Fe29 is thrilled to add, New Zealand sculptor and medal artist, Marian Fountain (Paris) to the list of talented artists we represent.
For those who wonder how we came to have Marian’s work in our gallery, it was the result of a series of happy coincidences.
In June this year, we made an unexpected trip up country to meet with artists Tanya Ashken (Island Bay, Wellington) and Hamish Horsley (Wanganui). The purpose, to plan for two exciting Fe29 exhibitions planned for early 2018. More about these later.
Before leaving Dunedin, we decided to take a quick look on-line to identify any artists we might like to catch up with along the way. Marian’s website came up and we were immediately captivated by what we saw. Disappointment set in when we quickly realised that, while she was a Kiwi artist, she actually lived in Paris. Making a note to contact her on our return to Dunedin, we headed off on our first trip since we opened Fe29 in late 2015.
Driving first to Wellington, we enjoyed a number of fabulous days with Tanya Ashken.
Unfortunately our trip coincided with the Lions tour, and the ferries and accommodation were fairly heavily booked, leading us to reconsider our plans to drive to Wanganui. Our initial thoughts were that we should reschedule, however at the last minute we changed our minds which turned out to be a VERY good decision.
Leaving first thing in the morning, we drove to Wanganui, meeting with Hamish at Milbank Gallery where his exhibition was about to close. While we were in the back room talking with Bill (Milbank) about a wonderful artist he represents, Hamish walked in and casually said “Come and meet my friend Marian. She’s over from Paris”. Our mouths dropped open, we looked at each other and then exclaimed in unison “NOT MARIAN FOUNTAIN?”.
“How did you know?” came Hamish’s stunned reply. It turned out that Marian was in New Zealand for her mother’s 90th birthday. Hamish made the introductions, explaining that we had Fe29 Gallery in Dunedin, where he planned to exhibit his work in late 2017. A plan for Marian to fly to Dunedin to check us out, was quickly hatched over afternoon tea at one of the local cafés. A week or so later, she was in our gallery, walking us through her website. Weeks passed as we agonised over which works to select for an exhibition. We needed the works to hang together, but also wanted to show some of the diversity contained in the 500+ works Marian has created over the past 33+ years.
Finally works were ordered, packaged and 5 crates left Marian’s studio in Paris via the running man. A week later the 5 crates, containing 53 stunning Marian Fountain sculptures, medals and bas-reliefs arrived at Fe29, Dunedin. This was quickly followed by a further 7 medals, bringing the total to 60. Unpacking the crates, we felt like small children at Christmas. There were many exclamations of delight as each work opened proved to be even more beautiful in person than in pictures. Over the next couple of weeks, stands and cabinets were prepared and on October 7th, we opened the exhibition “In Our Hands“, Marian Fountain (a Kiwi in Paris).
The exhibition will run until the 8th November, so don’t miss seeing these incredible works. Also check out the article on the Marian and the exhibition in this weeks Arts Page of the Otago Daily times.