'Sculpture On The Gulf 05'

25 January 2005

'Sculpture On The Gulf 05' Transforms Waiheke Island Skyline

Click for big version

A landmark sculpture exhibition featuring 25 large-scale installations by leading New Zealand sculptors is about to be unveiled on Auckland's Waiheke Island.

'Sculpture on the Gulf 05' represents a who's who of contemporary New Zealand sculpture, with specially commissioned works by renowned artists including Jeff Thomson, Barry Lett, Terry Stringer, Chiara Corbelletto and Para Matchitt.

'Sculpture on the Gulf 05' will be officially opened by Prime Minister Helen Clark at a special gala evening on Thursday 27 January. The free exhibition is open daily from 9am to 7pm for public viewing from January 28 to February 13.

Organised by the Waiheke Community Art Gallery, the exhibition is staged along the spectacular two-kilometre Church Bay coastal walkway overlooking Matiatia.

"This unique location is the exhibition's strength: the enduring beauty of the headland never palls no matter how many times you experience it," says Sculpture on the Gulf¹s artistic director Jackie O¹Brien.

"The aim is to leave gallery walls behind and place the works and viewers under the sky and beside the sea, to become part of the stunning coastal scenery of the island. The walkway offers a huge variety of discrete settings, from enclosed beaches, to grass-clad hillsides, ancient pohutukawa, rugged cliffs, vineyards and bush-clad gullies."

The inaugural 'Sculpture on the Gulf' exhibition was held in 2003 and was deemed an outstanding success, attracting an estimated 12,000 visitors.

This year members of the public are also invited to vote for their favourite artwork, with the winner of the Telecom People's Choice award announced at the closing ceremony on February 13.

The organisers of Sculpture on the Gulf say the exhibition could not have been staged without the generous support of its premier sponsor Telecom, Cable Bay Vineyard (winner of the NBR Sponsorship Award for Bravery 2003), Subritzky SeaLink, Creative New Zealand, Tourism Auckland, Fullers, Jasons Travel Media, Snapper Graphics and Auckland City.

ENDS

© Scoop Media