One of my first and most vivid art memories was at the Govett Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth. I was about nine years old and was on holiday with my parents and two younger brothers in Taranaki, and was trying to convince Mum and Dad that there was absolutely no need to spend a lovely summer's day inside a stupid art gallery. A few moments later, I was standing completely gobsmacked in front of the enormous whirling stainless-steel strips of Lye's 'Trilogy (A Flip and Two Twisters)' and thinking this art thing was actually pretty cool.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that it's exciting to see the Govett Brewster's proposed Len Lye Centre has taken another major step towards becoming a reality, with the government chipping in $4 million over the next two years to develop the project. We're also excited to see that it seems as if the Govett Brewster has chosen a design scheme for the building by Pattersons (headed by architect Andrew Patterson) that befits an artist of Lye's significance. Here's an artist's impression of the building, its silvery, jagged skin suggesting the movement and musicality of Lye's works:
