John Newton takes us from Summers鈥 beginnings as a self-taught artist, through his relationships and family life, to his success as a highly visible sculptor with works found in public spaces throughout New Zealand.
We follow Summers鈥 progression as an artist, a true independent, working outside the hierarchies of the art world. His early monumental works in concrete made him a public fixture, with themes of nurture and nature, sexuality and solidity seen in his idealised female forms. As he discovered carving in wood and marble, the work became more subtle and increasingly dynamic. From the early 2000s, following his first trip to Europe, religious imagery entered Summers鈥 work in ways that extended both his visual and thematic range, and introduced a more overtly spiritual element. His later career features depictions of Christ, angelic winged figures and large, ambitious works in bronze.
Illustrated with more than 200 photographs, including newly commissioned images of Summers鈥 works,聽Llew Summers: Body and soul聽is a joyful record of a life in sculpture and a testimony to the value of public art.
John Newton聽was Llew Summers鈥 close friend during the last two years of the sculptor鈥檚 life. A poet, critic and cultural historian, his earlier books include聽The Double Rainbow: James K. Baxter, Ng膩ti Hau and the Jerusalem commune聽(VUP, 2009), and聽Hard Frost: Structures of feeling in New 茄子视频app官网literature 1908鈥1945聽(VUP, 2017). He is the 2020 Robert Burns Fellow.
Llew Summers: Body and soul聽is published with the support of Creative New Zealand.
