B.

John Edgar's sculptural pieces focus as much on the changing New Zealand landscape as they do on the implicit social and cultural changes in our land. In these recent works, as Dr Rodney Wilson writes in the catalogue introduction, we are invited to consider the explorations and experiences of seeking and finding a place, of signalling a position, of constructing a foundation and of making a mark ‒ through stone or flag.

John Edgar was born in Auckland in 1950 and in his early career worked as a research chemist and a prospector. In 1977 he began to explore the sculptural qualities of stone, metal and glass and since that time has been a significant figure in the world of meticulously sculptured stone forms.

John Edgar: Lie of the Land presents a selection of recent work made in 1996‒7. With Edgar's characteristic superb crafting, simplicity and elegance of form we are offered multi-layered works where form and symbolism are seamlessly fused. While dealing with faulted and tilted geological landforms, binary bar codes or the national symbolism of the flag and marker, the works in Lie of the Land also refer to social and cultural concerns well beyond the exhibition space. They draw ideas into the space like a kind of mental breathing, or the pulse of embodied thinking. As it is sometimes said, things are visible ideas, and in Edgar's works we are encouraged to move from the outer space of the visible object, through the inner space of the associations aroused by the symbolism embodied in the titles. The fresh ideas and understandings which arise at the intersections are sometimes called the third space.

Exhibiting since 1979, John Edgar opened a new workshop at Te Rau Moko, Karekare in 1992. With stone prospected from Australia, Africa, India and New Zealand he has used homogeneous and fault free blocks, which have allowed him to increase the scale of his works. New diamond faced grindstones also enabled new working methods and contributed to the creation of these large, elegant and visually stunning pieces which are simple yet very witty and thought provoking.

This exhibition was held at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Botanic Gardens.