Ferner Galleries (Home)

Cube is a dynamic piece, crossing the traditionally fraught barriers that divide the classification of art and design.

Bolwell's Cube exhibits a complexity that belies its apparent simplicity and it can be seen as an art object with both aesthetic value and functional purpose: the artist has sealed the panels of the Cube so that it could be used as a coffee table. The grid structures on each side of the cube obviously relate to the Rubik's cube, with the pieces
of the puzzle never working. The use of the grid is also reminiscent of the work of the Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian, whose grid based paintings, such as Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red (1939-42) can be interpreted as an abstracted birds-eye view of a mapped out cityscape. The laying of grids over land can also be seen as metaphoric for progress, the building of cities has stated that the Cube "is a puzzle and the question is how do you solve it?"

In the tradition of 1960's Pop Art, the imagery on the
panels of the Cube are found in everyday New Zealand culture, although this work runs contrary to the throw away component of Pop Art.

The native animals, trees and the ubiquitous 'sheep' are iconic 'kiwi' symbols used by marketing, advertising and tourism companies to sell our image and products, both here and abroad. Bowell's
deliciously candy-coloured cube is good enough to eat off!