Quasi sculpture moves on from City Gallery

Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Quasi, the recognisable sculpture of a hand with a face, will be lifted by helicopter from its perch on top of Wellington’s City Gallery on Saturday, weather permitting.

The 5m-tall sculpture by Melbourne-based artist Ronnie van Hout, has looked down on the city for five years. It was initially commissioned by the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2016 and moved to the capital in 2019. It will be heading to an undisclosed venue in Australia.

Quasi, referred to Quasimodo, the bellringer of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, was a partial self-portrait of van Hout, based on scans of his own body parts.

The sculpture made international headlines when a helicopter lifted it onto the City Gallery’s roof to preside over Civic Square. It proved to be divisive amongst Wellingtonians: some liked it, but others called it “terrifying”, “nightmarish” and “creepy”, even comparing it to former US president Donald Trump’s face.

The gallery’s then chief curator, Robert Leonard, said Quasi was “about being a freak, being an outsider, being deformed and being misunderstood”.

Judith Cooke, director of exhibitions at Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington, said it had been a privilege to share a home with Quasi. The sculpture had a huge impact on Wellington, generating discussions about art.

“Quasi will continue to bring his big personality wherever he goes.”

Wellington Sculpture Trust chairperson Jane Black said never before a sculpture arrived so dramatically in the city’s streetscape.

“He was a great cheerleader for Wellington’s creativity,” she said. “He will be missed and leaves a Quasi-shaped hole on our civic skyline.”