Kia ora, welcome
From the moment you encounter the reflective façade, entering a former cinema building that has been serving up contemporary art since 1970, or immerse yourself in the works of Len Lye, you’ll get a sense of the energy of this place.
We invite you to explore and experience the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Len Lye Centre, and discover why we’ve been 50 years ahead since 50 years ago.
News
Len Lye, Rainbow Dance, 1936
Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation and The British Postal Museum & Archive
From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
What’s On
God of the Piano
God of the Piano
God of the Piano
Mon 10 Aug 20 — Len Lye Centre Cinema
Composed as a moral parable with a touch of thriller, God of the Piano tells the story of a mother whose obsessive behaviour and mile-high expectations threaten to crush her child
Event Info
Len Lye, Birth of a Robot, 1936
Courtesy of Shell Global and the Len Lye
Foundation. From material preserved and made
available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Len Lye’s Experimental Cinema
Len Lye, Birth of a Robot, 1936
Courtesy of Shell Global and the Len Lye
Foundation. From material preserved and made
available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
5 Aug - 4 Dec 2020 — Len Lye Centre Cinema
Screened in association with our latest Len Lye exhibition, The Absolute Truth of the Happiness Acid, the Len Lye Centre Cinema presents a short survey of the artist’s most well-known films.
A thirty minute-long showing of short films will be shown daily.
Screenings will alternate between two different programmes; one of works produced in the United Kingdom during the 1930s and another of films made in the United States during the 1950s.
Event Info
Fashion designer Bobby Campbell Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki descent) is the guest speaker for our first Monica Brewster Evening of 2020
Bobby Campbell Luke: Ngakau Mahaki - Walking my mothers Footsteps
Fashion designer Bobby Campbell Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki descent) is the guest speaker for our first Monica Brewster Evening of 2020
Tues 11 August 2020 — Gallery 5 & 6
*Due to popular demand, we now have more tickets available for this event.
In this first talk of the Monica Brewster Evenings for 2020, fashion designer Bobby Campbell Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki descent) will speak about his design and art processes that explore Māori identity, culture and history as well as share the deeply personal narratives behind his work.
There will also be a chance to mix and mingle before the talk begins, and view a few of Bobby's designs under Sky Snakes.
Event Info
Greed
Greed
Greed
Thu 13 Aug 20 — Len Lye Centre Cinema
The fictional story of a retail billionaire, set in the glamorous and celebrity-filled world of luxury fashion, which is centered around the build up to a spectacular 60th birthday party in an exclusive hotel on the Greek island of Mykonos.
Event Info
Calm With Horses
Calm With Horses
Calm With Horses
Thu 13 Aug 20 — Len Lye Centre Cinema
A grimly effective portrait of one man's struggle with divided loyalties, elevated by standout performances from a stellar cast.
Event Info
News
Challenging notions of migration, race and border: new exhibition suite at The Govett-Brewster
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre continues to lead contemporary art with its latest exhibition suite.
Lens on Lye
Artists, experts, scholars, specialists and Len Lye film fans share their insights on the artist and filmmaker in this fortnightly series, Lens on Lye, inspired by the current exhibition 'The Absolute Truth of the Happiness Acid' (6 Jun — 1 Nov 2020).
This week’s blog comes from artist Anouk De Clercq, who transforms Len Lye’s lively, energetic scratch film 'Free Radicals' into poetic language, which seeks to create bodily empathy.
Candice Lin Speaks to Radio New Zealand's Standing Room Only
Ahead of their exhibition opening this Saturday 8 August, LA-based artist Candice Lin discusses how the themes in her collection, which looks at the history of plagues, viruses and blame, have been made uncannily relevant by current global events, on RNZ's Standing Room Only programme.
Digital Artist 'In Residence' Sorawit Songsataya
Our latest post from Govett-Brewster’s Artist ‘In Residence’ Sorawit Songsataya gives an immersive view into their forthcoming exhibition, which will open at the Gallery this coming weekend.
Songsataya is currently "in residence" at their home in Wellington, sharing insights into the development of their new project through the Govett-Brewster’s online platforms.
Lens On Lye
Artists, experts, scholars, specialists and Len Lye film fans will share their insights on the artist and experimental filmmaker in a brand new series coming to Instagram weekly, inspired by the current exhibition 'The Absolute Truth of the Happiness Acid' (6 Jun — 1 Nov 2020).
This week, curator Mark Williams recalls the extraordinary impact of a Len Lye film screening had on both himself and the fellow cinemagoers that filled the auditorium at the sold-out event, and why it is essential to support the creatives who make these moments possible.
Taranakite
Read the latest post by our current digital artist-in-residence, Sorawit Songsataya.
Over the next four weeks, the artist will be "in residence" at their home in Wellington, sharing insights into the development of their new project through the Govett-Brewster’s online platforms.
Look out on Instagram over the coming month as we reveal more.
Lens on Lye
Artists, experts, scholars, specialists and Len Lye film fans will share their insights on the artist and experimental filmmaker in a brand new series coming to Instagram weekly, inspired by the current exhibition 'The Absolute Truth of the Happiness Acid' (6 Jun — 1 Nov 2020).
To launch this series, media scholar Alla Gadassik reminds us that Lye's work is not only to be seen or heard but to be felt and expressed (particularly in the body) and that by simply tuning in to the actual rhythmic and sensory effects, we achieve the same euphoric bliss as psychedelics.
Introducing our First Digital Artist ‘In Residence’ of 2020…Sorawit Songsataya
Meet the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre’s current Artist ‘In Residence’; Sorawit Songsataya.
Over the next four weeks, Sorawit will be “in residence” at their home in Wellington, and sharing insights into the development of their new project through the Govett-Brewster’s online platforms.
Happening! This July and August
There’s plenty to explore and experience at The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre this winter.
The Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival, after-school art, free tours and brand new exhibitions from international and New Zealand-based artists are just some of the highlights for the rest of July and August.
July School Holidays at the Gallery
Visit the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre, this coming July school holidays, for free, fun things to do for all the family.
Alongside our current exhibitions, the Govett-Brewster Shop, regular public programming, including cinema screenings, we’ve got the following free activities running between 4-19 July.
Ngā Hua o te Tau Hou Māori. The Fruits of the Māori New Year.
"Tērā Puanga ka rewa i te pae
Nau mai, haramai ngā hua o te tau hou"
Have you seen Puanga rising to the east at dawn? Appearing between May and June, Puanga - the star Rigel in the constellation Orion, signals the beginning of winter and marks the Māori New Year for Taranaki iwi.
In Residence
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre is pleased to announce our 2020 Artists ‘In Residence’, who will take up month-long residencies in their own homes or studios.
Shop the
Govett-Brewster
Tangible/Intangible: The Sound of Sculpture
Caleb Kelly
Commissioned in association with the Govett-Brewster’s 2018 exhibition Sensory Agents,
Tangible/Intangible: The Sound of Sculpture looks to sculptural practices that explicitly employ sound as a medium.
Scholar and curator Caleb Kelly explores the development of sound arts through sculptural form and installation practices. The practices that he investigates uncover a changing understanding of the nature of sculpture itself and a new perspective of the importance of the senses in our appreciation of the arts.
$12.00
More info
Tangible/Intangible: The Sound of Sculpture
