Len Lye

Len Lye (Leonard Charles Huia Lye, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, 1901–1980), was one of the most important experimental filmmakers of the 1930s to 1950s. At the same time, initially in New Zealand and Australia, later in London and in New York City, he created a fascinating body of work embracing all artistic disciplines which the exhibition showcases in all its variety and breadth. The three-volume catalog presents the exhibited works and new texts by leading experts on Len Lye in one volume each. The central volume is the first facsimile edition of his Totem & Taboo sketchbook. This booklet, in which he transcribed texts by Sigmund Freud and Ezra Pound and juxtaposed them with drawings by, among others, Maori and aboriginal artists, as well as Russian Constructivists, is regarded as one of the most important artefacts of twentieth-century New Zealand art.