BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Gibbs Farm

A sculpture park in XXL format with monumental art in the grandness of nature

Richard Serra, Te Tuhirangi Contour, 1999/2001. © Gibbs Farm
Richard Serra, Te Tuhirangi Contour, 1999/2001. © Gibbs Farm
Zhan Wang, Floating Island of Immortals, 2006. Gibbs Farm. Photo: David Hartley-Mitchell
Zhan Wang, Floating Island of Immortals, 2006. Gibbs Farm. Photo: David Hartley-Mitchell

It’s as if giants had dropped their toys on green grass hills. At the Gibbs Farm sculpture park, opened in 1991, on the coast of New Zealand, art and nature correspond in a way that emphasizes the monumentality of both. Since the 1960s, entrepreneur Alan Gibbs has collected works by Richard Serra, Sol LeWitt, Andy Goldsworthy, George Rickey, and Daniel Buren—all artists known for grand outdoor gestures. But even art aficionados are amazed by the dimensions of these site-specific sculptures, some of which extend—in the case of Goldsworthy’s Arches—into the water. It’s not surprising that the park has become a visitor magnet. If you’re looking to be one of them, however, book a tour as early as possible: Gibbs Farm is open to the public only one day a month.

Anish Kapoor, Dismemberment, Site 1, 2009. © Gibbs Farm
Anish Kapoor, Dismemberment, Site 1, 2009. © Gibbs Farm
Anish Kapoor, Dismemberment, Site 1, 2009. © Gibbs Farm
Anish Kapoor, Dismemberment, Site 1, 2009. © Gibbs Farm
Neil Dawson, Horizons, 1994. © Gibbs Farm
Neil Dawson, Horizons, 1994. © Gibbs Farm
Marijke de Goey, Tango Dancers, 2014. © Gibbs Farm
Marijke de Goey, Tango Dancers, 2014. © Gibbs Farm

More Information on Gibbs Farm

Kaipara Harbour (1)