New Sculpture Acquisitions
29 May, 2012 - 1 July, 2012
Master Bedroom
Regan Gentry, Lite Lunch (2009), Pumice and mixed media
A diverse selection of contemporary New Zealand sculpture, new to the Collection. This exhibition includes Glen Hayward's The Good Ship (2011), and Greer Twiss's Victory in the Natural History Museum (2011).
Hayward has often referred to Duchamp in interviews, and notably in his doctoral thesis, in regard to his art practice. Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) was a French artist who is most famous for his ‘readymades’. These are found objects, which were selected by Duchamp and exhibited as artworks. Duchamp’s ‘readymades’ were everyday items, which were not made by hand and notably not by Duchamp himself.
The most famous of these works was Fountain (1917), simply a urinal signed with the pseudonym 'R.Mutt’.
Glen Hayward’s The Good Ship (2011) is in part a reference to Marcel Duchamp’s notion of the 'readymade'. But there is a twist: what we see is not just an old washtub placed in a gallery. Hayward created this work during his residency at the McCahon House at French Bay (July - October 2011). What looks like an old washtub is in fact an artwork created out of wood and hand painted by Hayward. Hayward has re-created the original old tub that still resides in Colin McCahon’s former cottage in French Bay. It can be assumed that McCahon washed his paintbrushes in the tub in the cottage, so we can rightfully say that The Good Ship is paying homage to this leading figure of New Zealand art.
Victory in the Natural History Museum is from a body of work that evolved out of Greer Twiss’s preoccupation with iconic monuments, particularly the Winged Victory of Samothrace (Nike) c. 220-185 BC. Fragmented relics of this late Hellenestic sculpture were removed from the Greek Island of Samothrace in the nineteenth century and reconstructed at the Louvre, Paris. The sculpture has been exhibited in the Louvre since 1883, prominently sited at the top of a wide flight of stairs.
Twiss has used various media and added extra features to show his own response to this antique inspiration. This is a multi-media work consisting of wax, cloth, steel, wood, lead and glass with bird skeleton enclosed in a glass case. The central figure, signifying the ancient statue itself, is made out of wax and is quite different to the antique model. At the Louvre Nike is resplendent in victory. Twiss’s figure resembles a figure from fashion: he has given her high heels and a cloth ribbon (which operates as an adornment and a support). The inclusion of the skeleton, standing opposite to the figure, and the use of the glass case shows a clear identification with museological conventions – the source of Twiss’s original inspiration.