Sydow: Tomorrow Never Knows

This exhibition is now closed

1960s London set the scene for Carl Sydow’s playful, op-inspired sculptures.

Carl Sydow was one of a bright new generation of New Zealand sculptors who came to the fore during the 1960s and 70s, alongside John Panting, Stephen Furlonger and Leon Narbey. These artists rejected traditional sculptural materials and processes, choosing instead plastics, fibreglass and welded steel. Sydow’s works include sheets of zinc suspended on springs that shimmer when they move, as well as colourful garden hoses threaded through a sheet of Perspex.

Tragically, Sydow’s life was cut short in 1975 aged thirty-five. At the time, his career was in full flight and he was viewed by many as one of New Zealand’s leading sculptors. Tomorrow Never Knows focuses on the playful, up-tempo works produced in the last five years of the artist’s life and includes several sculptures from the Gallery’s collection alongside suites of his op-inspired drawings.

  • Date:
    25 March – 23 July 2017
  • Curator:
    Peter Vangioni
  • Exhibition number:
    1030