Max Gimblett
The Kiss
Artwork Detail
The gorgeous silver-leaf surface of The Kiss reflects light but also seems to soak it in. Like a gilded icon it has a strong physical presence. Max Gimblett says this mirror surface is ‘about including the viewer in the painting’. Gimblett began experimenting with metallic pigments in 1982; the alchemy of silver and gold marking what he terms his ‘mid-life transformation’. Like Constantin Brâncusi’s 1916 sculpture of the same name, or the circular form of a Buddhist mandala, The Kiss is a sign of wholeness or ideal union.
- Title
- The Kiss
- Artist/creator
- Production date
- 1991
- Medium
- gesso, water gilded silver and lacquer on wood panel
- Dimensions
- 1016 x 1016 mm
- Credit line
- Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of the Patrons of the Auckland Art Gallery, 1994
- Accession no
- 1994/27/3
- Copyright
- Copying restrictions apply
- Department
- New Zealand Art
- Display status
- Not on display
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