The 26 artists who will be presenting artworks at the upcoming 2009 exhibition headland Sculpture on the Gulf have been announced. The event is held every two years on Waiheke Island, with works installed over two kilometres of the Matiatia-Church Bay walkway. The 2009 exhibition will run for three weeks from 23 January to 15 February 2009.

According to Project Director Dilys Grant "there are no limits to the creative responses that the unique coastal landscape engenders. Each of our 26 successful artists has presented inspiring concepts that challenge our preconceived notions of public sculpture and its response to our environment. Some of the installations will shadow the landscape, float on the ocean, scale trees, crash land, and some will even ambush the unsuspecting on the walk itself! "There is a healthy mix of previous exhibitors to headland Sculpture On The Gulf, nine in total, along with an impressive number of new artists to the event. And the 2009 artists hail from all over New Zealand, including six from the South Island, underlining the truly national status the event has now achieved.''

The full list is as follows: Tony Bond, Paul Cullen, Charlotte Fisher, Meiling Lee, Kazu Nakagawa, Pauline Rhodes, Jeff Thomson, Leon van den Eijkel, Richard Wedekind, Graham Bennett, Lucy Bucknall, Gill Gatfield, Chris Hargreaves, Robert Jahnke, Gaye Jurisich, Nic Moon, Stephen Mulqueen, Christian Nicolson, Louise Palmer, Louise Purvis, Paul Radford, Brydee Rood, Graham Snowden, Serene Thain, Fletcher Vaughan, and Graham Fletcher.

The three selectors for the 2009 exhibition were Jenny Harper, Director, Christchurch Art Gallery; Helen Kedgley, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Pataka Museum and Art Gallery, Porirua; and Justin Paton, Senior Curator, Christchurch Art Gallery.

About headland Sculpture on the Gulf

Headland Sculpture On The Gulf is New Zealand's premier outdoor sculpture exhibition, held every two years to showcase the country's leading sculptors. The event takes place on the magnificent two kilometre Matiatia-Church Bay coastal walkway, a public track administered by Auckland City, located at the western tip of Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf. The exhibition is a not-for-profit event and is free to the public.

In 2009, headland Sculpture On The Gulf will be held over a three-week period from 23 January to 15 February 2009, and will feature the 26 art works. During the previous event in 2007, more than 20,000 people visited the exhibition. First held in 2003, headland Sculpture On The Gulf arose from a desire to host a sculptural event outside gallery walls in a way that would acknowledge, embrace and enhance the stunning coastal scenery of Waiheke Island. Consequently, one of the main criteria for the selection of works is their appropriateness to the site; how they fit into the landscape; and what visual and physical connection as well as interaction they have with the environment. Placing the works and the public under the sky, beside the sea, in valleys and on headlands creates a unique opportunity to experience thought-provoking and innovative works for sale by New Zealand's leading sculptors in a stunning location.

Image: "Dispensary" by Louise Purvis - a collection of individual wire cages that connect together to create a large scale sculpture that reacts to the environment in which it is situated.

19/06/08