge of a white fabric square, holding it fast against the window face. I suspect there might be room for all sorts of interesting shadow and light interactions here. What a pity I live so far from the scene. www.govett-brewster.com

Whiter than White

"Snow Ball Blind Time" Peter Robinson. Images Spplied by Govett-Brewster Gallery.

I met someone recently with a fear of polystyrene foam … …something to do with that queer squeaky noise it makes when it’s rubbed. I was intrigued. It made my fear of heights seem tame. I felt ordinary. This may seem an inane and whimsical introduction to an exhibition that is being hailed as “a great moment in New Zealand art history” but I like to view the world via personal associations and I don’t think Auckland artist, Peter Robinson would mind that.

His current work at New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery – “Snow Ball Blind Time” – is a phenomenal exercise in the creative use of polystyrene – ‘acres’ of the stuff spilling throughout the gallery in a snow-white master-stroke of snappy wit and “comic giganticism” and reading as a single, vast spatial drawing. It’s only the second time since the gallery opened in 1970 that one artist has colonised the whole gallery with a single commissioned work.

It’s all about democracy, freedom, social responsibility, the environment and reckless global consumerist excesses but for me, it’s also about the inherent beauty of an everyday material most of us would overlook. Its pristine, all-white, ethereal loveliness a cunning ‘face’ for Robinson’s ever-wry wit and cutting social criticisms. I love it – but what a nightmare to photograph! www.govettbrewster.com