29 Aug 2019
When artists, designers, industry resources, and clients work together, common places are transformed into spectacular spaces. CODAworx, the hub of the commissioned art economy, has once again partnered with Interior Design magazine to announce the winners of the seventh annual international CODAawards: Collaboration of Design + Art. The CODAawards recognize outstanding projects which successfully integrate art into interior, architectural, or public spaces.
MEDIA RELEASE from CODAworx
Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) by New Zealand artist Gill Gatfield received Merit honors in the category of Public Spaces, recognising exceptional artwork in spaces designed for public use.
“Jurors were incredibly impressed with the goals of the project, the successful integration of the artwork into the space, and the collaborative process between all of the parties involved. Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) is an outstanding achievement.”
Supported by Creative New Zealand, the project was led by Gill Gatfield Studios and involved close collaboration with NZ companies: 5R Solutions, NZ Glass, Glasshape NZ, Art Workshop & Red Gecko.
CODAawards 2019
“The CODAawards recognize the importance of collaboration and honor the design and art professionals whose collective imaginations create the public and private spaces that inspire us,” said Toni Sikes, CEO of CODAworx.
In its seventh year, the CODAawards received 435 entries from 26 different countries around the globe, representing over $118 million USD in commissions. Awarded projects include artworks in USA, Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand. The merit winners exemplify the best of what can happen when artists and design professionals collaborate to create artful spaces in our built environment.
An esteemed panel of 18 jurors from the design, architecture and art worlds judged the submissions. Jury members included Robin Klehr Avia, Regional Managing Principal, Gensler; Jeremy Crandell, Co-Lead, Central Arts Team, Burning Man; John Edelman, CEO, Design Within Reach; JoAnn Edwards, Executive Director, Museum of Craft and Design; Susan R. Ewing, Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art; and Mark Zeff, President, Mark Zeff.
The CODAawards will be covered in the August 2019 issue of Interior Design magazine, on CODAworx.com, and through eleven design + art partner organizations, reaching the largest, most qualified audience of design and art professionals in the world.
The Artwork
Presented at Silo Park on Auckland’s waterfront during the Summer of Sculpture 2019, Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) transformed the industrial architecture of a disused Silo into a powerful and captivating public sculpture. Involving over a year of planning, the artist smashed and carved 16.5 tons of glass into an undulating landscape which pressed against the 30mH castle-thick walls.
Glass Ceiling (NZ Aotearoa) explodes and re-imagines the metaphoric ‘glass ceiling’ - an invisible barrier preventing the advancement of women and minority groups in public life. Commemorating 125 years since New Zealand women won the vote, the first nation in the world to grant women’s suffrage, the monumental artwork engaged diverse audiences visiting the popular waterfront park, encouraging reflection, and generating discussion on gains made and the work ahead.
The Artist
Artist Gill Gatfield (LLB, MFA Hons) creates abstract sculptures and installations that combine sensory materials with narratives about humanity, nature and place.
Since her first solo exhibition in 1999, Gill’s artwork has been exhibited widely in NZ, Australia, USA and Europe, held in public and private collections, won national and international recognition, and commissions for place-making artworks.
Recent exhibitions include: Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 in ‘Time, Space, Existence’ curated by Global Art Foundation; American Institute of Architecture A18 New York; International Sculpture Centre, Chicago Expo 2018; SCAPE Public Art 2016; Sculpture by the Sea Denmark 2015; 18th International Open Chicago 2015; Kvindemuseet / Women’s Museum Denmark 2015; ‘Squaring Up’ Melbourne 2015; Chicago Sculpture International 2014; and Sculpture by Sea Sydney 2013.
Gill was 2015 Artist in Residence at the national Women’s Museum Denmark commemorating the Danish suffrage centenary; and sole Juror of 18th International Open 2015 Chicago, an open competition for women artists worldwide. Also a human rights advocate, she is the author of a landmark text Without Prejudice: Women in the Law (Brooker’s 1996, Heritage Title 2011, Thomson Reuters 2018) reissued in 2018 in response to #Metoo. Gill is a member of Global Women, a multi-sector organisation advancing diversity and inclusion; and was awarded a 2019 Sculpture Fellowship at the international Vermont Studio Centre USA.
See: www.gillgatfield.com for information about Gill’s work, exhibitions, awards and publications.
Installation was supported by a Creative New Zealand Arts Grant.
All images courtesy of artist Gill Gatfield.
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