9 March 2000

Boyd Webb 18 March - 21 May Showing at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery 'Artists are licensed to dream, to imagine the unimaginable.' - Boyd Webb

Colourful, large, thought-provoking and occasionally controversial, the exhibition ‘Boyd Webb’, showing at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery from 18 March until 21 May, presents what is best about the Christchurch-born and trained sculptor come photographic artist. Now working out of London, Boyd Webb has been hailed by the Guardian as the most successful photographer to emerge in the past 15 years.

'I have tried to make work on the scale of domestic doors, hoping the viewer could metaphorically walk into the picture, be sucked in and not notice the edges' The exhibition 'Boyd Webb' will consist of 52 photographic works and two full colour films. The large scale works confront the viewer physically and their impact is unmistakable.

Blurring the boundaries between illusion and reality the fanciful scenes that Webb photographs have often been created in a studio by arranging inexpensive every-day items such as carpet, inflatable toys and plastic wrap into fantastic theatre-like sets.

The 51 year old surrealist photographer, a New Zealander who left in 1972, is relatively unknown in his home country but enjoys international acclaim from his London base. Born in Christchurch, he left for England after training in sculpture at Canterbury University's department of fine arts. In London, he joined the Royal College of Arts.

Sometimes quirky, often elegant, Boyd Webb challenges our beliefs and, in his quasi-surrealist manner, he turns the ordinary into the extraordinary. For Webb, photographs don't document the real; they reveal what is possible - they are tools for dreamwork, tickets to ride, diagrams of the unknown.

Boyd Webb currently lives in England and his works are included in a number of internationally recognised collections such as the Tate Gallery in London and the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris.

Complimenting the exhibition will be a comprehensive series of public programmes which will feature a special focus on photography. Speakers include Jenny Harper, curator of the exhibition and HOD of Art History a Victoria University, Glen Busch, Brendan Lee, Margaret Dawson, Alistar Crawford and Ronnie Kelly. These talks will be held on every Sunday at 11am whilst the exhibition is open. Admission to the exhibition and these excellent talks is free.

If you require any reproductions, background material or more information regarding the exhibition please do not hesitate to contact us.

David Chin or Anna-Marie Dew:

Ph (03) 379 4201
Fax (03) 379 4918

Email david.chin@ccc.govt.nz