The Geometric Totem Pole

When arriving at Brick Bay you will be entranced by the large scale ‘The Geometric Totem Pole’ proudly marking the entrance way to The Glass House. This new Leon van den Eijkel work which was installed via hiab and crane in late December, is a striking work made from steel and finished with high gloss automotive paint. For the past 28 years van den Eijkel has produced light boxes, sculptures, paintings and multimedia installations that utilise reflective surfaces and colours that are often based on his continuing dialogue between his Dutch homeland and the Pacific. Find out more about the work here.

Phantom Fleet Vessel I

The waka huia shaped Phantom Fleet Vessel I by Virginia King is gracing our waters peacefully, levitating miraculously just above the pond's surface. King says "While the vessel suggests boat hulls and empty seed pods associated with water and land, the work also makes reference to migration, endurance and loss. The sculpture alludes to immigrants deprivation and abandonment, and refers to rising sea levels and the urgency of addressing global warming." Virginia has exhibited a raft of sublime works over the last decade on the sculpture trail, and recently been in hot demand behind the scenes working on private commissions which have been co-ordinated and managed by the Brick Bay Sculpture Trust. This experience has culminated in the creation of a delicate skeletal form alluding to the nautical, anatomical and the botanical. Come and visit this Christmas to experience this sophisticated and elegant work, before it’s acquired by one very lucky collector.

Virginia Leonard at Brick Bay

Red Bed  and Cream are Virginia Leonard's first foray into the outside elements. Virginia states, "As the work gets larger and the construction becomes more important I find it is essential to retain the gestural nature within the work. Therefore the glaze, lustre and the resin becomes more loose and painterly. I am trying to create work that has the looseness of painting with the formality of ceramics. I intended the lustres, the gold and the silver to create tension in the work with the unexpected nature of these materials out in the bush".

Leonard's evocative ceramics are honest self-portraits that address her experiences of chronic pain and bodily scarring. Leonard is interested in pushing the clay and glazes beyond their limits to within an inch of cracking, splitting or just about to collapse under its own weight. Recent exhibitions include Installation Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary 2017, and Virginia was the invited artist in Residence, Guldagergaard, Denmark 2017.  Leonard is concurrently exhibiting in Pulse Miami this weekend with Mindy Solomon Gallery and in February 2018 she will be creating a large scale installation at Artgeneve.  As she is exhibiting internationally, Brick Bay Sculpture Trail is humbled to be the only venue that has her work available for viewing and immediate acquisition in the wider Auckland isthmus.

Psst...Rosé...

Just quietly… there may be a certain pale pink tipple available in The Glass House!

We’ve managed to sneak a few cases in from the winery for those of you who can’t wait another day! If you can’t make it into The Glass House no problem purchase a bottle or two online.

Clouds on the Lake

Our new work by Filipe Tohi has literally just landed; Formerly occupying pride of place in the forecourt of the Auckland Art Gallery, The White Cloud has settled on the Glass House lake at Brick Bay, and joins our stable of exceptional works available for purchase.

Filipe Tohi was born in Ngele‘ia, Nuku‘alofa, Tonga, and immigrated to New Zealand in 1978. In his art practice he has created through a pictorial language of simple geometric forms, a technique called 'Haupuha'. Haupuha is the transferring of traditional Haukafa patterns to create a form that explores volume with illusion and lines. These forms represent female and male binding patterns which are used within a pattern called Fakalava.

For further information please contact the arts manager, Jonathan Organ

E:jonathan@brickbay.co.nzM:022 390 7203