Art in the Palm of Your Hand

Art in the Palm of Your Hand

An exhibition celebrating the art of small-scale sculpture opens at Canterbury Museum on 17 June 2016.

Regroup Reflect Regenerate: Medal Artists of New Zealand 25th Anniversary Exhibition celebrates the work of contemporary medal art featuring more than 200 medals crafted by 33 New Zealand artists over the last 25 years.

Medals traditionally commemorate achievement but they are also works of art.

The medals in this exhibition embrace freedom of design including choice of subject, material and composition. It includes the more recent development of the object medal: a small three-dimensional sculpture. Out of the Rabbit Hole 2015 Bronze 93 x62 x 80mm, Samantha Lissette.

Exhibition co-ordinator Richard Mathieson says “Many of the artists working in this area are probably better known for much larger works. We hope that this exhibition will inspire a new generation of artists to embrace the challenges of producing small object medals,” he says.

Museum Director Anthony Wright says, “This work is exquisite, Visitors will be surprised and delighted by the variety of work and the detail that can be captured in such a small space. We hope they will also be intrigued and will explore some of the older medals in the Museum’s collection which celebrate and recognise some great human achievements.”

Medal Artists of New Zealand members come from a variety of backgrounds including silver-smithing, ceramics, jewellery, painting and sculpture.

The artists featured in the exhibition are: John Andrew, Frances Battersby, Nigel Brown, Bing Dawe, Louise Dentice, John Edgar, Robert Ellis, Fatu Feu’u, Charlotte Fisher, Marian Fountain, Fiona Garlick, David Guerin, Paul Hartigan, Bill Hayes, Christine Hellyar, Samantha Lissette, Christine Massey, Richard, Mathieson, Mary McIntyre, Hamish McWhannell, Richard McWhannell, Neil Miller, Juliette Milne, Stanley Palmer, Alan Preston, Louise Purvis, Michael Reed, Terry Stringer, Wallace Sutherland, Marte Szirmay, Greer Twiss, Jim Wheeler, and Peter Woods. Regroup Reflect Regenerate: Medal Artists of New Zealand 25th Anniversary Exhibition at Canterbury Museum 17 June to 6 November 2016. Developed and toured by Medal Artists New Zealand with support from Progressive Castings Ltd, Regal Ltd and the Wallace Arts Trust.

ENDS

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