Paul Dibble The Geometric Figures 20 Years
published by Dibble Art Company isbn 978-0-473-38928-4 photography Graeme Brown, Vision Media Manawatu, unless otherwise stated. design direction Hayden Doughty text Dibble Art Company printing by Graeme Brazier Š 2017. All text and images copyright the artist. All rights reserved.
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They have been a background beat in his artistic practice since the late 1990s when the first of Paul Dibble’s series that was loosely termed The Hard Geometrics was made. While Dibble has diverted to other studies this series has persisted; sometimes assuming centre stage, sometimes in unrelated solitude against the main task. Perhaps the enduring attraction of this series, which has extended over 20 years, is the purer form of aesthetic it presents – Dibble able to flex his artistic muscles in working with proportion and balance. The geometrics are a series of
Although there were earlier pre-
Simple holes cut out indicate breasts.
works that are figurative in content with
liminaries the first exhibition of these
A subtle curve marks a shoulder or hip,
the human form reduced to simple geo-
works was in 1998 in an exhibition titled
a delicate protruding tummy or a slight
metric shapes. The style references the
“Revisiting Formalism: From the Workshop”.
indent forms a shoulder blade. There is
constructionists from the 20s and 30s –
Then they seemed to be a decisive turn
the careful use of angles – a leg that might
artists like Archipenko, Zadkine and Arp –
from the more narrative works which
be pulled just back behind another to
but the Dibble geometrics tend to have an
were being made. These new pieces had
emphasise a point of balance. The use of
elegant clean line, the homage in the start
their own language of mass and movement,
this componentry does lend them a sense
frame only and they have become imbibed
harmonies of curves and forms, negative
of the architectural, the pieces puzzled
with their own stylistic characteristics.
spaces that asserted their own presence;
together into a greater form. Yet they
all fine-tuned to perfect balance. The more
also seem to have a quality that implies
simple the shapes the more sophistication
a fragility, many with added props, some
is produced. Cones replace legs, and spheres become substitutes for heads.
cleverly mirroring, or counterbalancing
array of possibilities. If looked at in a time
era references these former experiments.
other square limbs in the upper body,
sequence you can sense a shift, a more
But it is hard not to also believe in worlds
a sense of delicacy; that the work is only
confident hand, an elegant streamlining-
of change that solid compositional shapes
just managing to stand upright.
making the forms more slender, a change
present an appeal.
What is most alluring about these
in proportions that accompanies a dis-
In 2016 a unique opportunity present-
reductions is that their simplicity confers
tinctive time slot in history. So, looking
ed itself where a series of these figures
a more refined sense of gesture, and with
back, the works from the 90s appear
could be assembled together. The Stuart
this exudes a strong emotional charge.
now as near caricature. A series in 2008
Residence Halls Council, a group strongly
The whittling of a limb and softened
seemed to possess a lighter quality, one
associated with the University of Otago
shoulders give a work such as Quiet Space,
artwork playfully suggestive of the famous
in Dunedin, for their 75th anniversary
2016 that sense of still vulnerability and
Marilyn Monroe pose of skirt being blown
commissioned a large work to fit within
solitude. Little Sister, 2015 and her near
up by the wind from a vent the actress
the Otago campus. The work was installed
relation Holding the Movement, 2015
suggestively leans above. By 2014 they
at the pedestrian access of Castle and
have a sense of the cheerful slightly spoilt
are sleek and cooler. Some studies have
Union streets where hundreds travel daily,
youngest daughter jumping tip toe. In The
been reworked over time, a similar stance
students traversing as they shift from
Second Daughter, 1999 she is a pouting
yet the finish and slight variations in sizing
one class to another. The bronze figures,
adolescent, hip flirtatiously swung and
and angles lending the works a different
enlarged and abstracted re-enactments
arms crossed as defiant temptress. Into
atmosphere.
of the people sharing the crossroad, are
a Southerly, 2015 has the figure pushing
The exaggerated poses convey
distributed in a random configuration that
against a gale, striving to make headway
an array of suggestions. In some they
the walkers might assume and with the
with the second leg swung back to further
stand straight and tall as if an assert-
same variations in posture and gesture.
accentuate the movement forward.
ive guardian protectively overlooking a
Their placement forces those passing by
Additional smoothing of these forms
plot of homeland (like The Girl Stands
to interact with the works while they
(reducing the reductions), turning them
Tall, 2014). Another (The Balanced
navigate around them, becoming part of the artwork themselves, the figures no
into more rounded shapes, moving away
Girl, 2015) stands like a nervous school
from the human form into abstraction
girl on the first day of term. Some are
longer statuary but an installation that
created another body of works, starting
haughty; some luxuriously stretch their
inclusively welcomes people in.
around 2004 and continuing for several
arms above their head as if revelling in a
Uniting the figures over the area
years. Their source was one particular
sunny day, some have a sensual exposed
is a large relief cross with a lighting strip
study, Long Horizon, 1999 based loosely
naked quality. All achieve a cool surreal
mounted into the ground, marking the
on a woman reclining at a beach, the long
elegance, strangely, along with the strong
intersection with a giant “X” and also
horizontal line of a leg echoing the line of
sense of humanity and gesture.
evoking the St Andrew’s Cross of Scotland.
a distant ocean. Now the legs were pulled
Looking at the works as a whole,
The surface of the panels is embellished
upward and the torso curled around so the
different series springing up, reforming
with modelling – icons of Otago (with the
forms became round, and in semi-relief
and refining, gives thoughts to the spring-
requisite Railway Building represented),
the profiles puffed out. In contrast to the
board or catalyst for the sculptures. The
the area’s flora and fauna, University mottos – giving scope for discovery when
older series they were playfully called The
period in which the Dibble geometrics
Soft Geometrics. These were a new area
have been made could be said to have
moving across the area. But it is the figures
and a multiple of models were made, a
parallel in social environment with the
towering across the campus grounds that
great many scaled up into large works,
constructionists even though they are
give the artwork presence, assemblages
many mounted on semi curved stands.
nearly a hundred years apart. There
of mathematical forms but allegories of
The original figures then assumed
the upheaval was from the industrial
human-ness.
the description Hard Geometrics and
revolution – fantastical new machines, job
it became a persistent thread, with its
losses, an alteration of the landscape – a different world that artists reacted to by creating new artworks never seen before. Dibble as part of a new technological
Index
all works are made in cast bronze unless otherwise stated
cover image
Detail of Quiet Space, 2016
2.12m x 380mm x 300mm inside cover image
Reclining Figure model, 1999 210mm x 410mm x 70mm
Rising Figure model, 1999
The artist in the studio with works in progress
250mm x 450mm x 120mm
page 4
Holding the Balance, 2002
Paul Dibble, 2017
page 5
The Big Screen model, 1997
page 9
2.7m x 800mm x 800mm page 10 {From left to right & top to bottom}
300mm x 100mm x 100mm
Artist drawing circa 2000
page 6
Geometric Figure 6 model, 2008
Invitation for an exhibition at Gow Langsford Gallery in 1998. The artwork featured on the invitation is Snapshot, 1998 2.5m x 800mm x 800mm page 7 & 8 {Working across
rows & left to right} first row
715mm x 160mm x 160mm
The Girl Stands Tall, 2014 2.03m x 335mm x 330mm page 15
Kouras Figure, 2009 640mm x 160mm x 160mm page 16 {From left to right}
Moving Forwards, Looking Backwards, 2000 2.28m x 750mm x 710mm
The Second Daughter, 1999 2.2m x 750mm x 740mm page 17
Moving Forwards, Looking Back, 2000
Place, 1999
detail
2.25m x 550mm x 540mm
page 18
Another View, Another Border model, 1999 250mm x 200mm x 200mm
The Second Daughter, 1999 detail
page 19 {From left to right
1.2m x 1.1m x 400mm
Geometric Figure 7 model, 2008
Long Horizon second study, 2000
700mm x 160mm x 280mm
580mm x 170mm x 170mm
Artist drawing circa 1998
Looking Ahead, 2015
Long Horizon medium, 1999
210mm x 420mm x 70mm
Reclining Figure, 2000 1.9m x 1.4m x 400mm
Long Horizon study, 2016 280mm x 480mm x 110mm second row
Reclining Figure model, 1999 210mm x 480mm x 70mm
Long Horizon, 1999 2.1m x 2.4m x 500mm
Long Horizon, 2001 stainless steel, 230mm x 400mm x 130mm
Reclining Figure, 2000 1.9m x 1.2m x 400mm third row
Long Horizon, 1999 2.1m x 2.4m x 500mm
Long Horizon model, 1999 240mm x 420mm x 70mm
Long Horizon, 2008 2.5m x 3.3m x 500mm
bottom row {Left to right}
Body Architecture study 2, 2000
A Quiet Time Second Study, 2014 520mm x 200mm x 180mm
The Model 1, 1999
Figure of Ease, 2014
600mm x 200mm x 200mm
Body Architecture study 1, 1999 750mm x 200mm x 200mm page 11 & 12 {From left to right}
Geometric Figure 2 model, 2008
720mm x 250mm x 160mm
Geometric Figure 4 model, 2008 640mm x 160mm x 160mm
Geometric Figure 1 model, 2008 700mm x 300mm x 160mm
530mm x 170mm x 170mm page 20
Installation view of the models at the exhibition “The Geometric Figure” at Milford House, Dunedin in 2015. image by Glenn Frei. The front model is Little Sister, 2014 590mm x 170mm x 170mm
2.06m x 350mm x 350mm 2.3m x 350mm x 350mm page 14 {From left to right}
640mm x 360mm x 130mm
Figure Observing, 2014
Long Horizon, 1999
2m x 370mm x 370mm
Resolute, 2016 2.4m x 840mm x 840mm
Figure of Ease, 2016 2.12m x 290mm x 400mm
Quiet Space, 2016 2.12m x 380mm x 300mm page 29 {From left to right}
The Long View, 2016 2.4m x 740mm x 740mm
A Good Outlook, 2016 2.2m x 720mm x 720mm page 30
Resolute, 2016 2.4m x 840mm x 840mm page 31
The Pose, 2016 detail page 32
Figure of Ease, 2016 detail page 33 & 34 {From left to right}
Putting Your Best Foot Forward, 2015 2.7m x 800mm x 800mm
Quiet Space, 2016 2.12m x 380mm x 300mm
Figure of Ease, 2016 2.12m x 290mm x 400mm
The Pose, 2016 2.03m x 410mm x 275mm
A Good Outlook, 2016
page 21 shows work in progress before patination, page 22
page 23 & 24 Installation views of the exhibition “The Geometric Figure” at Milford House, Dunedin in 2015. images by Glenn Frei.
Geometric Figure 2, 2001
2.03m x 410mm x 275mm
2.7m x 800mm x 800mm
Putting Your Best Foot Forward, 2015
page 13 {From left to right}
240mm x 410mm x 70mm
page 27 & 28 {From left to right}
The Pose, 2016
The Long View, 2016
shows the artwork complete. Both are photographed in the artist’s studio.
680mm x 160mm x 160mm
510mm x 135mm x 135mm
page 21 & 22
Geometric Figure 3 model, 2008
Geometric Figure 1, 2001
fourth row
640mm x 140mm x 140mm
610mm x 200mm x 200mm
Long Horizon third study, 2000
Long Horizon model, 2001
& top to bottom}
Into a Head Wind, 2014
page 26
The Long View model, 2016
page 25
The Calm, 2015
2.4m x 740mm x 740mm 2.2m x 720mm x 720mm page 35 to 42
Pathways, 2016, figures of a
height of around 3.2 metres tall, ground cross panelling with LED lighting 14 metres across. Commissioned by The Stuart Residence Halls Council for the University of Otago. Images show the artwork on site (image by Peter Shelton), details of two of the figures and at night (images by Sharron Bennett).
2.15m x 490mm x 400mm
2.1m x 2.4m x 500mm
Paul Dibble - biography Born in Waitakaruru, near Thames, from 1963-7 Dibble studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland graduating with a BFA Honours in Sculpture. Paul’s first solo exhibition was in 1971 at the Barry Lett Gallery, Auckland. He has since maintained a consistent exhibition schedule in NZ and overseas. In 2006, in collaboration with Athfield Architects he completed a large New Zealand memorial sited at Hyde Park Corner in London. This work was opened on Armistice Day, with a dedication attended by the Prime Minister Helen Clark, Tony Blair the Prime Minister of Britain and the Queen and many members of the royal family. He was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 and an Honorary Doctorate, the first in the visual arts, from Massey University in 2007.