25 June 2015

Giant geometric artwork for Victoria Street

Victoria Street is about to get an injection of creativity and colour as Wellington artist David Brown turns the side of the four-storey re.SPACE building into a huge geometric artwork.

The 11-metre-high mural will be a prominent feature of re.SPACE, a newly refurbished exhibition and event venue, and will complement the street transformation work and new paved parks that are almost finished. The mural will be painted over the coming weeks from a crane.

Councillor Ray Ahipene-Mercer, the Council’s Portfolio Leader for Economic Growth and Arts, says the city’s arts strategy aims to bring more art out into Wellington streets and public spaces and this is another excellent example of that in action.
“It is also fantastic to see a large public artwork going up in an area that will soon be frequented by large numbers of arts students and home to a lot more people.

“With new apartments planned, the imminent completion of all the new public spaces, and Willis Bond starting work on the new Whitireia/WelTech creative arts campus for more than 1000 students, we are seeing a neighbourhood take shape here. It’s great that public art is going to be a part of that.”

Artist David Brown, who has received local and national recognition for his geometric paintings, says he is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Council and re.SPACE and display his work in such a prominent location.
"I’ve been thinking for a while about how my work would change as a result of scale and location, so I'm very much looking forward to the challenges as well as the outcomes of painting such a large work in a public space.”

re.SPACE Director and building co-owner Julie Daysh, who lives and works in the building at 176–178 Victoria Street, says David’s design is bold, bright and strong – reflecting the area’s positive future and the necessary steps that are part of making big transformations.

“This piece is site specific,” she says. “It is about the step-by-step nature of rejuvenating not only this building, but the street itself.”

Julie believes the mural – and new paved parks and pedestrian areas – will all help make the area a much better place for people.

“The walkways are wide now, where they weren’t before. In places, you could only walk in single file. It’s going to totally change the experience for pedestrians.”

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