Town Hall Designs Walled Up

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31083, 11 June 1966, Page 18

Town Hall Designs Walled Up

The Christchurch Town Hall Competition designs were walled up in the Durham Street Art Gallery yesterday to keep avanie-garae art, artists and the public out. x

An Bft high wall was constructed by the Christchurch City Council in the north

hall of the gallery so that the Town Hall competition judges can work in privacy during the first week of the 20/20 Vision art exhibition, which will open this evening.

The wall includes two thicknesses of insulating panels, a small door through which only a handful of people will be allowed to pass, and a strand of barbed wire along the top. the latter contributed by the artists.

When the 20/20 Vision group booked the gallery for its show only the south hall was required, and so when the north hall was later let for the competition no objection was raised. Found Door Locked However, when the 20/20 artists began to bring their work to the gallery for their exhibition this week, they found the front door—which led to the south hall through the north—locked and they] had to use the back door.

The artists had no objection to using the back door while preparing the exhibition, but protested at the prospect of the front door being locked during the exhibition because the public would be denied the use of the main entrance and also of the toilets and cloakrooms just inside. The organisers decided the competition would stay, so the wall was built. While the carpenters were at work, Mr C. Toomey, the Wellington quantity surveyor checking the five stage-two competition designs, moved with the designs into an inner office —' locking the door. Division Of Artists

After the wall was up an argument divided the artists. The 20/20 Vision members encourage themselves to experiment, to extend the frontiers of art, to absorb contemporary influences and to produce work to surprise or even astound the public. A 15ft high pinex figure sent from Auckland by Pat Hanly for the show, entitled “Mother, Pal and Sweetheart,” astounded even the 20/20 members. Because Hanly had included with the instructions

for assembly a note. “Don’t return—destroy after the show,” one artist said, “Well, if he thinks only that of it, we shouldn’t bother to put it

Another argued that if Hanly had been invited to contribute, and had paid his own air freight, they should not set themselves up as judges for, after all, shortlived art had its supporters overseas.

After a vote, it was decided to show the figure and to place it next to the work of the artist who said that he liked it. Prize Winners

This year two 20/20 members, David Graham and Quentin MacFarlane, gained major prizes in the Hay’s Art Competition and two, Michael Eaton and Don Peebles, received merit awards.

The other artists exhibiting are John Coley, Tom Taylor, Trevor Moffitt, Tom Kreisler, Ted Bracey, Pat Williams, Michael Kitson, Maurice Askew, Richard Frizzell, David Graves and John Drawbridge. Not all of the North Island work had been received last night, but some was expected to arrive today. Nothing had been heard of when the “assemblages” of Graves

would arrive. Graves, a Mexi-can-born American now settled in Wellington, had promised some works which could be disrespectfully described as “pots and pan men,” several figures constructed from about £6O worth of kitchen utensils.