A Manawatu Sculpture Walk

I lived in and near Palmerston North in the Central North Island's Manawatu region in the late seventies but after I moved to the South Island in 1990, I've only ever been back there once. So when I rolled into town this year - in July - I was amazed by two very unexpected things - how much nostalgia I felt and that I actually got lost in now unfamiliar streets. I did however find what was the Manawatu Art Gallery in my day - now Te Manawa - Museum Gallery & Science Centre, which is currently undergoing a massive extension programme due for completion in late 2011. This is where I began a wander that tracked some of the city's public sculptures......the above unnamed, outside Te Manawa. Also outside Te Manawa, this - "Pacific Monarch" by Paul Dibble and commissioned by the Manawatu Art Gallery in 1992.

Further down the street, in the middle of a traffic island near the Palmerston North City Council building, I found this work - my favourite of the bunch - "The Returning Column" by South Australian sculptor, Greg Johns. Made of corten steel, the 5-metre high work, the work was acquired by the Palmerston North Public Sculpture Trust.

"United-Divided" by Christchurch sculptor, Phil Price is in the same vicinity and is the fourth work installed by the Palmerston North Sculpture Trust. It sits outside the Palmerston North Convention Centre and was unveiled in February 2010. Like its eerily similar Christchurch counterpart (in orange), the kinetic work rolls, dips, 'breaks apart' and rotates, "coming together and then dividing in a continuous, seemingly random, wind-driven performance." There's also a terrific work - "Numbers" by Anton Parsons and a beautiful wall work by Guy Ngan, neither of which I had time to photograph. All of the above, in addition to the striking collection of Maori sculptures in The Square, near the council buildings, are a very pleasing addition to the cityscape. While I found the remodelled square itself slightly 'communist' in feel, I always love it when a city installs contemporary public art for us all to muse over. It seems no two people can ever agree on their appropriateness, their beauty or their worth but that's half the fun of it. Good art should touch a few 'raw nerves.'

Phil Price - Another View

A Different Perspective on Phil Price's sculpture featured in the post below.

If you'd like to see more of Price's work click on Phil Price in the label line below.

Capital Sculpture

With yellow gingko leaves fluttering along Lambton Quay yesterday, I couldn't resist a stop to photograph this sculpture - Protoplasm - by Christchurch sculptor, Phil Price, July 2002, dwarfed by the splendid old MLC Building. I do love the way the Wellington Sculpture Trust and Wellington City Council have collaborated so conscientously to install sculptures all around the city. It makes for some delightful surprises as you wander the streets. www.wellingtonnz.com

Art Layers

Love the way someone has decided that Phil Price's sculpture at the intersection of High, Manchester and Lichfield Streets isn't enough in its own right. They've (somehow) scaled one face of it and added a whole heap of ghastly little stickers to it. It will be interesting to see how long they stay there before someone decides they need to be removed.

Art on High - Another View

I like the three-way intersection of Lichfield, Manchester and High Streets here in Christchurch. There's always something happening there - both visually and physically - and I often sit there waiting for people and photographs. It's also a great corner for changing billboards and poster hoardings; and it's home to Phil Price's kinetic sculpture that provides ever-changing opportunities for a snap. It's here that you'll also find the Physics Room Kiosk that I wrote about earlier this week.

And Goodnight To You....

Christchurch. March 2009. Ajr

I think I caught the last minutes of James Oram’s work “Good Night” in that miniature inner city exhibition space, The Kiosk. I like the meeting of all the reds – the car, the rear building dome, Oram’s work in the fore ground (false teeth plates?) and Christchurch sculptor Phil Price’s large permanent work in the background. You can see other works I’ve photographed in this unique exhibition facility by clicking on The Kiosk or The Physics Room in the label line below; and The Physics Room website also has photographs of many of the previous Kiosk works. www.physicsroom.org.nz

Art in a Suitcase

The Kiosk. Christchurch. Sept.2008. Ajr

Ri Williamson has got the right idea – a miniature exhibition (in a suitcase), in a miniature art gallery. Her current work, “Nomadic Operating Platforms: Observation Deck/Drawing From Observation,” is showing in The Physics Room’s Kiosk, that cute little Tardus-like form that sits quietly in the middle of the busy pedestrian walkway at the intersection of Manchester, High and Lichfield Streets in central Christchurch. That’s Phil Price’s orange sculpture, Nucleus in the background – commissioned for the Scape Biennial in 2006.

Moving Sculpture

"Nucleus" Phil Price, Christchurch. May 2008 Ajr.

I am ambivalent about this large kinetic sculpture by Christchurch artist, Phil Price. Some days I think “Nucleus” is incredibly clever (and I’m sure it is); other days I think it’s just plain ugly. You can see more (more interesting) works by Phil Price at www.philprice.co.nz