Unveiled on July 3, 2011, "Who’s Afraid" is the sixth work commissioned by the Palmerston North Public Sculpture Trust. It is by local artist, Paul Dibble.
The site of the work, outside the Regent Theatre on Broadway, the city’s centre for performing arts, is the ideal spot for a work conveying a strong sense of drama; appearing to be an extension of the theatre itself.
A bronze of blue-green patina, the sculpture is in two contrasting pieces challenging each other, physically and metaphorically. The taller, the dancer, stands 3.5 metres. Closest to the theatre this smooth, agile, expressive performer meets the steely gaze of the inert, grizzled, impassive tuatara.
Paul Dibble has resided in Palmerston North since 1976, and has several other public sculptures in the city, throughout New Zealand and overseas. In collaboration with Athfeild Architects he was selected to design and execute the New Zealand Memorial in London, completed in 2006.
He was awarded the New Zealand order of merit in 2004 for services to the arts and an honorary doctorate from Massey University in 2007.
Click on the map on the left to view a larger version.
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