Songs become art in Waxing Lyrical
Philly Hall with her Waxing Lyrical exhibition. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Wordfest is not just about words – it has a way of involving our visual artists, too.
Last year’s hugely successful Three Little Words exhibition introduced the idea of postcard-sized art and this year the theme is Waxing Lyrical. Artists were invited to take the words of any song they liked and interpret them within the constraints of the postcard format.
The results vary from the totally whimsical to the truly profound, the deeply metaphorical to the starkly literal and the devoutly devotional to the downright cheesy.
“It’s Nic Wooding’s inspiration and organisation we have to thank,” said Philly Hall, whose MONZA gallery is hosting the exhibition. “I think the results are phenomenal. You’ve got to be impressed by the quantity of work and the diversity of subject matter, approach and media. There are works on fabric, copper, collage, wood and even actual records. Lots of the artworks were snapped up by eager buyers on opening night and quite a few more have sold since then.”
Viewers are sure to be intrigued and charmed by the artwork inspired by the remarkably diverse range of songs chosen by the artists. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is there. So are Bird On A Wire and Ukelele Lady. I really liked Who put the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop?
The exhibition runs until 3 October and part of the proceeds of each sale will be given to the reading programme at Motupipi School.
Neil Wilson
