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"A SHOCKER!"
In 1974 all of Paul Gibbs' work was confiscated by the Police and he was threatened with prosecution after an enraged woman tried to destroy an installation "Field of Phalluses".
Making front page news nation-wide with headlines like "SEX ART PROBE" it sparked a public debate on civil liberties and the arts.
No charges were brought.
In 1986-87 the work was included in:
A Survey of Controversial New Zealand Art
"When Art Hits The Headlines"
The National Art Gallery, New Zealand.
( Jim Barr's book "When Art Hits The Headlines" is required course reading for Postgraduate Art History, "Contemporary Issues In Western Sculpture" )
ARTISTS STATEMENT:
This work hardly saw the light of day before it was seized without due legal process and held in a police storeroom.
Several smaller table sculptures incorporating Perspex,
latex, leather and glass were also seized and later returned damaged beyond repair.
Some of the original large latex pieces were kept in the Auckland City Art Gallery storerooms but the nature of
latex is that it self-destructs and decomposes over time.
To properly assess this work now, it would really need to be recreated ( almost 30 years later )
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