Page 19 - IAV Digital Magazine #605

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New Zealand City Bids Farewell To ‘Disturbing' Hand Sculpture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj_beTXq8lw
By Ben Hooper
Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A controversial sculpture of a giant hand with a human face is being removed from atop a gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, after overlooking the city for five years.
Quasi, a sculpture by Ronnie van Hout, was origi- nally commis- sioned by the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2016, and was moved to the top of City Gallery Wellington in 2019.
The 16.4-foot-tall
sculpture, based on van Hout's own hand and face, proved immediately con- troversial with some Wellington residents and was branded "disturb- ing" on social media.
Wellington Sculpture Trust Chair Jane Black said in a Wellington City Council news release that the sculpture will be missed.
"No other, before or since, arrived so dramatically into our street- scape. Quasi arriv ed on an azure-
blue morning by helicopter and created a stir from day one, locally, nationally and internationally. He was a great cheerleader for Wellington's cre- ativity, and as Time magazine said, our 'quirki- ness,'" Black said. "He will be missed and leaves a Quasi- shaped hole on our civic skyline."
Quasi is sched- uled to be removed Saturday and will travel to Australia, but a new venue for the sculpture has yet to be announced.
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