Govett-Brewster - News

Praise as Devenport wins plum Auckland gallery job

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News
By Leighton Keith

After seven years as the director of New Plymouth's Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Rhana Devenport is moving on.

Devenport had been appointed as the new director of Auckland Art Gallery, Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) announced yesterday.

Ms Devenport took on the job as director of the GBAG in 2006.

She could not be contacted last night, but New Plymouth district councillor and chair of the Len Lye committee Lance Girling-Butcher said said it was wonderful news for Ms Devenport.

"I think she's been an outstanding director and I think that we've been very lucky to have her," Mr Girling-Butcher said. "She's given us her heart and her soul and she's got us the funding for the Len Lye Centre. I feel privileged to count her as a friend as well as someone I admire for her contribution to the Govett-Brewster and to the fundraising for the Len Lye Centre."

He said the GBAG had been enriched by every director it has had and Ms Devenport had done her bit to take the gallery to a new level.

"She's put her mark on the place. I wish her all of the best, I think it's recognition of her ability that she has got this job."

Mr Girling-Butcher said Ms Devenport was leaving at the right time so a new director could come in a stamp their mark on the gallery as the Len Lye Centre takes shape.

Ms Devenport has more than 20 years' experience curating exhibitions, focusing on Australasian and international contemporary art practice.

She replaces former director Chris Saines who resigned in March to become the director of the Queensland Art Gallery.

Dame Jenny Gibbs, deputy chairwoman of the Board of Regional Facilities Auckland, and convener of the panel which made the appointment, said Ms Devenport would take up her new position on July 29.

"Rhana was the leading candidate for the position from a very strong field, identified through a global executive search programme," she said.

"Rhana has an extensive background in contemporary and modern art practice in New Zealand, and an excellent national and international network," she said.

"She has a profound dedication to creating powerful links between art and audiences in exciting, innovative exhibitions and public programmes during over two decades of leadership and management experience in Australasian art museums, biennales and cultural festivals."

Dame Jenny said Ms Devenport had considerably enhanced the Govett-Brewster's reputation as a leading and courageous contemporary art museum.

"She has worked on a number of fronts from curating a series of significant exhibitions, fundraising for the new Len Lye Centre, and deepening the relationship of the gallery with Maori and Pacific communities. We are delighted by the appointment," she said.

Auckland councillor Cameron Brewer, formerly from Taranaki, said Ms Devenport's appointment was a reflection on the great work she'd done as New Plymouth's art leader during the past seven years.

"Rhana's appointment is not only a huge compliment to her but also reflects so well on the increasingly respected Govett-Brewster Art Gallery," Mr Brewer said. "She both has huge shoes to fill with Chris Saines leaving but she will be great."

Mr Brewer said Ms Devenport's challenge would be to keep driving interest and attracting exhibitions given all the money that had been invested in the gallery's extensions and exhibitions in recent years.

"This is a great look for Taranaki and proves the province's leaders are among the best and most highly regarded in New Zealand. Those of us from Taranaki and now living in Auckland can be very excited."

- © Fairfax NZ News

Word Works opens at Stratford's Percy Thomson Gallery

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Govett-Brewster Collection: Word Works
Percy Thomson Art Gallery, Stratford, Taranaki
5 - 28 April 2013
10.30am - 4.00pm weekdays
10.30am - 3.00pm weekends
Free entry

Words and text link the diverse artworks in the exhibition drawn from the Govett-Brewster Collection, Word Works. Drawing, printing, photography, painting, video and sculpture explore text and the written word.

Curated by Chris Barry and Meredith Robertshawe

http://www.govettbrewster.com/Events/EventDetail/e/1265/title/govettbrewster-collection-word-works.aspx

Last weekend

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:00:00 GMT

This Easter weekend is a grand finale for the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery building before it closes for earthquake strengthening and upgrading, alongside the construction of the Len Lye Centre.

The Gallery will be open every day this weekend, with the public able to see its exhibitions and projects until 5.00pm on Monday 1 April.
From Tuesday, the Gallery will be closed for up to two years to enable work on earthquake strengthening, deferred maintenance and renewals.

The Govett-Brewster team will be very active during the two years with off-site projects, touring exhibitions, public programmes and collaborations with other cultural organisations throughout Taranaki and New Zealand.

During this transitional period, staff will be planning and preparing for the 2015 opening of the new combined facility.

Come along to the Gallery this weekend to see:
Len Lye: The New Yorker
Singular Companions: Sculpture from the Collection
The Ghostnet Taniwha project
Maddie Leach: If you find the good oil let us know
Open Window - Michael Parr and Blaine Western: soft frame.

Lye in the Square

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Lye in the Square
City Gallery Wellington
13 April 2013
7pm – 8.15pm
Free entry

City Gallery Wellington is lifting Len Lye’s films out of the gallery and into Civic Square for an evening of fizzing art and moving music. A selection of Lye’s bright and colourful films will be projected onto a large screen outside City Gallery and accompanied by live music from jazz students of Te Koki, the New Zealand School of Music.

This event is in conjunction with the exhibition
Len Lye: Kaleidoscope at City Gallery 2 March - 26 May 2013.

Centre to honour Lye's legacy

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News

OPINION by Len Lye Foundation Director Evan Webb:

The Len Lye exhibition Kaleidoscope, at the City Gallery Wellington, is drawing crowds and enthusiastic comments.

Well-known Wellingtonian Lindsay Shelton, reviewing this exhibition for the website Scoop on March 9, described it as "wonderful", "mesmerising" and "unmissably exciting".

He added the show "is creating happiness and pleasure for everyone who sees it".

The show gives Wellingtonians a small taste of what they will be able to enjoy when they visit New Plymouth after the Len Lye Centre opens in 2015.

Lye wanted his work to engage viewers of all ages, for them to enjoy the thrill of his dancing sculptures.

The Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth will screen his world- class films and display a range of his sculptures in new galleries, including one big enough to house his larger works (though not all of them at once).

Lye left notes and drawings for several "temples" that would house his largest and most ambitious projects.

One, the Temple of Lightning, would sit in the middle of a lake and soar 183 metres into the sky and house just one major work - Sun, Land and Sea.

In comparison the Len Lye Centre is more modest in its scale, but the great majority of those who knew the artist believe he would be delighted to know that New Plymouth was creating this excellent space in which his sculptures, films, paintings, drawings and photographs will be well looked after and displayed for the public.

Lye had faith that New Plymouth would be the best place to take care of the scope of his heritage and the new centre means that this will at last be properly achieved.

The design brief for the centre has been thorough and robust. A rigorous process of peer review led to the choice of Pattersons as architects.

The company's design accommodates the demands of the brief, the need to integrate the centre with the existing Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, and the parameters of a relatively modest budget.

The concept design is practical and stunning.

The stainless steel curtain (facade) that surrounds the centre conceals a simple structure that will house the collection and allow it to be displayed at its most dramatic and appropriate.

Some have expressed concerns that the steel facade may be difficult to keep clean. For example, it has been compared with the stainless steel base of the wind wand, which is bead-blasted and deliberately dull in its lustre.

The stainless steel facade will be differently finished with a high polish.

Sir Miles Warren, the noted architect who designed Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre (which is near the sea) has confirmed that its stainless steel has not been an issue, provided it's cleaned a couple of times a year, as one would clean glass.

He has supported Andrew Patterson's choice of the high- grade stainless steel to surround the centre.

Several New Zealanders worked closely with Lye in his New York studio towards the end of his life, recording his ideas and cataloguing his work. And several of those who worked with him became trustees of the Len Lye Foundation.

Three members of the foundation knew Lye well and are strongly in support of the Len Lye Centre.

Also supportive are Bix Lye and Yancy McCaffrey, Lye's children, who were delighted when shown the design.

Yancy said, "[The design] is absolutely splendid. Len would have loved it. [It] has motion - that is what Len's stuff is all about. It will be in motion from the sky, people, cars, trees swaying in the wind".

Those who worked with Lye in New York were well aware of his desire to keep his works alive and not sit dormant gathering dust.

He also explicitly asked for larger versions of some of his sculptures to be built once the technology made it possible.

The foundation undertakes meticulous research and engages others with expert advice and knowledge in all that it does, and particularly when restoring existing sculptures or building new ones.

All this is done to ensure that the results are as close to the artist's intentions as humanly possible.

The foundation has always explicitly acknowledged the fact that such sculptures are posthumous.

Since its inception, the Len Lye Foundation has received considerable support from the people of New Plymouth through the New Plymouth District Council and the Govett- Brewster Art Gallery.

For many years, the Govett- Brewster and the foundation have worked successfully together to exhibit Lye's work both here and around the world - exhibitions of a high standard that have captured the imagination of hundreds of thousands of viewers.

It is the success of these exhibitions and the reputation of this partnership that has attracted major national investment and support for the Len Lye Centre.

The reputations of both Len Lye and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery have enhanced one another; it is a symbiotic relationship - what is great for one is great for the other.

All ambitious projects tend to be surrounded by controversy at the time they are built. Lye's wind wand was an example, as was Puke Ariki. Afterwards the dust settles and they become a proud asset of the community.

The Len Lye Centre will ensure that a broad range of Lye's art is at last on display, so that it can - in Lindsay Shelton's words - be "creating happiness and pleasure for everyone who sees it".

Evan Webb is director of the Len Lye Foundation.

Len Lye Centre Update - 7 Days in the North Taranaki Midweek

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:00:00 GMT

With the Len Lye Centre given the go-ahead, attention now turns to the construction timetable.

The Council and Clelands Construction are working through the details of when work will begin on-site for building the centre, as well as undertaking earthquake-strengthening, deferred items of renewal and Building Act compliance work at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

“The earthquake strengthening for the gallery’s building includes a horizontal structural steel truss diaphragm above the roof – which people won’t see from the road because it will be behind the parapet – and a shear wall connected to the lift shaft,” says General Manager Infrastructure Jim Willson.

“Right now the gallery building meets less than 20 per cent of the New Building Standard in the Building Act 2004. This work will give the building the necessary resistance which is required under these new standards that followed the Christchurch earthquakes.”

The first activity that the public will see on the site is the removal of buildings on Devon Street West.

The entire project is scheduled to take about two years to complete: 18 months for construction followed by fitout.

While the art gallery’s building will be closed during this time, the gallery will tour exhibitions – starting with Len Lye Kaleidoscope at City Gallery Wellington – and run off-site exhibitions and public programmes throughout Taranaki.

The work on the gallery is being met from Council depreciation funds while the $10 million construction of the Len Lye Centre has been sourced through external fundraising plus an underwrite from the TSB Community Trust, which the Council is committed to minimising.

The Len Lye Centre Trust and Len Lye Foundation are charged with fundraising $750,000 for fitting out the cinema in the Len Lye Centre.

An additional $750,000 may be necessary for general items of fitout within the Len Lye Centre. These will be met firstly through use of the project’s contingency fund (if available), then from the sale of donated artworks through the art gallery and external fundraising. Borrowing money to meet the fitout costs will be the Council’s last resort.

Len's legacy, our destiny

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News
By Gordon Brown

Seldom has a community been so divided for so long.

Debate over controversial plans by the New Plymouth District Council to build a centre to house the Len Lye collection raged for a decade and no doubt will continue, despite the council deciding on Thursday night to go ahead with the project.

But that decision means the saga is over. It's no longer "if" the centre will be built. It's "when". The answer to that is: as soon as Clelands Construction has finished building the new police station, work will begin on the Len Lye Centre later this year.

Thursday night's 3 -hour marathon meeting centred on a $750,000 cost overrun. The community was promised no ratepayer money would be used in building the centre, and revelations that the extra money was needed for the fitout were met with despair by several councillors.

They felt that continuing with the project would break whatever trust the council had with ratepayers, and refused to back it.

"The whole things stops right here right, now," said John McLeod. He was backed by Crs Andrew Judd, Heather Dodunski, Craig McFarlane, Sherril George and Shaun Biesiek.

But a majority of councillors said it made sense to continue after having come so far, and expressed their faith in the ability of the centre trust fundraisers to find the extra money.

Phil Quinney said it was his fourth term on the council and the Len Lye Centre had been an issue for most of that time. Admitting he was no art lover, Cr Quinney referred to previous mayors David Lean and Peter Tennent as visionaries who had been part of a council that made the district the envy of every other in the country.

"We need to be bold and support things that are positive." He also echoed the sentiments of most councillors when he said he had confidence in the Len Lye Centre trust, headed by former council chief executive Kinsley Sampson to raise the remaining $750,000 once construction had begun.

In his submission earlier in the meeting, Mr Sampson told councillors it was easier to raise funds for a confirmed project that was actually started, rather than one which remained a concept.

Others also referred to the vision of former mayors, with Claire Stewart's name added to the list.

Pauline Lockett emphasised the need to continue their legacy by maintaining the district's reputation as an unrivalled place in which to live and work.

The vote to go ahead was 9-6, but before they got to that point, there were plenty of surprises for councillors and the public gallery, which was packed with Len Lye Centre supporters.

Perhaps the most insightful, persuasive comments came in a submission from Mr Sampson, who pointed out that nothing of significance happened in New Plymouth without "a raging controversy"'.

The most obvious recent examples were Puke Ariki, the coastal walkway, the TSB Stadium, the upgrade of the TSB Showplace, the northern outlet and the New Plymouth Aquatic Centre, he said.

"But we are lucky, our councils have always responded.

"Puke Ariki is now internationally acclaimed.

Ad Feedback "New Plymouth's reputation as a leading contemporary arts centre gives us a significance compared to other cities of our size, and . . . ones much bigger. ‘'

With Lye's innovative works unveiled at the meeting by Len Lye Foundation chairman John Matthews, New Plymouth may never be the same again.

Meanwhile, the main shocks came from two men normally expected to support the centre: John Maynard and Terry Boon.

Mr Maynard, a former director of the Len Lye Foundation and the foundation director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery pleaded with council not to proceed with the project.

Now living in Sydney, he emailed Mayor Harry Duynhoven and the councillors, outlining his reasons and his frustration at not being allowed to be heard.

"I urge you to seriously consider not to proceed with the project . . .

"It makes no sense to demolish the 1998 Govett-Brewster extension, initially built to house the Len Lye exhibition . . . It beggars belief!"

Mr Maynard said it was a "fantasy of overvalued local development effects, over-exaggerated cultural benefits and underestimated costs."

Council chief executive Barbara McKerrow responded in a separate document.

In it she explained that once the government funding agreement was signed, the council was locked into the specific building design, so meetings around that were pointless.

Prominent New Plymouth architect and arts lover Terry Boon also urged councillors not to go ahead with the centre in its present concept.

Mr Boon had designed the 1998 extension building and was heavily involved in strengthening the original Govett-Brewster building.

He said he supported Mr Maynard's comments, and he raised doubts about the cost and scope of the $1m earthquake work costs that the council said the building needed.

"I find it hard to believe that someone hasn't done a drive-past and said ‘Oh, it's a pre-1935 building and therefore it's suspect'. As far as I'm concerned it's [effectively] a 1970s building. I would love to see it peer-reviewed and another opinion got."

That was rejected by the council's general manager of assets, Jim Willson.

"Mr Boon is not a structural engineer," he said. "We have had two independent engineering firms do two seismic evaluations on our buildings.

"I assure you the last thing we want to do is to over-engineer anything. There is a lot of money involved." He said the gallery building, along with the TSB Showplace, complied with less than 20 per cent of the required standards put in place since the Christchurch earthquake.

As expected, the officers' recommendation and report came down firmly on the side of completing the centre.

It also placed a formidable obstacle in the way of councillors who wanted to halt the project before it started.

"The cost to council of not proceeding is estimated to be $2.45m. This is because we would be required to pay at least $1.45m [already expended with the approval of council] back to the Government," it said.

That would ultimately need to come from rates [a 2 per cent rise if done in one year] and provide an additional $1m [estimated] to earthquake-strengthen the Govett-Brewster Art gallery as a stand-alone project.

PROJECTS LYE AHEAD FOR CITY

A presentation of Len Lye's works stole the show at Thursday's meeting.

Len Lye Foundation chairman John Matthews came armed with a show of Len Lye works which will be seen in New Plymouth.

Among the most striking work will be a set of five sea-serpents, each 50 metres long and a metre wide. The serpents will sit on a large black plinth in a lake and one rises to fire a bolt of lightning.

Other works could include a set of 84 wands that dance and involve swiss cow bells which work as a chiming clock the size of a football field.

"It's a pretty extraordinary piece. A pretty crazy piece."

Another is a giant blade, which is a post-graduate mechanical engineering project under construction at Canterbury University.

Tender Approved for the Len Lye Centre

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:00:00 GMT

A three-part tender for constructing the Len Lye Centre and improving the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery was tonight (Thursday) approved by New Plymouth District Council.

The tender from Clelands Construction will enable the Council to:

Build the Len Lye Centre building for $10 million.
Undertake deferred items of renewal previously agreed to by the Council, as well as compliance and earthquake strengthening, for the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

The Len Lye Centre Trust and Len Lye Foundation are committed to fundraising $750,000 for fitting out the cinema in the Len Lye Centre.

The additional $750,000 needed for necessary fitout within the Len Lye Centre will be met by the Council – firstly through use of the project’s contingency fund (if able), then from the sale of donated artworks through the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and external fundraising. Borrowing money to meet the fitout will be a last resort of the Council.

Says Mayor Harry Duynhoven: “This commitment to working on other avenues to fund the fitout before considering borrowing acknowledges our obligation to do everything we can to keep this cost from being placed on ratepayers.”

The Len Lye Centre’s $10m construction cost is being met by fundraising, plus an underwrite from the TSB Community Trust which the Council is committed to minimising.

The $5,428,780 for deferred items and Building Code requirements, plus earthquake strengthening, in the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is being met from depreciation funds.

In August last year the art gallery was assessed as having a seismic strength of no more than 20 per cent of the New Building Standard (NBS) in the Building Act 2004, meaning the Council regarded it as earthquake-prone under its Earthquake Prone Buildings Policy.

“We essentially tendered three projects at the same time – construction of the Len Lye Centre, deferred renewals at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, and earthquake strengthening of the gallery – for reasons of practicality and efficiency,” says the Mayor.

“When all of the work is completed, we will have our leading contemporary art gallery alongside the eye-catching Len Lye Centre as anchors of the central city’s cultural sector.

“The Len Lye Centre itself will continue this district’s legacy of providing magnificent community facilities – and it will do that by celebrating creativity and engineering, and inspiring the imagination of both children and adults.”

Lye Centre funding secured by council

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News - By Hannah Fleming

New Plymouth's controversial Len Lye Centre has been given the go-ahead after securing the full $10 million needed to fund the project.

While a further $200,000 has been contributed by private donors, the TSB Community Trust has underwritten the project by $1.3m to allow it to proceed.

The trust has given the New Plymouth District Council 2 years to raise the remaining funds.

Council chief executive Barbara McKerrow said the council would continue fundraising to remove the need for the underwriting.

"We are in discussions with other major corporates and hope to make more announcements of support soon," she said.

The council had already secured $4m from the Government, $3m from Todd Energy, $1m from TSB Community Trust and $500,000 from the Lottery Grants Board.

The centre will permanently display a large collection of work by kinetic artist Len Lye. The material, including large mechanical sculptures and archival material, is currently stored at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery which does not have the space to display much of the collection.

While the project has come to fruition through donors, ratepayers are expected to foot the annual running costs bill.

In 2006, the annual running costs were estimated at $680,000, however, that has decreased to $362,000 per year with the decision to amalgamate the Len Lye Centre and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

Although they will run as separate facilities, they will share a management team and operating costs, as well as an education suite, cinema and the retail store.

New Plymouth Mayor Harry Duynhoven said the cost to ratepayers was manageable, with the centre's annual running cost being very small in relation to other council-related projects.

"If you put it in perspective, everything that we've ever done in the community, that has been community-funded, right back to the Poet's Bridge at Pukekura Park . . . its maintenance and running costs in its 100 and something years has been paid for by ratepayers.

"The entire funding has come from outside the ratepayer pool and that is a substantial gift to the city and to the district," he said.

Mr Duynhoven said he had no doubt the end product would attract national and international tourists, as well as contribute to Taranaki's economic growth.

In addition to the Len Lye Centre, the council plans to simultaneously carry out earthquake strengthening work, deferred renewals work, and health and safety improvements at the Govett-Brewster.

Ad Feedback Completing this work under the same contract would be the most cost-effective option for the council, said infrastructure general manager Anthony Wilson.

"Regardless of whether the Len Lye Centre was being built, we would still have had to undertake earthquake strengthening for the Govett-Brewster.

"Were it not for the centre, it's likely the earthquake strengthening at the gallery would have been considerably more difficult and expensive.”

Although the exact amount was not known, Mr Wilson said the extra work would exceed the $10m

budget and would be funded from depreciation reserves at the Govett-Brewster.

Chairman of the Len Lye committee Lance Girling-Butcher said the construction of the centre would generate ample work for builders and tradesmen, meaning a contribution to Taranaki's economy would be made before it opened.

While the project has been the subject of heated debate over the past few years, Mr Girling-Butcher said people would be looking a gift horse in the mouth if they continued to resent it.

"The wind wand is a perfect example - the furore that went on at putting the wind wand up was unbelievable, and today you'd be very lucky to find anybody who has a bad word to say about it," he said.

"It's been a very long, harrowing path, but you don't know how wonderful it is to be at this point," he said.

The council will take expressions of interest for the tender up until October 12 and advise those invited to tender by October 19.

A tender will be awarded by December 10 and construction is set to start in February 2013 with a completion date estimated for February 2015.

Lye, who died in 1980, embarked on a career in art in the 1930s and became fascinated with the concept of moving sculptures, examples of which are the 45-metre Wind Wand in New Plymouth and Wellington's Water Whirler on the waterfront.

Len Lye plays to packed houses and wins plaudits from critics

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMT

The National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries’ (NICAI) production of LEN LYE the opera was a huge success during its four-night season at the Maidment Theatre (which ended on September 8th).

As a “multimedia event,” it brought together talented people from many areas of the University, including the School of Music (composer Eve de Castro-Robinson and conductor Uwe Grodd), English (stage director Murray Edmond), Film, Television and Media Studies (librettist Roger Horrocks) and Dance Studies (choreographer Emily Campbell). On stage School of Music lecturer Te Oti Rakena, played a pivotal role and the lively ensemble included several undergraduate and postgraduate students from Music’s vocal studies programme.

The season sold out and the Maidment box office had to turn away many disappointed people who were seeking last-minute tickets. The response to the show was extremely positive, with reviewers William Dart (NZ Herald), John Daly-Peoples (National Business Review) and Robbie Ellis (Theatreview) all sharing Ellis’s view that “this is a landmark production which deserves to be seen far more widely”.

In Dart’s words: “LEN LYE the opera was an arresting piece of musical theatre. A clever libretto by Roger Horrocks pretty much nailed the maverick Kiwi art hero and Eve de Castro-Robinson laced it with stylish zesty music…. A Cape Campbell youth was poetically evoked by Shirley Horrocks’s film projections, while director Murray Edmond coaxed lovely ensemble playing….” Daly-Peoples concluded that the work “has entered the annals of New Zealand opera with eloquent music and an intelligent libretto.”

There was also universal praise for Uwe Grodd’s musical direction and for the lead singers who included James Harrison, an alumnus of our university and now a high flier in the London opera world, playing the title role.

The opera was not just a striking music and drama experience but also an educational one. As James Harrison observed: “It’s an incredible story about such an incredible man. I really feel as though we have honoured him with the show.”

Lye’s two closest relatives in this part of the world, nieces Jan Worthington and Kay Dando, came to see the opera. Kay, who had made a special trip from Australia, wore a wooden tiki carved by Lye when he lived in Ponsonby in the early 1920s. Jan, who had never had the opportunity to get to know her grandmother Rose, said she burst into tears during the first act of the opera when Rose was vividly brought to life on stage by mezzo soprano Carmel Carroll.

Productions of original New Zealand operas are few and far between, but the resounding success of LEN LYE the opera has left its creative team in no doubt that the work will go on to reach other audiences.

http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/news/template/news_item.jsp?cid=517523

Len Lye lives on in the 21st century

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMT

North Taranaki Midweek

Kiwi programmes on Len Lye's works prove to be big hit in Brazil

A retrospective of New Zealand film-maker Len Lye’s work was a highlight of this year’s Anima Mundi animation film festival held in July in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Animated films are popular in Latin America and Anima Mundi is the largest festival of its kind in South America, selling more than 100,000 cinema tickets annually.

Having decided to showcase Len Lye as its historical figure this year, the festival brought Len Lye biographer Roger Horrocks and his wife and documentary maker Shirley Horrocks to the two cities to present programmes of his films.

The couple also showed prints supplied by the NZ Film Archive and screened their award-winning documentaries about Lye, Flip and Two Twisters and Art that Moves.

For the Brazil trip, the couple took two weeks off from their work on Len Lye the opera, which opens on September 5 at the Maidment Theatre in Auckland. Mr Horrocks is the author of the libretto and Mrs Horrocks is creating moving images for the multi-media production.

Mr Horrocks said they were amazed at the level of interest in Lye.

“He is certainly a film-makers’ film-maker,” said Mr Horrocks.

“There were animators from many countries at the festival who said they valued Lye as a role model or a source of ideas and techniques.”

Mrs Horrocks says a building next to the cinemas offered free workshops in which young people could learn the techniques of animation, including “painting on film in the style of Len Lye”.

“The festival coincided with school holidays and the building was always jam-packed with families and excited kids. Animation appeals to all ages in Brazil,” she says.

Mrs Horrocks says that during question time at the Lye screenings there was much interest in the fact that Lye had bequeathed his collection of work to the people of New Zealand.

“The Brazilians were also intrigued to hear about the Lye opera in Auckland and about the special Lye Museum planned for New Plymouth. They demanded to know when the museum was expected to open, and how to travel to it.”

When Anima Mundi made its major awards, a special prize was presented to Roger Horrocks by one of the directors of the festival, Marcos Magalhaes, who said, “We are great admirers both of the artistic genius of Len Lye and of your brilliant efforts to keep alive and enhance his life work and artistic inheritance.”

Mr Horrocks received the festival’s trophy, a kinetic (animated) figure and Mrs Horrocks received recognition as “one of New Zealand’s leading producers and directors of documentaries about the arts” including “an essential documentary about Lye”.

Magalhaes, a noted Brazilian animator, said his film TwO had been sparked off by Lye’s Free Radicals.

This year’s Anima Mundi festival screened 450 films, about a quarter of those submitted. Mr and Mrs Horrocks were impressed by the scope of the festival in covering all aspects of animation, from large commercial feature-films by studios such as Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks and Aardman, to more personal artistic projects, which was Lye’s chosen tradition.

Mr Horrocks said: “It was incredible to see by how much variety and continued experiment is happening in animation. We just wish Len Lye could have been there to share the enthusiasm for his films.
"He once said with a laugh that ‘I think my work is going to be pretty good for the 21st century’ and the growth in international interest in his art shows that Lye’s prediction was spot on”.

http://www.animamundi.com.br/en/festival/

Len Lye comes to life, opera-style

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News - By Hannah Fleming

Len Lye's legacy will soon be brought to life - opera-style.

Len Lye the Opera will premiere at Auckland's Maidment Theatre from September 5 to 8.

New Zealand cinematographer Leon Narbey, known for his work on films Whale Rider and The Orator, arrived in New Plymouth yesterday to film Len Lye's collection at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

Narbey's footage will be used as the background for a scene during the opera which depicts Lye's decision to head home to New Zealand from the United States and have his collection stored in New Plymouth.

"This particular scene shows the point where he is packing up his life to move to New Zealand. We're trying to make it look like a loading dock," he said.

Filming in the gallery provided a trip down memory lane for Narbey, who was the artist behind the first exhibition held at Govett-Brewster when it opened in 1970.

Award-winning film-maker and the opera's moving image maker, Shirley Horrocks, was also in New Plymouth and said Len Lye was the perfect subject to centre an opera. "He was such a lively character and had the most interesting life," she said.

"His story offered all the conflicts and all the love interest we expect from an opera.”

Mrs Horrocks said the production was full of multi-media, which gave it a modern take on traditional opera.

"You have to have moving images because it is about Len Lye, after all," she said.

While the production will be held in Auckland, Horrocks' husband Roger, Lye's one-time assistant and writer of the libretto, said they had looked at staging it in Taranaki and would love to eventually bring the opera to New Plymouth.

"Unfortunately, it's an expensive business to stage a big production like this and it will depend on finding a local sponsor," he said. "For the time being we are very focused on the Auckland premiere."

Mr and Mrs Horrocks recently returned from the Anima Mundi animation film festival held in Brazil, where Len Lye was hailed as a master of animation, and source of inspiration for film-makers.

The couple both received awards for their contribution and recognition of Len Lye.

Exhibition puts the heat on globalisation

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News - By Hannah Fleming

A colourful and multidimensional array of artwork is lighting up the walls of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery this winter.

Art from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh provides the core of the exhibition Sub- Topical Heat: New art from South Asia, which opened last week.

India's Sheba Chhachhi is a featured artist in the exhibition, with her work providing an interactive experience for anyone who sets foot in the gallery.

Her work in the exhibition brings together mythical and historical aspects of urban ecology from a feminist perspective and addresses the question of water.

"These works give a voice to the violence of ecology. I have combined ancient Indian mythology with bird-like yoga poses, which reflects our relationship with Earth," she said.

Her three moving lightbox works evoke the 2005 Bakalot earthquake in Pakistan, the Gangetic flood delta of Bangladesh and India, and the Myanmar drought, which all caused widespread devastation.

"When you look closely at these sites of disaster, they are actually very beautiful," she said.

The New Delhi-based artist said she was also passionate about human cloning and the genetic modification of food, which was reflected through her interactive installation work Bhogi/Rogi (Consumption/Disease).

"I think genetic modification is truly horrifying."

Chhachhi uses virtual reality to portray her point, which helps to develop a more personal, direct and entertaining relationship with the viewer.

"The installation explores the continuum between consumption, production, and homogenisation, with particular reference to transgenic foods," she said.

"The main purpose is to provoke people to think about these things. Quite a few people get it, but not everybody."

Chhachhi said the interactive aspect was also a way of reaching out to the younger generation, who responded to gaming-like technology.

"It is important for them to realise, because they are the ones who are going to be affected."

Eight other artists feature within the exhibition, and have all created works driven by the impacts of globalisation on individual lives, new movements within tradition, and social and political justice.

Their thoughts are exposed through sculpture, photography, multimedia, painting and drawing.

N S Harsha's project, titled Nations, is an eye-opening feature of the exhibition. It shows 192 sewing machines threaded together and set atop the flags of United Nations countries.

Ad Feedback The exhibit demonstrates the idea of globalisation and how it has affected the cheap labour market.

The entire exhibition will run until November 4.

Len Lye Curator Tyler Cann and Assistant Curator Paul Brobbel

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Just in case you missed out hearing the news when it happened, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery's Len Lye curator, Tyler Cann, left New Zealand with his family last year to work as curator at Ikon Contemporary Art Gallery in Birmingham, England.

Tyler remains involved with the Govett-Brewster as Len Lye Curator-at-Large, having completed a major Len Lye exhibition at the Gallery All Souls Carnival 10 September – 27 November 2011. He also remains involved as a Len Lye Foundation trustee. Since being at the Gallery, Tyler organised 11 exhibitions, produced six publications and lectured on Len Lye in New Zealand and internationally.

Before Tyler's departure Paul Brobbel was appointed as the first ever Len Lye Assistant Curator. Paul’s role is to support the development and delivery of Len Lye exhibitions along with caring for the Len Lye Collection. Paul’s work with the collection involves cataloguing, digitisation and research in addition to supervising the access to the collection for researchers and facilitating loans of Len Lye’s works to other galleries and institutions. Previously Paul was Assistant Collection Manager (Photography) at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand.

Taranaki photos on tour

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News - By Hannah Fleming

Laurence Aberhart and his recent Taranaki photographs are on the move.

The exhibition has been on show at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery since March and is now set to visit four more galleries around the region.

It was the most extensive trip around the mountain that one of their exhibitions had taken to date, exhibition co-curator Paul Brobbel said.

Many of Aberhart's photos are taken of landscapes around Taranaki, and mobilising the exhibition would give more people the opportunity to experience it, he said.

"It's also a good opportunity for some of the smaller galleries to host a bigger show."

Thirty works make up the exhibition and feature landscapes from Rahotu, to Okaiawa.

"Besides Northland, where he lives, Taranaki is one of his favourite places to visit. He loves to come here whenever he can and wanted to produce works of the landscape."

The photos, taken between 2009 and 2011, are in black and white and use an old-fashioned process of photography.

Aberhart has been known to use platinum prints when developing photographs, but also uses other paper, such as silver gelatine prints.

Because of his unusual photographic process, each print takes more than eight hours to fully develop in Aberhart's darkroom, making the time between taking the photo and developing it quite long.

"He likes the alchemy of creating photos in the old-fashioned way," Brobbel said.

The exhibit will tour the following galleries; Fritz Reuter Gallery, Inglewood, June 22-July 22, Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford, August 2-August 26, Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki, Patea, September 14-October 21, Lysaght Watt Gallery, Hawera, November 8-December 2.

Cafe reopens with fresh new look

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Cafe Govett-Brewster has reopened with a new look. Check out the comfy new red leather booth couches and the delicious new winter menu. Gracing a wall is a huge new artwork by New Plymouth-based artist Josh Manu.

The cafe now has a Twitter account, follow it @cafegovett to get updates on specials and winter treats.

Len Lye - The Opera

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:00:00 GMT

MAIDMENT THEATRE, AUCKLAND
LEN LYE - THE OPERA
5 - 8 SEPTEMBER 2012

Len Lye - the opera is based on the dramatic life of one of our most original artists. As an opera in the contemporary sense, it is a unique mix of music, poetry, theatre, dance, costumes, set design and film, with a cast of top national and international singers, musicians and performing artists. Eve de Castro-Robinson's lively music incorporates jazz, dance music and other elements that reflect Lye's art and personality.

The opera tells the story of one of the most colourful and important artists to have emerged from New Zealand. Born in 1901, Len Lye grew up in this country, moving to London in 1926 to embrace the excitement of modernism and the Jazz Age. In 1944 he moved to New York and lived for the rest of his life in its bohemian art world. He gained a worldwide reputation for his films and sculptures.

Along with his artistic triumphs, Lye experienced two contrasting marriages and ongoing battles with the art establishment. Despite these battles, Lye never abandoned hope or energy – he continued to struggle, to dream, to re-invent art – and to shock the orthodox with his views about art, clothing, politics and marriage.

When he died in 1980, Lye left his art to the people of New Zealand. His animated films and kinetic sculptures continue to excite imaginations young and old, here and around the globe.

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/our-faculty/schools-programmes-and-centres/music/len-lye-the-opera

http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/artist/len-lye

Cafe Govett-Brewster closed for three days

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:00:00 GMT

CAFE GOVETT-BREWSTER FACELIFT!!

The Cafe will be closed on Tuesday 12th, Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th June.

You're all invited to come in and check out the changes from 10am on Friday 15th June.

There are new leather couches – we know you love to relax; beautiful chandeliers – to warm up every winter’s day; and the perfect haven to enjoy our new menu complemented by all the wonderful cakes and treats which our lovely Sara - the baker is baking.

Please don’t hesitate to try out Elixir for your daily fix while we redecorate
– 117 Devon Street East, New Plymouth.

TO CELEBRATE
You are warmly invited to enjoy our new look on Friday 15th, Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th
where Liz and the team will be shouting you a glass of bubbly with your brunch.

Wind Wands Set for Installation

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News - By John Anthony

A cluster of illuminated miniature wind wands will be installed permanently at a prominent Taranaki site later this year.

Six wind wands, planted in the shape of a pentagon, are currently being put through their paces on industrial land in New Plymouth's Waiwhakaiho Valley.

The wind wands, designed by kinetic sculpture artist Len Lye, will be significantly smaller than the existing coastal walkway wind wand but much more mobile.

Five 11-metre-high wands will sit on the five points of the pentagon with a 12m-high wand in the centre. By comparison, the walkway wand is 45m high.

The kinetic art installation, for which parts were built in New Plymouth and Auckland, will be trialled in Waiwhakaiho Valley for a few months before being installed in a public place.

Len Lye Foundation chairman John Matthews would not say where the wind wands would go only that it was a location in New Plymouth that was "very prominent". "It's a site that is highly visible to the public," he said. "It's a great location."

Mr Matthews, who was a friend of Mr Lye, said the wands were very mobile. "In high winds they really move."

A similar installation was exhibited at several sites in the United States, including New York University's student centre, he said. But nowhere else in the world was there a Len Lye sculpture like this. "This is a work that people will find interesting and attractive and enjoyable. It doesn't make loud noises and it isn't full of stress. It's a contemplative piece."

LED lighting installed in the ground would light up the wands at night, he said.

The LED colours were yet to be decided but a range of projections would be trialled next week.

"There's some marvellous options now with LED lighting systems. We can have in-ground lighting systems that will really catch them as they bend over."

The wands, which were built and designed for the Len Lye Foundation, will be put through their paces during the winter months to ensure they are safe and can withstand Taranaki wind gusts. "They'll get a good workout through the winter," Mr Matthews said. The sculpture followed the specifications of Len Lye's original drawings, he said.

The only difference was that the new wands were made of hollow fibreglass where the originals were made of aluminium.

At this stage it was too commercially sensitive to reveal who the work was being commissioned by, Mr Matthews said.

The project had been 12 months in the making and the wands had been in their existing spot for about one month, he said.

They will most likely be painted the same red as the existing wind wand.

If Len Lye was still alive, he would be thrilled to see the artwork being brought to life, Mr Matthews said. "He would be delighted. No question."

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

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Taranaki Daily News - By Hannah Fleming

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.