MEDIA RELEASE
April 15, 2008
Titirangi Genius Discovered In Greece By Harvey
One of the most influential artists of the 1950s and ‘60s, David Kennedy, will be celebrated at an exhibition at Lopdell
House opening on Thursday (April 17).
The exhibition, The Bronze Goat, runs from April 18 to June 8 and is a retrospective made up from private collections
featuring both sculpture and paintings by Kennedy.
As part of the exhibition, Waitakere Mayor and long time friend of Kennedy will speak and play a specially commissioned
DVD which features photographs of Kennedy’s work and Harvey’s interviews with the painter and sculptor shot at his home
on the Greek island of Aegina.
“This exhibition is the result of many years of research and organisation by me and writer James McNeish and we, along
with Lopdell House curator Kate Wells and the Waitakere art world, are absolutely delighted to be paying tribute to this
great man,” says Harvey.
“I managed to find a number of exquisite bronzes for the exhibition and to have been able to interview Kennedy was a
huge bonus. The DVD and what it captures really complements and adds to the exhibition.”
Kennedy was responsible for the controversial décor in New Zealand’s first licensed restaurant, The Gourmet in Shortland
St, which featured lifesize medieval soldiers and irreverent murals including a brothel scene.
He lived in Titirangi for 10 years and the exhibition features some of the graphic designs and sculptures he made for
The Gourmet kindly loaned by Otto Groen QSM. McNeish has written the catalogue for the exhibition.
The exhibition opening on Thursday starts at 6pm and is the day before Harvey announces Waitakere’s next ‘intake’ of
Waitakere Arts Laureates.
***ENDS***