Dick Frizzell will lend his artistic hand to create a limited edition silkscreen print to help fundraise money for the Hundertwasser Arts Centre & Wairau Maori Art Gallery in Whangarei. The Hundertwasser Foundation in Vienna has given Frizzell the copyright permission to produce the print, with the working title of ‘Homage a Hundertwasser’.
Friedensreich Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist and architect, who has ties to New Zealand after he purchased land in the Bay of Islands in the 1970s, where he lived until his death in 2000. He designed and built the Bottle House, as well as the 'Hundertwasser Toilets' in Kawakawa which is a hot spot for tourists, and one of the most photographed toilet blocks in New Zealand. In 1993, the Mayor of Whangarei invited him to design an art centre for the city and now 20 years on, this design will hopefully be implemented with the help of donations and backing from local council and national museums and galleries.
The Art Centre will have a gallery space to exhibit over 50 original works by Hundertwasser on loan from Vienna and will also include the Wairau Maori Art Gallery, to showcase and celebrate contemporary Maori art. They hope to raise upwards of $13 million and commence building in 2017.
For more information on this project and ways in which you can donate or volunteer, visit their website here.
