Wellington Northern Gateway Sculpture Shortlist
A shortlist of three finalists is announced for Wellington’s biggest public art project, the $900,000 gateway sculpture for the northern entrance into Wellington.
All are from New Zealand, against overseas competition. They are: Kristin O’Sullivan Peren of Central Otago, Phil Price of Christchurch, and Paul Rolfe and Arini Poutu of Wellington. Panel Chair Neil Plimmer said many fine entries were received from around New Zealand with a number from overseas, in response the call for proposals late last year.
“The three finalists have put forward really interesting and challenging concepts,
and have come through a lengthy and robust selection process,” said Mr
Plimmer. “But there is much work still to be done relating to engineering, costing
and other matters which will take at least another couple of months. I don’t expect
a final choice to be ready until later in year.”
“We hope later to be able to release illustrations of the shortlisted proposals when
the design work is further advanced.”
The sculpture is planned for sites along SH 1 &2 in Kaiwharawhara, with the
preferred location around the motorway bridge over the Hutt rail line. An earlier
work selected for this project, the Hook of Maui, was cancelled in 2009 due to
technical difficulties relating to a laser beam and cost overruns.
Artist information
Kristin O’Sullivan Peren
Kristin O’Sullivan Peren, currently living in Central Otago, held The Artist in
Residence award at the Black Church Studio, Dublin which provided a catapult
for the work she was making in the 1990’s. For many years she worked in print
but more recently her practice has diversified into sculpture. In particular she has
made light based installations that explore the relations between land, light and
water. Kristin’s light based work while celebratory reflects her concerns about the
environment and the heritage of the landscapes that are familiar to her.
Key pieces in her recent sculpture practice include the public commission
Papakura (2005-2008) for Queenstown Lakes District Council and Seeing the
Light (2009) Private Collection.
Phil Price
Protoplasm 2002, the bright lime-green kinetic ’smarties’ on Lambton Quay, was the first
public sculpture by New Zealand artist Phil Price. Winning the second Meridian Energy
wind sculpture competition Phil Price then gave Wellington the towering orange needle
Zephyrometer in 2003.
Since then Phil’s career in kinetic sculpture has continued to expand rapidly.. Fulcrum,
New Zealand’s largest ever outdoor kinetic sculpture exhibition, Momentum the memorial
sculpture for Air New Zealand and Ibis a family gift for Dame Elizabeth Murdoch’s 100th
birthday, are a few of his major commissions. Phil runs a busy studio in Christchurch
completing exhibitions and commissions both public and private, and installing kinetic
sculpture in many places here and overseas.
Paul Rolfe and Arini Poutu
Paul Rolfe has over twenty years experience working as an Architect, and has
worked on many substantial projects with a strong public space focus both in
NZ and overseas, including work on the Sydney Olympics 2000, and the
winning competition scheme for Auckland’s Waterfront Design 2000. In 2004
Paul was short listed with a small team for the New Zealand Memorial Hyde
Park in London.
Arini Poutu (Ngãti Porou and Ngã Puhi) has a passion for Mãori history and art
and has worked across many art forms. In 1998 Arini was commissioned to exhibit
her photography and multimedia alongside the Goldie paintings exhibition at
the Museum of Sydney. Arini curated and exhibited work in Sydney prior to
returning to NZ in 2008. Arini was also the creator and editor of a Maori
newspaper, Poihakena Post, in Sydney.
Both Paul and Arini have demonstrated a specific interest in notions of memory
and cultural identity and how these can be evolved and expressed in public and
private life.
Selection Panel
The selection panel established by the Wellington City Council and the Wellington
Sculpture Trust comprises Ian Athfield (architect); Vivien Atkinson (Wellington
Sculpture Trust); Sue Elliott (Wellington Sculpture Trust); Helen Kedgley
(Wellington Sculpture Trust); Chris McDonald (Faculty of Architecture and
Design, Victoria University of Wellington); Neil Plimmer (Wellington Sculpture
Trust); Martin Rodgers (Wellington City Council).
The selection panel is supported by the Wellington City Council, Wellington
Sculpture Trust, and an Arts Advisory Panel comprising Rob Cherry, Christopher
Kelly, Richard Reddaway, Paula Savage and Elizabeth Thompson.
August 2010
