Publications

Paul Dibble is a sculptor with a unique New Zealand vision. A vision shaped by the environment in which he was born and raised – the flat farmlands of the Hauraki Plains.

Renowned for his work primarily in cast metal, his specially adapted techniques have their origins in his early sand-filled canvas reliefs from the 1970s. The contributors to the publication examine Dibble’s work thematically from his early installations after graduating from art school to the later monumental works.

has traversed many subjects in his sculptural work – often returning to them years later, like godwits coming home to roost.

Between 2010 and 2020, human figures and native New Zealand flora and fauna have been among Dibble’s oft-revisited subjects, his work refining these figures to their simplest forms. Yet, while the forms may be simplified, the implied sense of movement, the anticipation of action and captured emotion are paramount.

Ambitious in his scope and vision, Paul Dibble remains one of New Zealand’s most original and respected sculptors.

Paul Dibble

Published by Bateman Books

First published in 2001

ISNB-10: 1-86953-652-5 (paperback)

ISNB-10: 1-86953-653-3 (hardback)

Second edition published in 2006

ISNB-13: 978-1-86953-652-7 (paperback)

ISNB-13: 978-1-86953-653-4 (hardback)

Aiming to discuss the context around sculpture – why they were commissioned, the ideas behind why they were built – this book is arranged in non-chronological sections about where sculptures are sited, in private homes, schools and in civic spaces.

It focuses on larger works that have become landmarks where they stand.

One chapter is assigned to Southern Stand: The New Zealand Memorial in Hyde Park, the most significant commission in Dibble’s career.

Paul Dibble: The Large Works

Published by Bateman Books in 2012

ISNB  978-1-86953-4 (hardback)

The geometrics are a series of works that are figurative in content with the human form reduced to simple geometric shapes.

First exhibited in the late 1990s they were a genre returned to throughout the artist’s career. The appeal is a purer form of aesthetics that it represents, working with proportion and balance.

Paul Dibble: The Geometric Figures, 20 Years

Published by Dibble Art Company 2017

ISNB  978-0-473-38928-4 (paperback)

Paul Dibble has traversed many subjects in his sculptural work – often returning to them years later, like godwits coming home to roost.

Between 2010 and 2020, human figures and native New Zealand flora and fauna have been among Dibble’s oft-revisited subjects, his work refining these figures to their simplest forms. Yet, while the forms may be simplified, the implied sense of movement, the anticipation of action and captured emotion are paramount.

Ambitious in his scope and vision, Paul Dibble remains one of New Zealand’s most original and respected sculptors.

Paul Dibble X A Decade of Sculpture 2010 – 2020

Published by Bateman Books 2020

ISNB  978-1-98-853841-9 (paperback)

ISNB  978-1-98-853855-6 (hardback)