Greer Lascelles Twiss (born 23 June 1937) is a New Zealand sculptor, and in 2011 was the recipient of an Icon Award from the

Arts Foundation of New Zealand 'The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The concept ...

, limited to 20 living art-makers.

Career

Twiss was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

on 23 June 1937, and graduated from

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The schoo ...

in 1960 with a Diploma of Fine Arts with honours. In 1965, he received a QEII Arts Council Travel Grant, which he used to study

lost-wax casting Lost-wax casting (also called "investment casting", "precision casting", or ''cire perdue'' which has been adopted into English from the French, ) is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass, or bronze) i ...

in Europe. He is best known for his works in bronze. In 1966, he was appointed as a lecturer at Elam, and he eventually became the head of sculpture there in 1974. He retired in 1998.

Works

His works are in the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. He has participated in many exhibitions including ''Volume and Form'', Singapore; ''Content/Context'' at Shed 11 - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; and ''Aspects of Recent New Zealand Art'',

Auckland City Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

. He has been the subject of two retrospective presentations by the

City Gallery Wellington City Gallery Te Whare Toi is a public art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. History City Gallery Te Whare Toi began its life as the Wellington City Art Gallery on 23 September 1980 in a former office block located at 65 Victoria Street, now ...

and by the Auckland Art Gallery. His work, ''Flight Trainer for Albatross'', stands at the entrance of the Auckland viaduct on

Princes Wharf Prince's Wharf, or Princes Wharf, may refer to: * Princes Wharf, Auckland Princes Wharf is a former commercial wharf on the Auckland waterfront, in Auckland, New Zealand, which has been redeveloped into a multi-story high-class mixed-use devel ...

. and his large-scale bronze ''Karangahape Road Fountain'' has been a fixture of Pigeon Park at the intersection of

Karangahape Road Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flight of resident ...

and Symonds Street since 1969.

Honours and recognition

Twiss was a guest contributor to the sculpture park at the

Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Twiss was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to sculpture, and in 2011 he received an Arts Foundation Icon Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twiss, Greer 1937 births Living people Artists from Auckland Elam Art School alumni University of Auckland faculty New Zealand sculptors Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit