Crossing Urbis Porta responds to the watercolour Urbis Porta (City Gate) produced in 1926 by Auckland Architects Gummer and Ford that features a mirrored double to the Dilworth Building on the adjacent corner of Queen Street. Looking beyond the representational intent of Gummer and Ford’s watercolour, Crossing Urbis Porta focuses on the magnified mark-making of the drawing. The enlarged details reveal curious tensions in the architectural rendering, particularly between the ruled graphite lines, the aqueous flow of pigmented washes and evaporated water drops. The animated drawing now located on digital screens in the Dilworth Building lobby, offers an imaginative entrance into the fluid interior of the image, one that exceeds the architectural picture frame.
Open from 10am-5pm, Monday to Sunday for ArtWeek in the city centre. The entrance is on Customs Street East.
Artist: Sue Gallagher
Part of ArtWeek in the City Centre 2023.
