Jenny Gibbs
Arts Patron and Collector

The role of contemporary art in New Zealand:

The visual arts have always played a role in helping us define who we are, where we stand in the world, what makes us unique. From Colin McCahon to Michael Parekowhai, from Gordon Walters to Lisa Reihana, from Jacqueline Fraser to Michael Stevenson, Ronnie van Hout to Yuk King Tan, visual artists have had the power to infuriate and inspire, madden us with ambiguity and incomprehensibility - and make us look again. The mirror they hold up to society is not necessarily pretty or beautiful or the way we want to see ourselves - but we should never close our eyes - or our minds.