Landmark mural brought back to life
Generations of Naenae residents will be delighted to see the return of a landmark Guy Ngan mural to the Lower Hutt suburb.
The highly regarded New Zealand artist lived in Stokes Valley and is remembered for the variety of styles he worked in, including architecture, sculpture, painting and large murals.
His works are often found in prominent places, such as the tapestry in the Beehive and a sculpture at the Reserve Bank. He also produced the large sculpture at the entrance to Stokes Valley.
Ngan, who died in 2017 aged 91, spent much of his life trying to change the way public spaces are viewed and his large murals were an attempt to make public spaces more interesting.
Sixty-five years after a mural by Ngan became the first installed in a New Zealand Post Office, it’s been re-created as part of the soon-to-be-opened Naenae Community Centre. The recreation was overseen by HDT Architects and received the approval of Ngan’s family.
The former post office will be home to the new centre, which is scheduled to open later this month.
The original mural – the only time Ngan was known to have used linoleum – was commissioned for the opening of the post office in 1959. It provided a striking artistic focal point, which also featured a wooden counter and elegant pendant lights.
Incredibly, the original mural was believed to have been obliterated during a 1980s renovation. When the wall was uncovered, outlines of the removed lino provided a ghostly template, which was used as the base to recreate the original.
The updated work uses Autex acoustic panels, faithfully recreating the colours, dimensions and position of the original.
Ngan’s wife, Jean, and daughter Liz were given a preview of the partially completed mural and were delighted with what they saw. “I was blown away by the recreation,” said Liz. She praised the new mural and said her dad would have approved.
“I love how they’ve used Autex which is a building material Dad was very fond of … it’s entirely appropriate for the space and brings a liveliness to the environment."
Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry said bringing the mural back to life was a great achievement. "Having a mural based on the original work by Guy Ngan is historically significant. It links the new facility with one of Lower Hutt’s most important artists and will be enjoyed for years to come by those who use the centre."
The mural is the only known two-dimensional public artwork that Ngan made for the Hutt Valley.
His other public sculptures in Lower Hutt are the concrete Mating Worms on the Stokes Valley roundabout, and the stainless steel Elevating Worms sculpture at Stokes Valley’s Scott Court Shopping Centre.
Ngan was employed as a design consultant for the Ministry of Works in the 1950s, when he designed sculptures and murals for several government buildings. He continued this work in the 1960s and 1970s with architecture firm Stephenson and Turner.
His artistic legacy includes more than 40 works of public art in Aotearoa. He also designed the recently restored wall hanging Forest In The Sun, which was commissioned from Stokes Valley weaver Joan Calvert for the Beehive’s opening.
Heritage New Zealand lists the Post Office building as a nationally important structure. “The graceful 14.3-metre tower made the post office an immediate landmark and it remains the suburb’s most arresting building. It was constructed to serve the burgeoning population of the innovative and now historically-significant state housing suburb of Naenae.”
It was built by the Ministry of Works under government architect Gordon Wilson and architect John Blake-Kelly.
“It demonstrates a transition from Bauhaus-influenced international modernism towards the Brutalist architectural style, using high quality materials and fixtures, and is the best example of a small modernist post office from this period in New Zealand.”
In 1983, Ngan was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the arts.