Next 4 Plinths artist for Wellington unveiled

Friday, 9 May 2025

Artist Martin Basher has been selected to receive the next Collin Post 4 Plinths Project Award of $50,000 to deliver a temporary sculpture on the forecourt of Te Papa in Wellington.

Basher’s work Big Flowers for a Wild City will be the 10th temporary work commissioned for the four plinths that mark the boundary between Te Papa and Wellington’s waterfront.

Chairperson of the Wellington Sculpture Trust Jane Black said: “We are excited to award this project to an artist of Martin’s standing. Although born … in Wellington, Basher has divided his time between here and his established arts practice in New York City for 25 years.”

The works will be Basher’s largest public project to date.

A graduate of New York’s Columbia University Master of Fine Arts programme, Basher has exhibited widely internationally. Though primarily a painter, he has made a number of public sculptures, including a major commission for The Public Art Fund, New York’s leading presenter of public art.

He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious residencies, and his work features in numerous public and private collections in the United States and New Zealand.

Basher said of Big Flowers for a Wild City: “The four seven-metre floral arrangements will sit in their plinth ‘vases,’ owning this monumental plaza. The sculptures … will rise up against the thrumming city back-drop. Constructed of steel and wood, the work will be a thrilling pop of colour against the muted hues of Te Papa and its surrounding buildings.”

The plinths currently have works by international designer Sabine Marcelis.

Basher’s works will be installed in February 2026.