Previous Exhibitions

This month's exhibition is WET: works by Palmerston North powerhouse creative couple, Fran and Paul Dibble. 

The exhibition features a series of recent waterfall sculptures by bronze artist Paul, and selected paintings and sculptures by Fran.

WET: artist statement

"Water has always been the most magical of substances. Making lakes and seas it hosts new worlds submerged.

Billowing clouds can fill the skies; rain falls to nurture or cause floods of destruction. It can be the soft dew of morning, or in rivers moving in torrents to carve rocks into valleys.

In awe we stand near the magnificence of a waterfall, making humans suddenly very small.

So it becomes an obvious, if not the obvious, subject for art - lending as symbol for the landscape, for great power, from the ordinary."

Paul Dibble waterfalls

“Waterfalls are a pertinent part of New Zealand art history. Ours is a mountainous country and falling water is a distinctive feature.

The Colin McCahon waterfalls are our icons, this pouring of water heavy with religious overtones, offering a blessing on the land.

In Dibble’s waterfall sculptures, as if a silent eulogy to water, the element is portrayed as completely stilled; a luxuriant oozing over the hillside rather than a dynamic splash.”

Adapted from “Paul Dibble X: A Decade of Sculpture”, by Fran Dibble (2020) 

Paul Dibble – brief bio

 
Born in 1943, Paul studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland, graduating with a BFA (Hons) in Sculpture.

Paul has produced a number of significant commissions, and received high acclaim for his significant work for the New Zealand Memorial in London’s Hyde Park Corner.

Paul was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004, and holds an Honorary Doctorate in Visual Arts from Massey University. He became an Honorary Fellow of Palmerston North’s Universal College of Learning (UCOL) in 2012, and in 2019 was received into Manawatu’s Te Aho Tāmaka programme, celebrating Manawatū leaders.

Fran Dibble – brief bio

Born in Connecticut (USA) in 1962, Fran immigrated to New Zealand with her family as a teenager.

Fran holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Botany, a M.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry and a BA in Philosophy. Her interest in these disciplines informs her artistic practice, encompassing both painting and bronze casting.

Fran has long been fascinated by water, “something small and commonplace that has had such a grandiose effect in creating the landscape.” Recent works depict moody skies over seas, juxtaposed against scenes from nature and more abstract panels. 

In 2007, Fran was awarded a Queen’s Service Medal for services to art. She became an Honorary Fellow of Palmerston North’s Universal College of Learning (UCOL) in 2012, and in 2019 was received into Manawatu’s Te Aho Tāmaka programme, celebrating Manawatū leaders.