Paul Dibble
{{Short description|New Zealand sculptor (1943–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Paul Dibble
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=100%}}
| image = Paul Dibble 2001.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Dibble in 2001
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name = Paul Hugh Dibble
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|03|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = Thames, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|12|05|1943|03|20|df=y}}
| death_place = Palmerston North, New Zealand
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality =
| alma_mater = Elam School of Fine Arts
| known_for = Sculpture
| notable_works = New Zealand War Memorial, London
| spouse = Patricia Burke
Fran McIntosh
| awards =
| website = https://pauldibble.com/
}}
Paul Hugh Dibble {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=85%}} (20 March 1943 – 5 December 2023) was a New Zealand sculptor.
Biography
Born in Thames on 20 March 1943 and raised on a farm in Waitakaruru on the Hauraki Plains,{{Cite web|url=https://www.milfordgalleries.co.nz/dunedin/artists/72-Paul-Dibble|title=Paul Dibble|publisher=Milford Galleries|access-date=11 August 2018}} Dibble was educated at Thames High School. He trained at the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland from 1963, graduating with a Diploma of Fine Arts with Honours in 1967.{{cite journal |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=Alister |title=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001 |journal=New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa |year=2001 |publisher=Alister Taylor Publishers |location=Auckland |issn=1172-9813}} He was one of the last group of Elam graduates to be trained traditionally with classes including modelling and life drawing.{{Cite book |title=Paul Dibble Continuum [Exhibition pamphlet] |publisher=Te Manawa Museum and Gallery |year=2023 |location=Palmerston North, New Zealand}}
Starting in 1965, Dibble collaborated with architect James Hackshaw and artist Colin McCahon on twelve projects to make works for Catholic churches in Auckland.{{Cite web |last=Hackshaw |first=Bridget |date=2021-10-22 |title=Let the light in: Colin McCahon’s forgotten architectural works |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/300436870/let-the-light-in-colin-mccahons-forgotten-architectural-works |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Stuff |language=en}} He taught art at secondary schools during the 1970s,{{Cite book |last=Zimmerman |first=Bronwyn |title=Paul Dibble sculpture map Palmerston North [pamphlet] |publisher=Zimmerman Art Gallery |location=Palmerston North, New Zealand}} then was appointed to lecture on painting and sculpture at the Palmerston North College of Education in 1977. Between 1997 and 2002 Dibble lectured in art at Massey University. he produced a wide range of pieces and mounted many one-man exhibitions, beginning with the Barry Lett Gallery in Auckland in 1971.{{cite web |url=http://www.gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz/media/168549/paul-dibble_2014-cv.pdf |title=Paul Dibble |year=2014 |publisher=Gow Langsford Gallery |access-date=29 November 2015}} Dibble received grants from the QEII Arts Council in 1979 and 1985 and held a residency at the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt in 1987–88. Dibble was based in Palmerston North, and in 2000 established his own bronze foundry at Cloverlea for larger works.{{Cite web |last=Dallas |first=Matthew |last2=Heagney |first2=George |date=2023-12-06 |title='Man of many contradictions': Sculptor Paul Dibble remembered as complex, confident artist |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/301022009/man-of-many-contradictions-sculptor-paul-dibble-remembered-as-complex-confident-artist |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=Stuff |language=en}} He was one of a small number of New Zealand sculptors who do their own large-scale casting.{{cite web |url= http://www.gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz/artists/pauldibble/ |title=Paul Dibble at the Gow Langsford Gallery |work=gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz |year=2015 |access-date=29 November 2015}}
Dibble was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the arts, in the 2005 New Year Honours,{{cite web |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-2005 |title=New Year honours list 2005 |date=31 December 2004 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=5 December 2021}} and in 2007 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Massey University.{{cite web |title=Honorary graduates |url=http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/calendar/officers-and-staff-of-the-university/honorary-graduates.cfm |publisher=Massey University |access-date=29 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425120049/http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/calendar/officers-and-staff-of-the-university/honorary-graduates.cfm |archive-date=25 April 2018 |url-status=dead }} He was made an honorary Fellow of the Universal College of Learning in Palmerston North in 2012.{{Cite web |last=Grocott |first=Mathew |date=2012-03-16 |title=Students' achievements recognised |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/6580479/Students-achievements-recognised |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=Stuff |language=en}}
Dibble worked in bronze. He referenced the apple in the Garden of Eden in several works, and other works referenced aspects of New Zealand's history such as Maui's fishhook, Captain Cook, sheep and farming. Native wildlife and plants, particularly huia and kōwhai, often featured in his work.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=5 December 2023 |title=Renowned New Zealand sculptor Paul Dibble dead at 80 |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/301021383/renowned-new-zealand-sculptor-paul-dibble-dead-at-80 |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Stuff |language=en}} Dibble's work is held in public collections in New Zealand, including that of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa,{{cite web |url= http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Party.aspx?irn=608 |title=Dibble, Paul at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa |work=collections.tepapa.govt.nz |year=2012 |access-date=3 March 2012}} the Dowse Art Museum, Te Manawa in Palmerston North, and the Christchurch Art Gallery.
In 2016, the Stuart Residence Halls Council gifted Dibble's sculpture Pathways to the University of Otago, to celebrate the council's 75th anniversary.{{Cite news|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/otago627845.html|title=Major artwork unveiled|publisher=University of Otago|access-date=11 August 2018}}
In May 2018 Dibble's sculpture The Garden 2002 was unveiled in Havelock North by Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy.{{Cite news|last=Harfield|first=Ruby|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=12045696|title=Havelock North sculpture unveiled by Governor-General|date=4 May 2018|work=New Zealand Herald|access-date=2020-04-05|language=en-NZ}}
Dibble died in Palmerston North on 5 December 2023, at the age of 80.{{cite news |url=https://deaths.manawatustandard.co.nz/nz/obituaries/manawatu-standard-nz/name/paul-dibble-obituary?id=53769675 |title=Paul Dibble obituary |date=7 December 2023 |work=Manawatū Standard |access-date=8 December 2023}}
Notable commissions
Gallery
File:Sculpture 'Looking and Listening for the Sea'.jpg|Looking and Listening for the Sea (1992), Wellington
File:Pacific Monarch Dibble MRD.jpg|Pacific Monarch (1992), Te Manawa, Palmerston North
File:All Creatures Great - side.jpg|All Creatures Great (1996), Palmerston North
File:The Nectar Eaters, Palmerston North in New Zealand (63).JPG|The Nectar Eaters (2004), Palmerston North
File:New Zealand memorial, Hyde Park, London (3778229482).jpg|New Zealand War Memorial (2006), London
File:Ghost of the Huia.jpg|Ghost of the Huia (2010), Palmerston North
File:Kowhai by Paul Dibble. 2011.png|Kowhai (2011)
File:The Gold of the Kowhai.jpg|The Gold of the Kowhai (2014), Napier
File:Te Pūatatangi ki Te Ika a Māui - 49779795472.jpg|"Dawn Chorus on the Fish of Māui" (2019), Palmerston North
Further reading
- {{cite book |last1=Dibble |first1=Fran |last2=Dibble |first2=Paul |title=Paul Dibble: The Large Works |year=2012 |publisher=David Bateman |location= New Zealand|isbn=9781869538194}}
- {{cite book |last= Cook |first= Jeanette |title=Paul Dibble |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpgDKwAACAAJ |year=2006 |publisher=David Bateman |location=New Zealand |isbn=9781869536527 }}
- {{cite book |last= Cook |first= Jeanette |title=Paul Dibble |year=2001 |publisher=David Bateman |location=New Zealand |isbn=1869535073}}
- {{cite web |url= http://tvnz.co.nz/nz-memorial/interview-sculptor-paul-dibble-870753 |title=An Interview with Sculptor Paul Dibble |publisher=Television New Zealand |work=tvnz.co.nz |year=2012 }}
- {{cite web |url= http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/books/paul-dibble-the-large-works-review/ |title=Paul Dibble: The Large Works – review |work=New Zealand Listener |year=2012 |url-access=subscription }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibble, Paul}}
Category:People from Thames, New Zealand
Category:People educated at Thames High School
Category:Elam Art School alumni
Category:Academic staff of Massey University
Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Category:20th-century New Zealand sculptors
Category:20th-century New Zealand male artists