A Handsome Gift
Max Gimblett and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s handsome 2011 gift of 201 works on paper to Christchurch Art Gallery has finally reached the walls of the gallery. These are the basis for a compelling exhibition, Max Gimblett: Ocean Wheel, curated by Peter Vangioni. The show combined a selection of around 50 of the gifted works together with five additional large paintings from the gallery’s own collection and elsewhere—a sagacious decision which enabled the works on paper to be seen within the wider context of Gimblett’s output without being overwhelmed by works on a grander scale. So, although the exhibition properly focuses on the gifted works—spread over almost a half-century—it is also cognisant of the artist’s wider project.
On the verso of a large poster of one of Gimblett’s signature enso drawings (a free-hand, ink-brushed, white circle on a black background) given out free at the exhibition, Vangioni narrates the circumstances behind the gift. In 2010 he, along with Jenny Harper, then director of the gallery, spent nine days in New York City sorting through the (literally) thousands of works In practice the selection became a joint affair between the artist, his assistants and the Christchurch visitors, all of whom had input into the process. The works were set out in four large piles according to their basic shapes—ensos, geometrics, circles and quatrefoils—and a selection made from each pile in turn. These categories (plus a couple of extras) are reflected in the further selection made for the Christchurch exhibition.
