Public Art in Central Christchurch

E Noho Ra De Chirico

Media: Bronze Approximate dimensions: h 2.2m w .85m Location: Robert McDougall Art Gallery Setting: Situated at the portico to the Gallery Owner / administrator: The Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch City Council Category: Sculpture Title: E Noho Ra De Chirico Primary artist(s): Paul Dibble Foundry / fabricator: Out West Foundry, Palmerston North Execution date: 1995

E Noho Ra De Chirico was made by Paul Dibble for a 1995 exhibition. E Noho Ra De Chirico has two components, a leaf and a nude female torso. This sculpture was bought by the Robert McDougall Art Gallery for $30 000 in 1996. The two components of the sculpture were placed on either side of the entry to the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.

Plinths had been constructed on the sides of the entry to the Robert McDougall when it was built in 1932. However, the Dibble sculptures were the first to utilise this design feature.

Paul Dibble's intention for the work was to take the classical form of the European torso and to relocate it in a Pacific vernacular.¹ This relocation of classical elements is alluded to in the title, E Noho Ra De Chirico. The title pays homage to De Chirico, a modernist who often placed classical elements within the modernist environment of his art. This approach to the work is given further significance through the location of the sculptures, they are placed in the neo-classical architectural environment of the Robert McDougall's facade.

¹ Correspondence with Paul Dibble, 1997.

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