Artist John Gibb emigrated from Scotland and settled in Christchurch in 1876, and was soon recognised as the area’s leading artist. Gibb painted in the academic style, favouring the early morning and evening light when the sun is low and the landscape is bathed for a moment in a luminous glow. Ōtira’s mountains break majestically through low cloud, as light leads the eye down to the wild, raging river below. A horse-drawn coach seems minuscule compared to the sheer force of nature as presented by Gibb.

(Endless Light, 29 June 2019 – 8 March 2020)