Art for Art's Sake

If you’ve ever walked through an art gallery and felt, well, underwhelmed, you’re not alone. Many modern galleries can be dispiriting affairs, airless and antiseptic, with their contents to be discussed in hushed tones and knowing nods rather smiles and gasps and exclamations. Auckland couple Sandra and Anthony Grant decided they wanted to change that. And Sculptureum is the result.

“Sculptureum is intended to show people myriad different art forms they’ve never seen before and help them realise how interesting art can be,” says Anthony, and that pretty much hits the nail on the head.

Because Sculptureum is an art space like no other. Ten hectares of gardens and galleries, a function centre, a vineyard and a restaurant – Rothko – it took more than ten years of work to become a reality, but the result is inspiring. Located in Matakana about an hour north of Auckland, its galleries contain works by Cezanne and Chagall, Matisse and Rodin, as well as sculptures and contemporary works in plastic, metal and other materials by artists from all over the world, as well as works by New Zealand artists. There are more than 750 works in all, but it isn’t just the scale of Sculptureum that excites the viewer, it’s also the style. Pieces in the Galleries are arranged to inspire curiosity and humour, with serious European masters side by side with contemporary pop art and works that defy classification. And its layout is as much a tip of the hat to Disneyland and Dr. Seuss as it is to the Guggenheim Museum.

Its layout is as much a tip of the hat to Disneyland and Dr. Seuss as it is to the Guggenheim Museum.

“The Galleries are designed to be more theatrical than typical Galleries with black walls, bright lights and music,” Anthony says, and this unique style certainly helps make Sculptereum something out of the ordinary.

The gardens - The Garden of Creative Diversity, The Palm Garden and The Pink Snail Garden - are just as startling, just as challenging. All were designed by Anthony Grant himself and each features a different focus. The Garden of Creative Diversity contains 46 works, huge prehistoric rocks, texts musing on art and music, and a walkway lined by quotes from Steve Jobs. A prominent feature in the Galleries is a large “Chandelier” by the American glass artist Dale Chihuly, which is exhibited in its very own gallery, and in keeping with the glass theme there are significant works by Italian master Lino Tagliapietra, USA artist Dante Marioni, and Australians Nick Mount, David Hay, Tim Shaw, Ben Edols and Kathy Elliott.

A collision of ideas and concepts that shouldn’t make sense and yet are thought provoking and strangely satisfying.

Animals also feature prominently – Grant is a firm believer that nature is the greatest creator of art – with exotic birds to be found in five aviaries located across the property, rabbits housed in a grassy arena that is aptly and wryly named Rabbiton, and turtles in a tank raised to eye height as opposed to being on the ground.

Anthony & Sandra Grant

If Sculptureum sounds like a peculiar hybrid, that’s because it is. It’s a collision of ideas and concepts that shouldn’t make sense and yet are thought provoking and strangely satisfying. In a world where art has become all too predictable and serious, Sculptureum is breathing some life back into the whole gallery concept.