...but not forgotten

One of the great things about having much of our collection on loan to the Dunedin Public art Gallery is a feature that allows us to swap and return work to us here in Wellington. As part of the move to set up the Reboot exhibition, curated by Justin Paton, we asked the gallery to send us Barnard McIntyre's untitled sculpture that you can see on the left. It is a small (53 cm high) ribbed metal wall sculpture of painted copper. With its obvious reference to seed pods and regeneration it also retains a frailty that was a feature of much of Barnard's work. He was one of those artists that could make effortless looking objects that were, at the same time, incredibly authentic and believable. Unfortunately, for all of us, Barnard left New Zealand to live in Australia and we haven't seen anything from him for a long time now. What has been interesting for us is how many people have responded strongly to this work since it has been hanging here. The sculpture pictured next to our piece is another untitled work that was purchased by our friends Les and Milly Paris. This is not a small work, and once again for all its bold shape and exotic patterning, is quite frail in its construction. We’re having a wonderful time Barnard, wish you were here.