Kaipara’s sculpture park receives global acclaim
It’s open usually just once a month and there’s long waiting lists. When you get there, giraffes and buffalo share the rolling Kaipara landscape with the sculptures. And now the Wall St Journal rates it among the world’s best.
Kiwi millionaire Alan Gibbs’ sculpture park, Gibbs Farm, on the Kaipara Harbour, north Auckland, is the subject of a feature by Tony Perottet in June’s WSJ Magazine.
The article compares the 400-hectare park, which features huge sculptures by some of the world’s most famous artists, to other internationally renowned sculpture parks including New York’s Storm King park, Naoshima in Japan and Brazil’s Inhotim.
Gibbs, best known for making amphibious vehicles, is presented as one of a number of wealthy art patrons whose tastes have shaped the international art scene in recent years.
Perottet said Gibbs was unique among his contemporaries for the the hands-on approach he takes to making art on his Kaipara property.
‘‘The Gibbs Farm is as much a part of the art experience as the world-class sculptures [Gibbs] has commissioned,’’ Perottet said.
‘‘And Gibbs himself is a fascinating figure, quite unlike the other wealthy arts philanthropists who are changing the art market.
‘‘The collaborative process between Gibbs and artist and the artist’s response to the physical landscape at Kaipara definitely accounts for the uniqueness of his outdoor gallery.
‘‘Gibbs is assuredly part of the creative process, which is a real point of difference.’’
Artists are often flown into New Zealand to stay at the farm over several summers, giving them ample time to come up with work that complements the dramatic landscape.
Globally renowned artists interviewed for the feature included Anish Kapoor and Maya Lin.
Kapoor, whose massive red trumpet-like sculpture Dismemberment, Site 1 required the excavation of one of the farm’s hillsides, praised Gibbs’ willingness to ‘‘mess with the landscape’’.
‘‘Alan is not afraid to mess with the landscape. He understands what sculpture does. He knows why it needs to fit in the landscape,’’ he said.
Lim was equally enthusiastic, saying her first experience was ‘‘epic’’.
When production difficulties hit her earth-made work A Fold in the Field, requiring significant time delays and extra cost, ‘‘Alan didn’t quibble,’’ she said.
‘‘There are very few places to work at such a large scale.’’
Perottet’s article noted the interactions of farm animals with the sculptures, with yaks sharpening their horns on the 27-metre arches of French artist Bernar Venet’s 2012 sculpture 88.5 ARC x 8, and sheep rubbing against Richard Serra’s Te Tuhirangi Contour.
Gibbs said he hoped to commission works with increasing frequency in the coming years.
Visitors to the park have to book in advance and it isn’t open to the public on weekends, public holidays or school holidays.