Sculpture returns to original home

Media release
16 August 2010
Attn Arts Reporter

Sculpture returns to original home

A notable bronze sculpture by artist Paul Dibble is returning to its original location at the entrance to the Robert McDougall Gallery.

The two-piece Paul Dibble sculpture E Noho Ra De Chirico is being returned to plinths in the Gallery’s portico on Wednesday 18 August.

It was originally installed at the Robert McDougall in 1995 and was moved to the front of the Worcester Boulevard entrance of the new Christchurch Art Gallery when it opened in 2003. It is being moved on the advice of the Public Art Advisory Group.

Christchurch Art Gallery will use the space to display different sculptural works.

The bronzes will be installed in time for Canterbury Museum’s “The Heart of the Great Alone” exhibition at the Robert McDougall Gallery, which opens to the public on 20 August.

Public Art Advisory Group chair and Canterbury Museum director Anthony Wright says “The Dibble works provide an elegant frame to the Robert McDougall entrance and are particularly fitting in the context of the Gallery’s gardens setting.”

Christchurch Art Gallery director Jenny Harper says the Christchurch Art Gallery is pleased to return the sculptures to their former site.

The architectural location of the sculptures is significant, as Paul Dibble took the context of the neo-classical Robert McDougall Gallery into account when paying homage to Giorgio De Chirico, an Italian modernist artist who often placed classical elements within his art. “This significance is emphasised better when the works are in their original context,” Ms Harper says.

Background about the sculpture

E Noho Ra De Chirico has two components, a leaf and a nude female torso. This sculpture was funded by the Public Art Fund in 1996. The two components of the sculpture were placed on either side of the entry to the Robert McDougall Gallery.

Plinths had been constructed on the sides of the entry to the Robert McDougall when it was built in 1932. However, the Dibble sculptures were the first to utilise this design feature.

Paul Dibble’s intention for the work was to take the classical form of the European torso and to relocate it in a Pacific vernacular. This relocation of classical elements is alluded to in the title, E Noho Ra De Chirico.

The work is owned by Christchurch City Council, which formed the Public Art Advisory Group in 2007 to advocate and encourage the commissioning of public works of art. From time-to-time, it may also review the location and siting of existing public works of art as well as provide advice on new pieces.

ENDS

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