Gish Prize to fund Maya Lin's ongoing environmental project

One of the world's richest art prizes, the USD300,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, is being awarded to artist Maya Lin. Now in its 21st year, the Prize is given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life."

Best known for her Vietnam War Memorial, Lin has gone on to make work about the environment. She says the award will help her continue with her ongoing project What is Missing?, which combines art and science to increase awareness about the loss of biodiversity and natural habitats.
Image: Maya Lin's A Fold in the Field at The Farm, Kaipara, New Zealand

Gibbs Farm Sculpture Walk

Later this month Aucklanders and visitors to the city will have a rare opportunity to visit the Gibbs Farm at Kaipara, the site of a number of exceptional works by artists such as Daniel Buren, Andy Goldsworthy, Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt, Tony Oursler and George Rickey. For $100 plus Ticketek booking fee (www.ticketek.co.nz) you can visit the Farm on 30 September from 12.30 - 4,00pm with funds going to the New Zealand Institute of Architects Benevolent Fund to help re-establish Christchurch architects.

Images: Richard Serra's Te Tuhirangi Contour and Anish Kapoor's Dismemberment Site 1, The Farm, Kaipara, NZ

Large-scale art projects

The Tate Britain has unveiled its new Duveens Commission, Harrier and Jaguar, by Fiona Banner. Banner's largest work to date, Harrier and Jaguar brings the highly charged physicality of two real fighter jets, both previously in active military service, into the unexpected setting of the neoclassical Duveen Galleries.

Opportunities for artists to undertake ambitious projects like Harrier and Jaguar are harder to come by in New Zealand. Public art galleries occasionally commission large-scale art projects - Peter Robinson's Snow Ball Blind Time (2008) that occupied the entire 574 square meters of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery springs to mind. Scale will also be a feature of some of the works being commissioned for Auckland's waterfront under the City Council's public art programme, notably with Anthony McCall's work in a huge silo at the Tank Farm. But it's hard to beat Alan Gibbs' sculpture park at The Farm on the Kaipara where artists like Anish Kapoor and Richard Serra have been able to work on a monumental scale creating spectacular, site-specific sculptures. 

Image: Fiona Banner, Harrier and Jaguar, 2010, Duveen Galleries, Tate Britain

Bigger than Ben Hur

Plans have been unveiled for Britain's biggest piece of public art designed by Anish Kapoor and structural engineer Cecil Balmond for the 2012 Olympic Park in Stratford East London. It will follow another large-scale work by Kapoor commissioned by Alan Gibbs for The Farm on the Kaipara, NZ.

This link takes you to an article on Kapoor's Olympic Park sculpture posted on the Frieze Editors Blog.

Images: Kapoor's work for Britain's Olympic Games Park, and his recently completed work situated at The Farm, Kaipara, NZ

Richard Serra's Te Tuhirangi Contour

In our final post on commissioned art we look at Richard Serra's 257m long Te Tuhirangi Contour. Commissioned by Alan Gibbs for his property (known as The Farm) on the Kaipara, it is the finest piece of site-specific sculpture in the country and one of many remarkable works situated in his art park. The lineup of international artists at The Farm includes: Daniel Buren, Andy Goldsworthy, Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt, Tony Oursler and George Rickey. 

You can read more on the art at The Farm in a conversation between Rob Garrett and Alan Gibbs published in Art World AUS/NZ edition.

Image: Richard Serra, Te Tuhirangi Contour, 1991-2001, weatherproof steel, 6m x 257m x 5cm, The Farm, Kaipara, NZ