Sculpture to Cook at Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Description:
The Art Gallery is located next to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, overlooking the harbour, it is just 15 minutes’ walk from the city centre.   The address is Art Gallery Road, The Domain 2000, Sydney.
The gallery houses the modern sculpture of Captain James Cook made of highly polished stainless steel.
The figure is dressed in long coat, with hair tied in a pony-tail, and is shown sitting on a sculptor’s work table, in reflecting pose.
The highly polished surface of the sculpture reflects the image of everything and everyone surrounding it, including the harbour which Cook passed in 1770.   These reflections constantly change with the light.
The work is over 2.5 metres tall.

History:
Made by the noted New Zealand artist Michael Parekōwhai, in 2015.
The artist first produced the image from block polystyrene, from which 96 pieces of stainless steel were moulded.  These were welded together before the whole was polished to the mirror finish.
The sculpture was acquired by the Gallery with personal funds of patron Mr Peter Weiss, AO,  a generous benefactor to many projects in NSW.

Official Name of the Sculpture:
The English Channel


GPS Coordinates:  -33.868820,  151.209296

References:
Cook’s Log, page 11, vol. 40, no. 3 (2017)
Website:  https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artsets/6fd57c


Image gallery (click to enlarge)