Govett-Brewster - News

Students' art 'some of the best in the country'

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

A wrinkled man losing his marbles and a well-known musician helped two Taranaki students create some of the best secondary school art work in the country last year.

The work of New Plymouth Girls' High school seventh former Bronte Heron, 17, and former Inglewood High School student James Drummond, 18, has been touring the country as part of the 2011 NCEA Level 3 Excellence exhibition.

Former students Ashleigh Ballinger, Demelza Law and Chloe Ann Ramsay have also had their work on show at the exhibition, currently at New Plymouth's Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

Bronte said her painting boards were inspired by the metaphor of an old man losing his marbles.

"I used old paper and tea stains to give it that old look," she said.

"I think portrait's really cool and I like painting wrinkled faces which is where that came in."

Bronte said it was fantastic to see her work on show among all the other top art.

"It was a lot of hard work so it was cool to see that it all paid off."

James, who left school last year, used Australian musician John Butler as inspiration for his photography boards.

Working as back-stage crew when Butler toured New Plymouth during the Rugby World Cup allowed James to get some up-close-and-personal photos of the guitarist and vocalist. "I got a real buzz out of seeing my work on show."

The Top Art exhibition will be on show at Govett-Brewster until May 18.

Blue Smoke to Blue Beat - The Lost History of Kiwi Pop

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

A musical conversation at the Govett-Brewster with Nick Bollinger and Chris Bourke
Tuesday 22 May
At the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
$10 waged / $8 unwaged

Did New Plymouth have rock'n'roll concerts before Auckland? It's possible - and New Plymouth bass player Galvin Edser was soon riding his instrument in chaotic rock'n'roll shows. Taranaki can certainly claim another first: Hawera teenager Jean Ngeru recorded 'Blue Smoke' two years before Pixie Williams's famous version for Tanza. And Johnny Devlin performed at a Colin King dance well before heading to Auckland on his motor-bike.

When did New Zealand rock’n’roll find its groove? What did the sophisticated set get up to after hours? Between them, Nick Bollinger and Chris Bourke have been exploring the rich history of New Zealand pop music. In New Plymouth on May 22, they share their discoveries and their passions: lost classics, missed opportunities and beloved local talents.

Local hits did not begin with ‘She’s a Mod’ or even ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’. After the release of ‘Blue Smoke’ in 1949 launched the local recording industry, the fledgling studios were busy capturing the sounds of New Zealand artists. Chris Bourke’s award-winning book Blue Smoke has unveiled the early history of New Zealand pop. Nick Bollinger’s 100 Essential New Zealand Albums is an unparalled guide to the musicians and albums that have defined our music, from Johnny Devlin to the Phoenix Foundation.

Nick Bollinger and Chris Bourke have been involved with New Zealand music for many years, behind the scenes, on stage, on radio and in magazines. They will share stories and sounds, revealing that New Zealand music is as familiar - and essential - as our heartbeats.

Chris Bourke is a Wellington-born historian journalist, editor and radio producer with a passion for music. At the 2011 New Zealand Post Book Awards, his book Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music 1918-1964 won the "book of the year" prize, and the awards for best general non-fiction book, and the "people's choice" award. His first book was the best-selling biography Crowded House: Something So Strong. He has been the arts and books editor at the New Zealand Listener, the editor of Rip It Up, and the producer of RNZ National's Saturday Morning programme and many documentaries. His series Blue Smoke is currently airing on RNZ National on Sunday evenings at 5.35pm.

Since joining the Listener as its rock music critic in 1988, Nick Bollinger has shaped the way we think about music. He is also a musician, playing bass with the Windy City Strugglers, a record producer, and a radio producer. His books include 100 Essential New Zealand Albums and How to Listen to Pop Music, a musical memoir. His music review programme The Sampler can be heard on RNZ National on Tuesdays at 7.30pm.

Treadle-dee and treadle-done

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

By Yvette Batten
yvette.batten@dailynews.co.nz

The loose ends have been sewn up for Govett-Brewster Art Gallery's pending feature Nations by NS Harsha.

Several weeks ago Midweek ran an article in which gallery assistant curator Meredith Robertshawe asked the public to contribute by loaning their treadle sewing machines.

Exactly 192 were needed and Miss Robertshawe thought it might be a tall order but she could not have been more wrong.

"We have achieved the project thanks to the Midweek and the complete generosity of the people," Miss Robertshawe says.

From the moment the article appeared in the paper her phone was ringing off the hook. Now she has offers to spare.

"This is a different rendition of this artist's project. When Harsha has set this up before all the machines have come from one place.

"Being in New Zealand, of course, that's kind of impossible so this whole spin on this has turned into this social history project."

People loaning their machines have shared their personal stories, which will make the exhibition extra special.

One of the machines offered was that of Sharon McAlpine. In a twist of fate Mrs McAlpine actually lives in the family home of the gallery's founding patron Monica Brewster.

The beautiful home, built in the 1890s on Maranui St, has been bought and sold to several families over the years but was lived in by Monica's family for about 20 years early last century.

Mrs McAlpine believes the machine, which came with the house when she bought it in 1993, most likely belonged to former Miss New Zealand Bobby (Mary) Woodward.

After reading the Midweek's article Mrs McAlpine knew she wanted to help.

"I just thought it was such a neat thing to do," she explains. "I also volunteer for Trade Aid and I'm quite interested in the whole sweat-shop globalisation thing.

"The vision that the artist was portraying was really quite close to my heart. It connected with the whole Trade Aid ethos of respecting individual artist's work."

In Nations each of the machines are linked with threads. Flags from countries in the United Nations are draped over each machine.

NS Harsha raises many issues in Nations including globalisation, factory work and the rate of change and connection between countries.

Nations is part of the gallery's Sub-topical Heat exhibition starting in July. It features seven artists from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

True Stories: Scripted Realities at Govett-Brewster

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

http://whitefungus.com/
By Sarah Dunn

Testing boundaries and questioning realities, True Stories: Scripted Realities has been introducing its specific form of ambiguity to New Plymouth, New Zealand since early last month.

Running until 24 June, this free exhibition at the Govett-Brewster gallery consists of five documentary-style video works: Omar Fast’s The Casting 2007; Andrea Geyer’s Criminal Case 40/61: Reverb; Kerry Tribe’s There Will Be ________ 2012 ; Yael Bartana’s trilogy …and Europe will be Stunned 2007-2011; plus Liam Gillick and Anton Vidokle’s A Guiding Light 2010.

Each film uses structural narrative to encourage viewers to question the way meaning is constructed and accepted in conventional media.

The exhibition will be a chance for visitors to engage with perhaps unfamiliar social and political issues in very direct, personal way. Curator Mercedes Vicente is excited about the opportunity to showcase the hand-picked collection of international artists represented by the show in New Plymouth.

After living through 9/11-era New York, Vicente says she felt New Zealand art lacked a sense of political awareness when she first arrived in 2005: “I didn’t find it when I came. The urgency that we felt in the US, especially with artists, it wasn’t felt here.”

She thinks the deeper issues brought up by the exhibition – what is and is not truth, the way culture constructs reality, the existence of personal constructed realities – may encourage local visitors to “hold up a mirror” to their own political beliefs.

Fast’s work, The Casting 2007 addresses the consequences of the post-9/11 upheaval, featuring an interview with a US soldier. The piece uses actors, as a comment on the construction of news by the media. Fast says for him, the film was a way to reflect on how “experiences turn into memories, which in turn become stories and how these are ultimately recorded, mediated and broadcasted.”

Similarly, Geyer’s piece restages the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann with a single actor playing each role: reporter, accused, prosecutor, defence, audience and judge. The work is displayed in a six-channel installation, with each character’s part played on a different screen. “It’s not just a screening of a film,” Vicente says. Audience involvement is made possible by the arrangement of the screens around a central space, so viewers can follow each character speaking as if they are in the same room.

These video works represent artists branching out into new creative formats, says Vicente. The documentary tradition in contemporary art has recently been enriched by merging with other forms such as video art, performance and conceptual art.

She says through this fusion, artists can still engage with the social and political context of their work, but also begin to look at the art gallery as a location for political action and activism.

Vicente says that the exhibition as a whole is about encouraging viewers to think more critically about conventional media, and to disclose the mechanisms working behind the scenes to present subjective perspectives as fact. She hopes the exhibition will create a “resonance” with other galleries, stimulating debate outside Govett-Brewster’s immediate context.

The heat's on to find machines

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

By Yvette Batten
yvette.batten@dailynews.co.nz

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery knows the value of a stitch in time.

In order to feature Indian artist NS Harsha's work Nations, the gallery needs 192 old fashioned treadle sewing machines, which it hopes to find in the community.

Should the number of machines fall short, the instillation will not happen.

"I have one in my lounge room and it's from my great-grandmother," says gallery assistant curator Meredith Robertshawe. "We've got one – only 191 to find."

All sewing machines are linked together with threads in Nations. Flags from the countries in the United Nations are draped over the sewing tables.

"Harsha is talking about a lot of things with this project," Miss Robertshawe says. "He's talking about globalisation. He's talking about factory work and he's talking about the increased rate of change and connection in between countries."

Govett-Brewster will foot the bill for freight and insurance. All machines will be returned in the condition they were sent. It does not matter if the machines do not work. They need to be table-mounted with a treadle.

Nations is part of the gallery's Sub-topical Heat exhibition featuring seven artists from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sub-topical Heat begins in July.

Contact Miss Robertshawe as soon as possible on 067592564; meredithr@govettbrewster.com.

35 Years Since Len Lye's First Exhibition at the Govett-Brewster

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 11:00:00 GMT

On 5 March 35 years ago, Len Lye’s first ever New Zealand exhibition opened at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. The exhibition, Len Lye: Kinetic Works, featured the thunderous work Trilogy (A Flip and Two Twisters) and other kinetic works Blade and Fountain. The exhibition also featured Lye’s films including Tusalava, Colour Box and Free Radicals.

More than 200 people were at the exhibition opening, which was opened by Hamish Keith, then Chair of the Arts Council. Roger Horrock’s biography of Lye captured Lye’ response... In a letter to a friend Lye wrote, that because of a bequest from Monica Brewster, an old movie house had been turned into the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. He wrote, “This they did perfectly and it happened to show my film and steel cracker-jacks perfectly as if made for the job. Perfect is a word to write a hundred times and it was, I mean, perfect”.

Thanks to the vision of the “very clever engineer” John Matthews and the then Director of the Govett-Brewster Ron O’Reilly and other key supporters such as Ray Thorburn and previous Directors Bob Ballard and John Maynard, among others, this first exhibition led to a lasting relationship between the Govett-Brewster, New Plymouth and Len Lye.

We are looking forward to the next phase of our relationship with Len Lye as we continue our planning towards the Len Lye Centre.

Curator revives 'lost art'

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT

An internationally significant collection of art may have faded into obscurity if not for a series of serendipitous connections that led Govett-Brewster Art Gallery curator Mercedes Vicente to track down the artist, an unsung hero of the Taranaki art world. Natalie Finnigan reports.

Mercedes Vicente had long been a fan of Taranaki artist Darcy Lange. Although not well known at home, Lange was a highly regarded videographer in Europe and the United States during the 1970s.

When Vicente arrived in New Plymouth from her native Spain in 2005 to take up a job as curator at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, her mission was to track Lange down.

Unfortunately, she did not meet him, as he died within three months of her arrival. However, she did track down his work, and has staged a series of international exhibitions during the past five years, including an exhibition in Spain which runs until April.

When Vicente contacted Lange's family, she discovered a large amount of his personal possessions and work were in a shed on the family farm at Urenui.

"It was remarkable to find Lange's old crates from his time in Europe during the 1970s intact in the shed," she said.

"We piled everything into bags and took it back to the gallery to be fumigated, before starting a long process of sorting it all out and archiving it properly."

She asked the family for permission to vest Lange's work and professional documents in the Govett-Brewster Gallery, so they could be restored and preserved.

"I don't think Darcy's family had any idea how important his work was, because he had not received the same recognition in New Zealand as he had overseas."

Lange, a pioneering videographer, had made a significant contribution to the art world in the 1970s, but had barely been heard of since he moved his young family back to Urenui in 1984.

The ties he had formed with the international art community were severed by distance, Vicente said.

"They did not have email or the internet, so it was very difficult to maintain a connection."

Lange was a mixed-media artist who had studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art in London, but his most notable work was with video.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he pioneered a style of video practice that was essentially social documentary, whereby he filmed people at work in real time, in a range of working environments such as schools, factories and mines.

Lange's art was primarily concerned with social structure and the politics of class, which is why his studies of working environments are historically significant.

Vicente's connection to Lange began in 1978, when world- renowned art historian Benjamin H D Buchloh, of Harvard University, met Lange at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD).

Lange had been invited to teach at the college by American artist Dan Graham, and Buchloh was an editor at the NSCAD Press, where he was responsible for publishing books by and about contemporary artists.

Although they had little contact after their 1978 meeting, Lange's impression on Buchloh was such that he maintained an interest in and respect for the importance of Lange's work.

When Buchloh met Vicente in New York in 2001, a professional relationship was formed that resulted in Vicente co-publishing an anthology of his writings in 2005. It was Buchloh who led Vicente to Lange's work when she announced her relocation to New Zealand, and was intrigued about Lange's artistic activities since his return to New Zealand in 1984.

Once Vicente obtained the tapes from Lange's family, the painstaking process of converting them to a modern format began.

The 1/2-inch tapes were converted one by one, a costly process largely funded by the New Zealand Film Archive, and later as part of the overseas exhibition budgets.

Lange's collection was first displayed at Govett-Brewster in 2006, and during this time, Vicente began work on a book titled Darcy Lange: Study of an artist at work.

The release of the book coincided with the first international exhibition of Lange's work at world-famous Ikon Gallery in Birmingham in 2008.

The art community sat up and took notice of the exhibition, since the history of video art that had been written and revised during the 1990s and 2000s had largely excluded Lange because of his absence.

"Lange's work had been largely unseen over previous decades, and therefore he was left out of most of the written history of video art.

"I was compelled to bring attention to his legacy and significant contribution and seek the recognition it deserved," Vicente said.

After the Ikon exhibition, Lange's work was shown around the world: in New York, Yale University, Austria and Switzerland.

But back to the Spanish connection. While studying in London in the late 1960s, Lange would take summer sojourns to Spain to study under flamenco guitar master Diego del Gastor.

Lange formed a strong connection with Spain, and became passionate about capturing the beauty of the landscapes and the people in his work.

In 1975, he conducted a study of work in Spanish village of Cantavieja, in southern Spain.

This study was similar to agricultural studies he had conducted in Taranaki and the King Country in 1974.

In Vicente's book, she quotes Lange's view on what he captured in the village of Cantavieja.

"It is tragic that the American advisers and tractors provided to the feudal estates have cut the olives, turned Andalusia into a desert and denied the right to work to these beautiful Andalusian towns. They did it as if to take the last breath of Andalusian life from the people," Lange said.

One person who was aware of Lange's work in Cantavieja was Lorenza Barboni, curator at the gallery Espai d'Art Contemporani (EACC) in Castellon de la Plana, a coastal town between Valencia and Barcelona in Spain not far from Cantavieja.

Barboni travelled to Birmingham's Ikon exhibition in 2008, and had hoped to see the Cantavieja tapes.

However, although Vicente had been thrilled to find the Cantavieja tapes among the collection from Lange's estate, she did not have the budget to convert them in time for the Ikon show in 2008.

In 2009, they were converted to be shown at an exhibition in Ljubjana, Slovenia, at which point Barboni began to plan an exhibition of Lange's work at EACC in Castellon.

This venture came to fruition last month, when Vicente travelled to Spain on behalf of the Govett-Brewster to curate the exhibition.

So far the show has received positive reviews from the Spanish art press. However, the most interesting aspect of the exhibition for Vicente came when two special visitors arrived at the gallery on opening night.

The men had travelled to Castellon for the exhibition because they had heard it would include the Cantavieja tapes, which featured footage of a local farmer hard at work.

Javier Tena and his brother had never seen the footage of their father, who died many years before. However, they knew an artist from New Zealand had filmed him as part of an art project in the mid-1970s.

They recalled their father talking about the artist he familiarly called "El senor ingles", and 37 years after the footage was shot, they were overwhelmed to see their father on film.

Vicente was more than happy to fulfil their request for a copy of the tape, as in a way it brought Lange's connection with Cantavieja full circle.

"I feel like have done what I set out to do with Darcy's work," says Vicente.

"As a curator, an important part of your work is to preserve the legacies and promote the work of under-recognised artists.

"It has been a long journey, and I don't expect to give so much to one artist's work again, but then again you never know what will happen."

ARTSPACE launches Dane Mitchell publication

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Join Dane Mitchell and Artspace for the New Zealand launch of the publication
RADIANT MATTER I/II/III and the preview of his new Artspace edition on

Thursday 16 February, 6pm.

Radiant Matter I/II/III was a series of exhibitions by Dane Mitchell presented at three public galleries across New Zealand in 2011.
Radiant Matter I, at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Radiant Matter II, at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and Radiant Matter III, at Artspace, each operated in autonomous ways and yet shared similar aesthetic, conceptual and material concerns.

RADIANT MATTER I/II/III has been designed by Tana Mitchell and features texts by Cay Sophie Rabinowtiz, Chris Sharp, Aaron Kreisler, Dane Mitchell with a foreword by Ariane Beyn. It is co-published by Berliner Künstlerprogramm DAAD (Berlin) and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and Artspace.

Radiant Matter I/II/III was a series of exhibitions by Dane Mitchell presented at three public galleries across New Zealand in 2011, each exhibition operated in autonomous ways and yet shared similar aesthetic, conceptual and material concerns.

Radiant Matter I, at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery involved the sculptural possibilities of perfume and vapours in their various states of transformation, and the means of containing, diffusing and releasing these into the air. Radiant Matter II at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, extended these concerns — working with witchcraft, glass vessels, obsidian, and a hand-engineered perfume produced with French nose Michel Roudnitska. Radiant Matter III examined perfume and the 'vaporous', the state of suspension or in-between poetic potential of liquids, gases and solids by again working with Roudnitska to develop a synthetic scent of 'The Smell of an Empty Space’.

Co-published by Berliner Künstlerprogramm DAAD (Berlin), Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and Artspace.

Editor Dane Mitchell
Copy Editor Sriwana Spong

Design Tana Mitchell

Texts by Ariane Beyn, Aaron Kreisler, Cay Sophie Rabinowitz, Chris Sharp and Dane Mitchell

Photography by Krzystof Zielinski, Bryan James, Bill Nichol and Sam Hartnett

2011
ISBN: 978-3-89357-123-9

Hard cover, 220 x 295mm
93 pages

English
NZ$50

enquire about this publication

Darcy Lange show reviewed in Spain

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Darcy Lange: Study of an artist at work, currently showing at Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castellón (EACC), was recently reviewed in Spains leading newspaper El Pais.

Here's a rough translation into English...

It began in the seventies when New Zealand artist Darcy Lange (1946-2005), traveled to England and was surprised by the class difference. He then decided to conduct a study to examine the eating habits of the upper class and working class, recording in 16mm a family meal at home from each of these two classes. These two recordings can now be seen in the exhibition at the Espai d'Art Contemporari de Castelló (EACC) dedicated to this pioneer video artist.

Darcy Lange: Study of an artist at work reflects the artist projects, developed during the seventies in the UK, New Zealand and Spain, which recorded the rural work in Cantavieja, the Spanish town in the Teruel province. In this work, conducted in 1975, Lange recorded scenes of now extinct agricultural activities, including plowing with oxen, tractors, cows and mules, hand mowing and harvesting.

"Many of these jobs have already disappeared, so these works are not only interested in the context of video art," says exhibition curator Mercedes Vicente, who notes that Lange was a pioneer in using video.

Espai visitors can also see photographs and videos of Lange’s work in England. Vicente explains that since 1971 the New Zealand artist worked in British factories and mines.

"He's very interested in the analysis of work in still and moving image," she says.

But his work goes beyond merely the documentation of work. "Lange is not only interested in recording the theme of work, but includes also scenes of leisure for these workers," Vicente says.

With these pieces Lange became one of the first artist to incorporate the long take to record in real-time the working world. It was not until later when he begins to plan and structure the recordings. He starts recording with a preset order and chooses a group of workers to document in film, video and photography. "I wanted to highlight the differences between film and video," says Mercedes Vicente.

The exhibition also includes Lange’s documentary on New Zealand Maori activists and their land rights struggles.

Darcy Lange was a lover of flamenco guitar and studied in Seville with his master Diego del Gastor.

The exhibition is open until April 29.

Immersion Photography postponed to this Sunday

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Due to the rough weather last weekend, the Immersion Photography event to be held at the Todd Energy Aquatic Centre was posponed until this Sunday 15 January.

Come along to the pools, plunge in and create your own otherworldly underwater images inspired by Vincent Ward’s exhibition.

Gallery staff will be photographing with an underwater camera but bring your own if you have one, then share your photographs on Govett-Brewster’s Facebook page.

Special discounted entry charge to pools for this event

Carmen Rupe 1935- 2011

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:00:00 GMT

We were saddened to hear the news of Carmen Rupe’s death in Sydney this morning. We are privileged to have in our Collection this beautiful image of Carmen, taken by Taranaki artist Fiona Clark.

“Carmen at Miss New Zealand Drag Queen Ball, Auckland, 1975” was shown in Fiona Clark’s exhibition “Go Girl” at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in 2002. The exhibition featured Fiona’s photos from Auckland’s gay, lesbian and transgender community taken in the 1970s combined with more recent portraits and video interviews with some of the original subjects.

Carmen Rupe had a significant impact on society on both sides of the Tasman – she will be much missed and our thoughts go out to her family and friends.

Thank you to Fiona Clark for permission to show the attached photo.

Dick Bett, AM 1947 - 2011

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Director Rhana Devenport and all Govett-Brewster Art Gallery staff deeply regret the recent passing of Dick Bett. Dick was the Gallery’s Director from 1979 – 1984. After leaving the Gallery Dick and his family settled in Hobart, Tasmania, where he established and ran the Bett Gallery for 25 years. His children Emma and Jack Bett will continue to run the Bett Gallery along with Dick's wife Carol. Dick was also the curator of Sculpture by the Sea, Tasman Peninsula in 2001 and for the Olympic Arts Festival in 1998.

Dick’s directorship of the Govett-Brewster oversaw several major developments in the Gallery’s history. Significant exhibitions included Billy Apple’s seminal Alterations (1980) and the Parihaka Centennial Exhibition (1981). Important acquisitions included Gordon Walters’ Painting H (1975), Peter Peryer’s Self-portrait with rooster (1977), Don Driver’s Produce (1982), Tony Fomison’s The man of peace and the man of war (Te Whiti and Titokowaru) (1980), Christine Hellyar’s Cloak Cupboard, Dagger Cupboard and Meat Cupboard (1981) as well as several photographs by Taranaki artist Fiona Clark.

During Dick’s time as Director the Len Lye Foundation was established and the Len Lye Collection and Archive was successfully transported from Lye’s studio in New York to its new home at the Govett-Brewster.

We recognise the enormous contribution that Dick Bett made to the Govett-Brewster and to art in New Zealand and Australia, and send our deepest sympathy to Carol, Emma, Jack and family and friends at this sad time.

Don Driver 1930-2011

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Director Rhana Devenport and all Govett-Brewster Art Gallery staff deeply regret, with much sadness, the passing of Don Driver yesterday. We send our sincere condolences to his wife Joyce, his family and friends including his son-in-law Chris Barry, our Gallery educator. Don will be much missed and remains much loved.

One of Taranaki’s most celebrated artists and one of New Zealand's finest, Don was born in Hastings in 1930. He moved New Plymouth with his family as a child. Don remained in Taranaki throughout his life and it was there that he forged his highly original and influential career as an artist.

Don is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s most individual and independent artists. His assemblage works, made from found, or discarded objects, consistently stimulated and challenged his audiences as he tested new materials, perception and visual form. He could never be tied to any one movement or medium; his works often transcended boundaries and classifications.

Don Driver has been closely linked with the Govett-Brewster throughout its entire 41 years. His works ‘Flyaway’(1966-1969) and 'Black Relief' (1969) were purchased for the Gallery’s Collection in 1970 and many other key works such as 'Produce' (1982), '50kg' (1978), 'Painted relief no.12' (1972) are highlights of the Collection. Don gifted several of his works such as 'Sentinel' (1967) and 'Five part piece' (1972) to the Govett-Brewster.

A Don Driver retrospective exhibition was presented at the Govett-Brewster in 1973 and 'Don Driver: Wall Hangings and Sculpture’ was held in 1977. Another retrospective followed in 1979. A commissioned sculpture project, 'Elephants for Sale', also now in the Collection, was presented in 1986.

The most ambitious retrospective at the Govett-Brewster was held in 1999. 'Don Driver: With Spirit 1965-1998'. The exhibition was accompanied by a significant publication and was toured nationally.
Don’s work has been regularly included in collection exhibitions such as 'Viewfinder: Four decades of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery collection' in 2006 and 'Pathfinders: Collection focus' in 2007.

A solo exhibition, 'Don Driver: Banners' was held at the Govett-Brewster in 2008 and in 2010, as part of the Gallery’s 40th year celebrations, 'Elephants for Sale', Don’s important 1986 installation inspired by the artist's significant visit to India, was specially reconstructed and exhibited in close collaboration with Don and Joyce Driver.

As well as being one of Taranaki’s leading contemporary artists, Don was employed by the Gallery’s inaugural director John Maynard before the Gallery opened in 1970. Over the next 24 years Don continued to work at the Govett-Brewster in various positions, including for a time as acting director.

Director Rhana Devenport says, “Don Driver unquestionably remains one of this country's most highly original and influential artists. His fearless traversing of different materials coupled with his relentlessly inquisitive and brilliant mind to produce marvellously unexpected and often powerful works. Don was prolific and his art soared from sublime colour-field abstractions to accumulative banner works, and from witty collages to the provocative assemblages and installations that so challenged the sensibilities of the day, and truly expanded the parameters of art practice in late twentieth century New Zealand. Don contributed profoundly to the Govett-Brewster's formation and history, not only as an artist, but also through the extensive roles he played at the Gallery in presenting contemporary art to our audiences. Don was a vitally important and pivotal member of the Govett-Brewster family and will remain in our hearts always.”

Govett-Brewster hosts cyberformance festival

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:00:00 GMT

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery hosts the fifth annual festival of live, online performance on 11/11/11.

From 11am on 11/11/11 in New Zealand until 11pm on 11/11/11 in Europe, a selection of cyberformance is presented at 11:11:11, the fifth UpStage Festival.

Using the web-based platform UpStage, performances are created by artists, from school students to established digital artists, who collaborate using a range of digital media.

Anyone with a standard internet connection and browser can attend the festival, or view performances showing at physical venues in galleries, museums, theatre spaces, media workshops and schools.

This year more than 30 artists are collaborating around the world to produce 12 live online performances.

Coinciding with Armistice Day, the first show, Cyberian Chalk Circle, takes a Brecht classic to the Eygptian uprising, and questions what we have learned since the horrors of WWI.

Among the performers are three groups of primary students from South Westland who weave tales of mystery and navigation, familiar fairytales and rhymes and add a unique perspective through plot twists, audio and visual trickery.
The shows will be interspersed with works by artists from Scotland, Italy, Serbia, Netherlands, USA and Korea, performing classic tales, dance and cultural concepts from ancient and modern times.

The full schedule is online with links to each stage going live on the day: http://upstage.org.nz/blog/?page_id=2828

Old Genes: Artists reading Len Lye

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Old Genes: Artists reading Len Lye opens at the Govett-Brewster
10 December 2011

Old Genes: Artists reading Len Lye, presents a fresh look at the importance of Len Lye within contemporary New Zealand art.
Sound, vision and the verbal were frequently intertwined in the work of New Zealand-born artist Len Lye (1901-1980).

The new exhibition Old Genes: Artists Reading Len Lye presents a fresh look at Lye as five contemporary New Zealand artists respond to his legacy and the role of language in his work.

Open at the Govett-Brewster from 10 December 2011 to 26 February 2012, the exhibition features Lye’s films, poems and sculptures alongside new works by Phil Dadson, Tessa Laird, Dane Mitchell, and a collaborative piece by Andy Thomson and Daniel von Sturmer.

In a new video work, Dadson contemplates Lye's Universe and the language of the body, and Laird's drawings explore Lye's sketchbook copy of fragments from Sigmund Freud's Totem and Taboo. Working with a glassblower, Mitchell read some of Lye's poems into molten glass to create capsules, while Thomson and von Sturmer create a box of colour, language and movement.

Len Lye Curator at Large Tyler Cann says languages evolve over time as new speakers shape conventions passed on from previous generations, and the same is true with visual art.

“Contemporary artists' responses to Len Lye's work will shape his legacy in important ways. This dialogue with the recent past also seems to be way of articulating a sense of the present,” Cann says.

Director Rhana Devenport says the exhibition is one of an important ongoing series offering new insights, perspectives and intersection points between the work of Len Lye and that of contemporary international artists.

Also presented at the Govett-Brewster from 10 December 2011 to 26 February 2012 is the first survey of filmmaker Vincent Ward’s work within an art museum context.

Breath – the fleeting intensity of life draws together Ward’s career as a feature filmmaker and his early training in fine arts. His recent exploration of the still image presents works that coalesce photography, painting and digital imaging alongside filmic vignettes and sound.

Image: Dane Mitchell Snowbirds 2010. Courtesy the artist and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. Photo by Bryan James

ENDS

For more information, high resolution images and to arrange interviews please contact:
Rhana Devenport
Director
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
rhanad@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 0850

Kelly Loney
Communications Coordinator
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery
kellyl@govettbrewster.com
+64 6 759 6717

kids' art club moves to a weekday

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:00:00 GMT

The Govett-Brewster's art club for children moves from the weekends to a week day, starting next year.

Traditionally held on Sunday afternoons, Young Visionaries will now run on Wednesdays from 3.30pm to 5pm.

Young Visionaries is an art club that expands and deepens the art experience of 9 - 13 year old students by involving them in making their own art and viewing other people's art and creativity.

Check in to the LEARN section of this website soon for more details on the Term 1 programme. Bookings are essential, phone 06 759 6060.

Darcy Lange work at Gasworks, London

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Darcy Lange's Work Studies in Schools is included in the exhibition All I Can See is the Management at Gasworks, London from 7 October 2011 - 11 December 2011.

Darcy Lange: Work Studies in Schools features a series of videos taken in the classrooms of three schools in Birmingham, examining the processes of teaching and learning. Each school selected specifically to represent the different social classes.

Donation moves plans a stage closer

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:00:00 GMT

By Matt Rilkoff / Taranaki Daily News

Detailed architectural plans necessary to push New Plymouth's Len Lye Centre through the building consent stage are being drawn up.

The go-ahead to spend another $500,000 or so on the plans got the green light last week when a $2.5 million donation from Todd Energy was announced.

This brought the total of funds collected for the centre to 80 per cent of the $10m needed.

Last month the New Plymouth District Council agreed to commission the detailed plans as soon as 75 per cent of the money was raised.

The plans are necessary for the ambitious centre to get building consent and if all goes according to plan construction can start in October next year. These are not the first plans for the centre.

Council had already paid $500,000 for concept designs of the stainless steel curtained centre by Auckland architect Andrew Patterson. With $1.128m budgeted for professional fees, the necessary detailed plans could potentially cost a further $628,000.

The cost of all designs will be paid from a $4m government grant, made in June.

As well as this money and the $2.5m Todd Energy grant, the council has received $1m from TSB Community Trust and $500,000 from the Lottery Grants Board.

Construction of the centre will not start until the remaining $2m is found.

Council customer services manager Cathy Thurston said yesterday Todd Energy's additional grant of $100,000 a year for five years for school education programmes at the centre would have no impact on its forecast annual operating cost of $310,000.

She said the funds would allow them to run education programmes they would otherwise not have done.

HOW THE MONEY WILL BE SPENT

Site preparation: $310,000

New building: $7,570,000

Climate control (new building component): $462,000

Display lighting: $100,000

Professional fees: $1,128,000

Contingency (building): $400,000

TOTAL $9,970,000

Todd Energy makes generous pledge to Len Lye Centre

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The Len Lye Centre project has attracted an outstanding corporate supporter, with the announcement of a $2.5 million contribution from Todd Energy towards the construction of the building. The announcement was made today by John Todd, Chairman Todd Corporation, at the opening of Todd Energy’s new McKee LPG Plant in Taranaki.

Todd Energy has also pledged an additional $100,000 a year for five years for an innovative education programme for the combined facility of the Len Lye Centre and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, bringing their total contribution to $3 million.

Todd Energy’s support joins $4 million from the central government’s Regional Museum Policy fund, $500,000 from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board: Environment and Heritage and $1 million from TSB Community Trust, bringing the total raised to date far for the construction of the Len Lye Centre to $8 million towards a $10 million goal.

The Len Lye Centre will be the new home for the care, research, preservation, display and engagement with the art and ideas of pioneer New Zealand-born modernist filmmaker and kinetic artist Len Lye (1901-1980).

New Plymouth District Mayor Harry Duynhoven said Todd Energy’s support is exceptional and one of the largest single capital contributions for the arts from the corporate sector in New Zealand.

“We are delighted and most grateful for Todd Energy’s support for this exciting project. It is an excellent example of a public and private partnership that will deliver outstanding economic and cultural benefits for the community,” said Mayor Harry Duynhoven.

John Todd, Chairman Todd Corporation, said that the contribution to the Len Lye Centre reflects the company's long-term involvement in the Taranaki region. “We are pleased to partner an innovative project that will have such a positive impact on the local community as well as being a draw card nationally and internationally. We congratulate the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC), the Len Lye Foundation and the Govett-Brewster, and we look forward to working with them to achieve this unique building and education programme.”

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says that Todd Energy’s ongoing commitment to the education programme will enable the combined facility of the Len Lye Centre and the Govett-Brewster to greatly enhance its successful education programme in innovative ways.

“Todd Energy’s valuable support will enable us to deliver an expanded and inter-disciplinary education programme with relevance to science, technology, design, media studies and music, as well as art,” says Ms Devenport. “Todd Energy’s support will also contribute towards developing tool kits for the classroom, artists in schools workshops throughout Taranaki and a community connection programme to offer accessible and highly interactive programmes for Maori and Pasifika, youth, seniors, families, disabled communities and multicultural community groups.”

NPDC Chief Executive Barbara McKerrow says that this announcement now means that 80 percent of the funds towards the Len Lye Centre have been achieved. “This amount now allows us to instruct the architects to progress the detailed design to ensure that the project can be delivered on time in accordance with the timeframe set out in the Council’s Long Term Plan; the building of the Len Lye Centre is expected to begin in late 2012, with an estimated completion date of late 2014.”

The Len Lye Centre, designed by the award-winning architectural firm Patterson Associates, will be built adjacent to the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and will operate as a unique combined facility with the gallery.

The Len Lye Centre project is a collaboration between the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand’s foremost contemporary art museum, its owner and operator NPDC, and the Len Lye Foundation who own the Len Lye Collection and Archive.

Len Lye: All Souls Carnival, the largest retrospective of Lye’s work presented to date at the Govett-Brewster, is on at the gallery until 27 November 2011.

-ends-

Reporters: For more information contact:
Rhana Devenport on 06-759 6060 ext 8113 or 027 241 0899
Diana Price (Todd Energy) on 021 417 237

Notes for Editors
Todd Energy
Todd Energy is 100 percent New Zealand owned and operated and is a leading energy producer and provider focused on meeting New Zealand’s energy demands well into the future. As the only truly vertically integrated energy company in New Zealand, Todd Energy owns and operates its own natural gas, oil, LPG, electricity, cogeneration and solar hot water heating assets, enabling Todd Energy to manage the entire flow of energy from gas field to customer or from hydro generation to household. Employing over 300 dedicated staff Todd Energy continues to push the boundaries to deliver total energy solutions to our industrial, commercial and residential customers.

Len Lye
Len Lye (1901-1980) is one of the most important artists to have emerged from New Zealand. Legendary amongst experimental filmmakers, his ‘direct’ films made by painting and scratching on celluloid were part of Lye’s prescient vision for a new ‘art of movement’. His dynamic, motorised steel sculptures of the 1960s express a creative energy that Lye brought to film, painting, photography and poetry. The Len Lye Collection and Archive is housed and cared for by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in partnership with the Len Lye Foundation.

Lye's sculptures are found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Berkeley Art Museum. His films are held primarily at the New Zealand Film Archive in Wellington and also in archives at the British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley.
Lye’s 45m-high kinetic sculpture Wind Wand has featured on New Plymouth’s Coastal Walkway since 2000, and Water Whirler has featured on Wellington’s waterfront since 2006.

Patterson Associates
Patterson Associates are acknowledged as New Zealand’s most internationally known architects. Their projects range from complex developments and urban infrastructure through to bespoke residential homes and three-dimensional strategic thinking. Established by Andrew Patterson in 1996, the firm is committed to sustainable methodology, innovative use of materials and creating simple, beautiful projects that encourage people to engage on many levels.

Pattersons, based in Auckland, designed the Michael Hill Clubhouse in Wakatipu which was selected as one of the nine best sports and leisure buildings in the world at the Barcelona World Architecture Awards in 2008. Pattersons are also multiple recipients of The New Zealand Institute of Architects’ NZ Supreme Award for Architecture. Another of Pattersons’ recent projects, the Geyser building in Auckland, has achieved New Zealand’s first six Green Star – Office Design certified rating. Six stars signify world leadership in sustainability.
Patterson Associates was named in May 2011 by prestigious publication World Architecture News in their 21 for 21 programme as one of five selected international architectural practices that are “set to shape the future of architecture in the 21st Century”. Renowned New Zealand architect Sir Miles Warren, often cited as the father of New Zealand architecture has said about the design for the Len Lye Centre: “Pattersons have designed a stunning building, a superb concept worthy to house and enhance Len Lye’s work.”

The Len Lye Centre
The Len Lye Centre is a partnership between NPDC, the Len Lye Foundation and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. It will be run as a combined facility with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and will offer a unique and complimentary programme of exhibitions and public engagement. The centre and gallery will share a management team and operating costs as well as facilities such as the education suite and commercial facilities including the Art and Design Shop and cafe.

Len Lye Foundation
Shortly before Len Lye’s death in 1980, arrangements were made to establish the Len Lye Foundation. In accordance with the artist’s Deed of Trust, his collection of work returned to New Zealand, the country of his birth.

Lye’s archives, sculpture, painting, textiles, and photographic work are housed at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth, where regular exhibitions of his work are held. The New Zealand Film Archive is the repository of the Len Lye Foundation’s film collection.
The Len Lye Foundation is registered in New Zealand as a non-profit incorporated society. Its function is to provide for the conservation, reproduction and promotion of the works of Len Lye and to make facilities available for research. The foundation holds copyright for much of the material it owns, and is empowered to issue prints of the artist’s films (where copyright and licence allow), authorise the publication of his written work, and to develop and edition reconstructions of his kinetic sculptures. From a vitally creative life of exploration and experiment, the foundation has inherited a substantial body of work. The existence of the Len Lye Foundation ensures that this work remains an active cultural force.

Preview len lye exhibition all souls carnival

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:00:00 GMT

In the lead up to the opening of Len Lye: All Souls Carnival on Saturday 10 September some of Len Lye's kinetic sculptures are installed and performing in the Gallery. These include Moonbead, Grass, Fountain II, Universe and the iconic Trilogy (A Flip and Two Twisters) performing at 12.30pm and 3.30pm every day.

This weekend Len Lye Films play all day, on both days, in the Govett-Brewster theatre.

All Souls Carnival is part of the REAL New Zealand Festival and will be the largest Len Lye exhibition in New Zealand to date.