Gavin Hipkins
Empire (Beach)

Artwork Detail
Gavin Hipkins’ photo-collage is an enlarged wood
engraving by renowned English illustrator Anton Lock
juxtaposed with a contemporary urban ‘patch’. The
engraving depicts Kealakekua Bay, the Hawaiian site
where Captain James Cook was murdered in 1779. The detail in the image is obscured by an overlaid woven decal, which appears to be an image of Yama, the Buddhist and Hindu Judge of the Dead. Rendered as the embodiment of death, the serpent’s tail is substituted for hair surrounded by a four-part nimbus in green, gold, black and blue. Instead of being a terrifying image, Empire (Beach) looks like a scene from a graphic Gothic novel.
- Title
- Empire (Beach)
- Artist/creator
- Production date
- 2007
- Medium
- C-type print
- Dimensions
- 1700 x 1247 x 63 mm
- Credit line
- Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Patrons of the Auckland Art Gallery, 2007
- Accession no
- 2007/30/1
- Copyright
- Copying restrictions apply
- Department
- New Zealand Art
- Display status
- Not on display
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