Major new sculpture for Karo Drive
The Wellington Sculpture Trust is excited to announce the commissioning of a major new artwork by the Wellington-based artist Regan Gentry.
The piece, named Subject to Change, has been specifically designed for its location in the Te Aro area, making reference to the changes in the urban landscape of that part of Wellington. It comprises a replica of two walls of a heritage-style building, yet is clearly a large scale work of art.
Subject to consents being obtained, it is scheduled for installation on the south side of Karo Drive, between Cuba St and Victoria St near the historic Tonks Well, in January – February 2009.
In the artist's words, “It looks like a slice of a building left behind by the developers...tenuously existing on the edge of the new motorway. It mimics components and colour schemes of the buildings that are or were around it, to integrate it within the historical and contemporary context of the area.”
Regan Gentry has a growing and well-earned reputation for works that encompass the skilled use of a widening variety of materials. He has recently completed a number of very successful projects including the popular Green Islands, the first of the Sculpture Trust's Four Plinths Temporary Sculptures that sit on the waterfront by Te Papa, and Near Nowhere, Near Impossible, a work created as artist-in-residence at Tylee Cottage and exhibited in the Sargeant Gallery, Wanganui. In September 2008 he opened a major permanent sculpture in central Christchurch called Flour Power.
Subject to Change is being funded by Transit New Zealand, with additional contributions from the Wellington Sculpture Trust and the Wellington City Council.
The Trust’s Chairman Neil Plimmer says that “preparations for this work have been underway for about three years, and the artwork itself over that time has been ‘subject to change’. But it is now ready for fabrication and we cannot wait for its opening.
“It is the first work the Trust has commissioned in this part of the city, and we welcome that: Te Aro has its own arts culture which this artwork respects.
“The piece is a thoughtful reflection on the buildings that have been removed and those that have been retained. It will itself, we expect, become an embedded and popular part of the Te Aro streetscape.
“We particularly thank the former Transit NZ for its foresight in seeking to fund an artwork in this area.”
Updated November 2008
