John Johns
b.1924, d.1999
Tuatara, Stephens Island
- 1973
- Gelatin silver print
- Gift of Mrs Bobbie Johns, 2015
- 255 x 383mm
- 2015/025
- View on google maps
Tags: animals, monochrome
Tuatara means ‘spiny back’ in Māori. This unusual creature is found only in Aotearoa New Zealand. There are two species of tuatara, the last surviving members of an order of reptiles that existed alongside the dinosaurs 220 million years ago. That isn’t the only unique thing about the tuatara: they have a light-sensitive ‘third eye’ beneath the scales on the top of their head; its purpose is still not completely understood by scientists.
(Beasts, 2015)
Exhibition History
Related reading: Beasts
Notes
Zoology
I'm pretty sure the kids at my daughters pre-school haven't seen Cai Guo-Qiang's Heritage, which was commissioned for his show Falling Back To Earth at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane last year.
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The Mouse-trap by Petrus van der Velden
This article first appeared as 'Cleverly caught' in The Press on 14 February 2014.
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It's Showtime!
Today is Show Day here in Canterbury. Over at Canterbury Agricultural Park you can see thousands of animals being put through their paces or if you'd rather, you can look at some of these equally beautiful beasts from our collection.
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Eileen Mayo
It's 107 years since this multi-talented artist, described by art historian Kenneth Clark as 'outstandingly good', was born in Norwich, England.
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Lizard's Lounge
I stumbled into their lair on accident, and found myself in a madhouse of reptilian decree. I immediately froze, in a vain hope they had not noticed me in my peculiarity, but my attempts were feeble, I had been seen. I felt a cold sweat and a shiver ran down my spine as they glared at me with beady black eyes from a nebulous of smoke and dust that choked the room. I was their intruder. One of the lizards mockingly hissed a welcome, 'Please take a seat, you look weary.'
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Loads of bulls
Looking out of the library window at the Kings Manor here in York I can see a bronze calf.
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A Well Timed Care Package
One of the best-timed gifts my family and I have ever received arrived at our home on Mt Pleasant in May.
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Animals
The Gallery's Registration department keeps a close watch on our collection of art, with regular audits to make sure all is as it should be.
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When is a dog a mouse?
Throughout the centuries man has delighted in creating representations of his canine companions.