Public protests against French nuclear bomb tests in the Pacific Ocean led to legislation in 1987 declaring New Zealand nuclear free.
Blast! Pat Hanly – the Painter and his Protests is an exhibition touring the country and has been showing at the Millennium Art Gallery in Blenheim since Friday.
It contains large, colourful paintings by Hanly , black-and-white photographs by Gil Hanly and Claudia Pond Eyley, and a newly published children's book by Trish Gribben recounting that time in New Zealand's history.
With things to appeal to viewers of different ages, the exhibition was a good one to have in the gallery at this time of the year, says Millennium director Cressida Bishop.
Those old enough to remember the 1980s will see the photographs and remember the years when people turned out in their thousands to make politicians take notice of their concerns.
One of the black-and-white photographs shows protesters holding a large banner, declaring: "If the people lead, the leaders will follow." Another asks: "What are you going to be when you blow up?" "It's an opportunity for young people to learn about that time," Bishop says.
All visitors with time to spare can watch a long documentary on a DVD, playing on continuous rotate in a corner of the room where Hanly's large, colourful pictures hang.
Hanly was born in 1932 and helped revitalise New Zealand art in the second half of the 20th century. Subjects for his works ranged from the domestic and personal to social and political issues.
An exhibition press release identifies passion and protest, light, love and life as the themes for his anti-nuclear works.
"Pat Hanly was a small man with a big-hearted, wide-seeing view of the world. He was bold and brave.
"All through his life he painted and spoke up about political and social things that disturbed him, especially nuclear testing when France was exploding bombs at Moruroa, in French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean," the report says.
"With this book and exhibition, we hope to engage an audience of all ages and tell a very New Zealand story of the power of art to move hearts and minds."
Blast! Pat Hanley – the Painter and his Protests will continue to show at the Millennium Art Gallery during January.
2011年12月12日星期一
2011年11月10日星期四
Still Painting Fetches $61.7 Million as Protesters Cry ‘Shame’
An abstract painting by Clyfford Still sold for a record $61.7 million last night, headlining Sotheby’s biggest New York contemporary art sale in three years, while protesters outside chanted “Shame on you!”
The $315.8 million auction at Sotheby’s York Avenue headquarters also broke artist records for Gerhard Richter and Joan Mitchell. Six floors below in the street, picketing art handlers were joined by Occupy Wall Street protesters and unionized musicians playing high-decibel Latin rhythms. Since July 29, 42 handlers have been locked out by the publicly traded auction company over a contract dispute.
“It demonstrates the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots,” said New York art dealer Richard Feigen. “You see people demonstrating out there, people are out of jobs and their houses. And people in here are dumping millions into art.”
The sale, the biggest for Sotheby’s since May 2008, beat the presale high estimate of $270 million, which excludes commissions. Earlier in the day, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 3.7 percent.
“Blue-chip global artists are properly recognized as part of the diversification strategy,” said New York-based art collector Larry Warsh. “Because of the supply and demand issues, we see this tremendous pressure on pricing.’
The Still painting, “1949-A-No. 1,” shattered the artist’s previous record of $21.3 million, achieved at a Christie’s International sale in 2006. It sold to a telephone bidder, represented by Lisa Dennison, Sotheby’s chairman of North and South America. She won a bidding war against Christopher Eykyn, a New York dealer who had a mobile phone to his ear and his hand covering his mouth.
The work was one of four Stills consigned by the City of Denver that raised a total of $114.1 million for the endowment of the Clyfford Still Museum, which opens in Denver next week. The reclusive artist died in 1980.
Three of the works were completed in the 1940s and one in 1976. The top lot, in deep reds and velvety blacks, more than doubled its presale low estimate of $25 million.
During his life, Still sold very little and frequently rejected exhibition opportunities. His will stipulated that the estate be given in its entirety to a U.S. city willing to establish a permanent museum housing his work alone.
Richter’s “Abstraktes Bild” (1997) sold for $20.8 million, beating his $16.5 million auction record set last month at Christie’s in London. The 8.5-by-11-foot oil canvas, rich in purple, red and blue, was one of eight abstract paintings by the German artist from a private collection. Every painting exceeded its high estimate.
“I wish I had some Richters,” said Miami-based contemporary art collector Mera Rubell.
Francis Bacon’s 1967 “Three Studies for a Self Portrait” on a deep-green background fetched $19.7 million. Mitchell’s vibrant 1960 abstract canvas went for $9.3 million.
John Elderfield, chief curator emeritus of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, placed the winning bid for Donald Judd’s fluorescent red Plexiglas and stainless steel sculpture, which fetched $4.7 million.
Sotheby’s charges buyers 25 percent of the hammer price up to $50,000, plus 20 percent from $50,000 to $1 million, and 12 percent above $1 million. Pre-sale estimates don’t include the buyer’s premium.
One of the evening’s high-profile casualties was Mark Rothko’s “Untitled (Plum and Dark Brown)” painting from 1964. Estimated between $8 million and $12 million, it found no takers.
Only in the rear of the salesroom last night, where bottled water, brownies and cookies were dispensed to clients, could the protesters’ drumming, whistling and chanting be heard.
Michael Sovern, Sotheby’s Chairman and a former president of Columbia University, called the gap between the U.S. rich and poor “outrageous,” but disagreed that the sale and protest were a reflection of the divide.
“It’s a conventional labor dispute,” he said in an interview at the sale. “It isn’t affected by the gap between the rich and poor.”
Dealers and collectors were confronted by several dozen protesters, who screamed “shame on you” at those who entered the building.
“Nothing can a stop a collector,” said Barbara Annis, a New York private dealer. “People believe in art and it goes up and up and up.”
The $315.8 million auction at Sotheby’s York Avenue headquarters also broke artist records for Gerhard Richter and Joan Mitchell. Six floors below in the street, picketing art handlers were joined by Occupy Wall Street protesters and unionized musicians playing high-decibel Latin rhythms. Since July 29, 42 handlers have been locked out by the publicly traded auction company over a contract dispute.
“It demonstrates the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots,” said New York art dealer Richard Feigen. “You see people demonstrating out there, people are out of jobs and their houses. And people in here are dumping millions into art.”
The sale, the biggest for Sotheby’s since May 2008, beat the presale high estimate of $270 million, which excludes commissions. Earlier in the day, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 3.7 percent.
“Blue-chip global artists are properly recognized as part of the diversification strategy,” said New York-based art collector Larry Warsh. “Because of the supply and demand issues, we see this tremendous pressure on pricing.’
The Still painting, “1949-A-No. 1,” shattered the artist’s previous record of $21.3 million, achieved at a Christie’s International sale in 2006. It sold to a telephone bidder, represented by Lisa Dennison, Sotheby’s chairman of North and South America. She won a bidding war against Christopher Eykyn, a New York dealer who had a mobile phone to his ear and his hand covering his mouth.
The work was one of four Stills consigned by the City of Denver that raised a total of $114.1 million for the endowment of the Clyfford Still Museum, which opens in Denver next week. The reclusive artist died in 1980.
Three of the works were completed in the 1940s and one in 1976. The top lot, in deep reds and velvety blacks, more than doubled its presale low estimate of $25 million.
During his life, Still sold very little and frequently rejected exhibition opportunities. His will stipulated that the estate be given in its entirety to a U.S. city willing to establish a permanent museum housing his work alone.
Richter’s “Abstraktes Bild” (1997) sold for $20.8 million, beating his $16.5 million auction record set last month at Christie’s in London. The 8.5-by-11-foot oil canvas, rich in purple, red and blue, was one of eight abstract paintings by the German artist from a private collection. Every painting exceeded its high estimate.
“I wish I had some Richters,” said Miami-based contemporary art collector Mera Rubell.
Francis Bacon’s 1967 “Three Studies for a Self Portrait” on a deep-green background fetched $19.7 million. Mitchell’s vibrant 1960 abstract canvas went for $9.3 million.
John Elderfield, chief curator emeritus of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, placed the winning bid for Donald Judd’s fluorescent red Plexiglas and stainless steel sculpture, which fetched $4.7 million.
Sotheby’s charges buyers 25 percent of the hammer price up to $50,000, plus 20 percent from $50,000 to $1 million, and 12 percent above $1 million. Pre-sale estimates don’t include the buyer’s premium.
One of the evening’s high-profile casualties was Mark Rothko’s “Untitled (Plum and Dark Brown)” painting from 1964. Estimated between $8 million and $12 million, it found no takers.
Only in the rear of the salesroom last night, where bottled water, brownies and cookies were dispensed to clients, could the protesters’ drumming, whistling and chanting be heard.
Michael Sovern, Sotheby’s Chairman and a former president of Columbia University, called the gap between the U.S. rich and poor “outrageous,” but disagreed that the sale and protest were a reflection of the divide.
“It’s a conventional labor dispute,” he said in an interview at the sale. “It isn’t affected by the gap between the rich and poor.”
Dealers and collectors were confronted by several dozen protesters, who screamed “shame on you” at those who entered the building.
“Nothing can a stop a collector,” said Barbara Annis, a New York private dealer. “People believe in art and it goes up and up and up.”
2011年5月10日星期二
U.K. Solar Microinverter Startup Enecsys
The leader of the U.S. solar microinverter market, Enphase Energy, needs to watch its back. On Tuesday U.K. startup Enecsys announced that it’s raised £25 million ($41 million) in equity to essentially try to conquer North America (work on product, boost sales in the U.S. and Canada).
Microinverters are mini, distributed versions of centralized large solar inverters, which convert electricity from solar panels from direct current to alternating current in order to be used on site or feed the grid. Each microinverter is typically paired with one panel. Centralized inverters have been used for decades and each can perform the job for an array of panels at a time, while the market for microinverters is newer and growing rapidly.
Enecsys started its life out of the labs at Cambridge University in 2003 and launched its first product in Europe last year, Peter Mathews, vice president of North America sales, told me recently. While Enecsys says it is the only supplier of microinverters in Europe now, the company is just now crossing the pond with its microinverters for North America.
Enphase, on the other hand, is heading over to Europe after demonstrating on its home turf that it can drive demand for microinverters. The company is running field trials with its microinverters in Europe and plans to start shipping the products “shortly,” said Raghu Belur, vice president of products at Enphase.
Enphase has shipped more than 500,000 microinverters within North America since its initial product launch in the summer of 2008, making it the largest microinverter supplier in the world. It, too, has raised some hefty capital, including a $63 million round in 2010. The company is redesigning its microinverters and the accompanying cabling for wiring them to solar panels for a series of launches this year.
Climate Change Capital Private Equity became a new investor in Enecsys by putting in £11 million ($18 million) in the new round. The rest of the money came from existing investors, Wellington Partners, NES Partners and Good Energies, who collectively put up £8.5 million ($14.3 million) for Series A in 2009.
Microinverter Market
Microinverters remain a tiny piece of the overall inverter market for several reasons, partly because they are currently designed for small solar electric systems for homes and businesses.
Developers of industrial-size solar energy systems and even smaller ones for the residential market still prefer centralized inverters partly because centralized inverters have been in use for much longer, so there are a wealth of long-time performance data that investors can turn to in order to calculate capital and operational costs of a project over its life expectancy of 20-25 years.
Centralized inverters also are cheaper than microinverters, although some of them come with shorter warranties than microinverters. Many of these large solar power projects are located on large tracks of flat roofs or the ground, where shading isn’t such a big problem.
But there are some key benefits of microinverters. Namely, they can track and adjust power output for each solar panel to make sure the poorest performing solar panel doesn’t drag down the performance of the rest of the panels in an array. This feature is crucial for solar panels that need to go on slanted rooftops where they could be under the shades of trees or other structures for part of the day.
As a result of this tracking capability, microinverter makers often tout how much more electricity their hardware could squeeze out of each solar panel (or rather, how much electricity that won’t be lost). Enecsys claims its microinverters can deliver 5-20 percent.
Creating a nice web portal with good graphics, such as the one by Enphase, to show the performance of each panel also is an attractive feature for consumers, many of whom choose solar because they want to do something that is good for the environment and maybe save them money over the long run.
Microinverters are mini, distributed versions of centralized large solar inverters, which convert electricity from solar panels from direct current to alternating current in order to be used on site or feed the grid. Each microinverter is typically paired with one panel. Centralized inverters have been used for decades and each can perform the job for an array of panels at a time, while the market for microinverters is newer and growing rapidly.
Enecsys started its life out of the labs at Cambridge University in 2003 and launched its first product in Europe last year, Peter Mathews, vice president of North America sales, told me recently. While Enecsys says it is the only supplier of microinverters in Europe now, the company is just now crossing the pond with its microinverters for North America.
Enphase, on the other hand, is heading over to Europe after demonstrating on its home turf that it can drive demand for microinverters. The company is running field trials with its microinverters in Europe and plans to start shipping the products “shortly,” said Raghu Belur, vice president of products at Enphase.
Enphase has shipped more than 500,000 microinverters within North America since its initial product launch in the summer of 2008, making it the largest microinverter supplier in the world. It, too, has raised some hefty capital, including a $63 million round in 2010. The company is redesigning its microinverters and the accompanying cabling for wiring them to solar panels for a series of launches this year.
Climate Change Capital Private Equity became a new investor in Enecsys by putting in £11 million ($18 million) in the new round. The rest of the money came from existing investors, Wellington Partners, NES Partners and Good Energies, who collectively put up £8.5 million ($14.3 million) for Series A in 2009.
Microinverter Market
Microinverters remain a tiny piece of the overall inverter market for several reasons, partly because they are currently designed for small solar electric systems for homes and businesses.
Developers of industrial-size solar energy systems and even smaller ones for the residential market still prefer centralized inverters partly because centralized inverters have been in use for much longer, so there are a wealth of long-time performance data that investors can turn to in order to calculate capital and operational costs of a project over its life expectancy of 20-25 years.
Centralized inverters also are cheaper than microinverters, although some of them come with shorter warranties than microinverters. Many of these large solar power projects are located on large tracks of flat roofs or the ground, where shading isn’t such a big problem.
But there are some key benefits of microinverters. Namely, they can track and adjust power output for each solar panel to make sure the poorest performing solar panel doesn’t drag down the performance of the rest of the panels in an array. This feature is crucial for solar panels that need to go on slanted rooftops where they could be under the shades of trees or other structures for part of the day.
As a result of this tracking capability, microinverter makers often tout how much more electricity their hardware could squeeze out of each solar panel (or rather, how much electricity that won’t be lost). Enecsys claims its microinverters can deliver 5-20 percent.
Creating a nice web portal with good graphics, such as the one by Enphase, to show the performance of each panel also is an attractive feature for consumers, many of whom choose solar because they want to do something that is good for the environment and maybe save them money over the long run.
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