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Popular New Zealand artist Bing Dawe has received the Stoneleigh People's Choice Award for his sculpture, Wishing for St Francis.

Popular New Zealand artist Bing Dawe has received the Stoneleigh People's Choice Award for his sculpture, Wishing for St Francis.

The award, voted for by the public during Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens 2009/10, was presented by Stoneleigh winemaker Jamie Marfell at the closing of the three-and-a-half-month exhibition at Auckland Botanic Gardens.

"This exhibition is about appreciating art in a public place, so it is fitting that the people who have come here and enjoyed Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens get to select the worthy recipient of this award," says Jamie Marfell.

Bing Dawe's sculpture is made from laser cut steel, with native birds crafted from bronze.

It reflects Dawes' ongoing concern for New Zealand's native flora and fauna, and features birds swirling and posturing around a stylised tree trunk.

From the series, A landscape with too many holes, Wishing for St Francis was sold at the start of the exhibition and will be displayed in a park in the United States.

Win reflects passion for flora and fauna

Bing Dawe says winning the award is a heartening affirmation that people share his passion for New Zealand flora and fauna.

"If you want to say something you believe is important and get a public forum such as this, you have to consider yourself lucky," he says.

"Winning the Stoneleigh People's Choice Award makes it clear to me that there is interest from the public in the plight of endangered and threatened birds."

Bing Dawe says he has done a lot of work around New Zealand native species that are "never much loved", such as black shags and eels, because in general people are not attracted to them and their plight gets forgotten.

"What I have found most interesting with eels is that people consider them to be scary and dark, yet everyone has had an eel experience or is familiar with them, so I can get my point across."

About Bing Dawe

For Bing Dawe, art is a vehicle for communicating his wider concerns about political, cultural and environmental issues.

Since graduating from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts in the mid 1970s, he has exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand and overseas. He has held more than 40 solo exhibitions and his work is held in most public and private collections in New Zealand and overseas. Bing Dawe was the 1999 winner of the Wallace Visa Gold Art Award.

His work, Never Much Loved – Black Shag at the Ox-Bow, featured in the inaugural Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens in 2007/08.

Bing Dawe was born in Oamaru and lives in Christchurch.

Visitor numbers high

Preliminary figures for Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens estimate that more than 300,000 people came to the gardens between early November 2009 and the closing of the show on 14 February 2010. The exhibition featured 20 sculptures by top New Zealand artists on a 1.8km trail through the gardens.

"The numbers of visitors at the exhibition go from strength to strength - no wonder, when people can enjoy these fabulous gardens as well as inspiring and intriguing large-scale public works of art," says Councillor Sandra Coney, Chair of Auckland Regional Council (ARC) Parks and Heritage Committee.

"We thank all of the artists who took part in this show for sharing their talent with the regional public," she says.

At the opening of Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens, After the Flood by Auckland artist Christine Hellyar was awarded the McConnell Property Supreme Award. This award was judged by the exhibition's curatorial panel of Alexa Johnston, Leo Jew and Lisa Reihana.

The Friends of the Auckland Botanic Gardens has supported Stoneleigh Sculpture in the Gardens from the outset and championed the idea of a large-scale sculpture trail with the ARC.

This support includes a pledge to buy an artwork from each exhibition. At the opening, the Friends announced the purchase of Caught in the Act of Losing You by Colleen Ryan-Priest. This artwork will remain in the gardens' permanent collection.