Fountain III at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 1977. Len Lye Foundation Collection, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre
Exhibition
27 Mar — 29 Jul 2017
Len Lye: Fountain III
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Kinetic Works, Len Lye’s first major solo exhibition in New Zealand, we present the kinetic sculpture Fountain IIIWystan Curnow with Len Lye's Fountain III at Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 1977. Image courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation Collection, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre
Len Lye’s Fountain III is shown alongside exhibition documentation and ephemera.
In March 1977, the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery presented Kinetic Works, the world’s first survey of Len Lye’s work and the first exhibition of his work in his homeland of New Zealand.
The exhibition included the now well-loved kinetic sculptures Trilogy (A Flip & Two Twisters) and Fountain III, subsequently acquired by then director Ron O’Reilly for the Govett-Brewster Collection. These two works in particular testify to the relationship between the artist, gallery and the city of New Plymouth. Lye worked with a team (led by engineer John Matthews) to build new larger-scale versions of these sculptures in New Plymouth, establishing a relationship that continues to this day.
