MASTER OF MOTION

The Govett-Brewster is familiar to many as the home of Aotearoa-born film-maker and kinetic sculptor Len Lye (1901–1980). Last year, the gallery celebrated 40 years of Len Lye and five years since the opening of its Len Lye Centre extension.

The gallery’s relationship with Lye goes back to its first decade, when. While Lye was a fierce critic of museum attitudes towards kinetic sculpture, his working relationship with the Govett-Brewster was positive and the gallery provided a desirable location for The Len Lye Foundation to deposit its collection after its formation and the artist’s death in 1980.