Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Artist of the day, January 1, 2020: Neil Dawson, a New Zealand sculptor (#879)

Francis Neil Dawson (1948) is a New Zealand sculptor, best known for his large-scale civic pieces crafted from aluminum and stainless steel, often made using a lattice of natural forms which between them form a geometric whole.

Born and bred in New Zealand, Neil Dawson is a sculptor of international standing. All of Dawson’s works emphatically echo aspects of this nation’s socio-cultural environments and, literally, elevate these in spatial celebrations that are at once accessible and challenging. A central achievement discernible in this sculptor’s work is his ability to embody in pure space, clusters of socio-cultural and global concerns.

Working for the last 40 years as one of New Zealand’s foremost creators of public sculpture, Neil Dawson’s laser-cut, steel sculptures appear to defy gravity and the weightiness of the medium. Both his large and domestic-scale sculptures possess ever-shifting perspectives as each co-opts the space and light in and around it, playing visual tricks with shadow, perspective, and volume. The fine detailing evident in many works is drawn from sources as diverse as porcelain patterns, building materials, and flora and fauna.

From Christchurch’s Fanfare (northern motorway) and Chalice (Cathedral Square) and Ferns in Wellington's Civic Square to Raindrops in Manchester, United Kingdom, and the Globe in Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Neil Dawson's public artworks have become city icons. Dawson’s Spires, a work of local and national significance, was installed above Latimer Square in Christchurch in 2013. Referencing the spire of the Christchurch Cathedral, destroyed in the earthquake on February 22nd, 2011, Spires provides the opportunity for private reflection and, at the same time, acts as a signifier of a defining moment in the city’s history.

 Dawson’s Horizons is one of the earliest sculptures to be commissioned for the Gibbs Farm. Sitting as it does on one of the highest points in the property it is also one of the few works that can be seen from the road.

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Mr. Neil Dawson
1982, Echo
1982, Sky Drawings
1987, Ripples
1989, Globe
1992, Snap, Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia
1992, Snap, Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia
1993, Flying Chairs
1993, Sky Drawings
1994, Horizons at Gibbs Farm
1994, Horizons at Gibbs Farm
1994, Horizons detail
1994, Kahu
1994, Nor'West Arch, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
1994, Sky Drawings
1994, Sky Drawings
1994, Sky Drawings
1994, Sky Drawings
1997, Vanishing Stairs
1997, Vanishing Stairs
1997, Vanishing Stairs
1998, Ferns
2001, Chalice
2003, Corro Dome
2004, Fanfare
2004, Fanfare
2004, Fanfare montage in situ
2006, dynamic new entranceway sculpture for the city
2010, Cubes
2010, Sky Drawings
2010, Whare
2015, Black Halos 15
2015, Spikes
2015, Toss, Museum and Heritage Studies
2019, Kahu
Ascension (Unknown date)
Black Haloes (Unknown date)
Bomber Command war memorial sculpture, Canberra, Australia (Unknown date)
Ohinetahi sphere

Throwback (Unknown date)

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