Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre

2024: My gosh, that is one shiny building. One of the more striking buildings I've seen in NZ, which steals the spotlight from the exhibitions, as they pale in comparison. Most of the interior was rather empty, I guess with the focus on negative space..? The main art is the architecture.

The building itself is very distinctive and well designed. There is a 15$ entry fee. The staffs are very friendly and helpful. The displays/ arts works of Len Lye are interesting and look unique. The staff will initiate the movement of the art pieces in certain time so you can fully understand the arts works. It is not for everyone and you can appreciate the futuristic arts of Len Lye. There is a small souvenir shop. Overall pleasant trip. P.s - there is no car park at the gallery and needs to park on the street parkings.

Interesting exhibits. The highlight was chatting with the woman making fine cord from flax fibres. Her experience makes a very skilled process look simple. She is full of a wealth of information about the history, significance, raw materials, experiments with pigments, identifying the best varieties of source plants, etc which she explains calmly, with a lot of patience. A one woman exhibition really. Be aware that there is only one dynamic belt exhibit currently and it is somewhat underwhelming. Locals get free entry, adults $15, senior $10.

Incredible building. The Len Lye collection isn't always on display but there's always something to look at.

Nice building and friendly service from the staff. I was not too impressed by the exhibitions though.

Wonderful displays and lots of staff posted about to answer questions and provide information. You can easily spend an hour wandering through the various galleries. Gift shop is not too bad either.

My family visited for the screening of a documentary 6 Inches of Soil in the Len Lye Theater. What a wonderful location and very well kept theater. While having popcorn 🍿 would have been a bonus, we appreciated the cleanliness. Every seat has a great view of the screen. There was a Q and A after which was nice as well.

The building is a work of art. However when I was there, the exhibition rooms were closed for some private events. 3 were open including the Snake exhibition, which was cool. Ticket was $5 that day, cheaper by half lest the exhibition rooms were all open. The Snake exhibition, which was a moving show, by Len Lye was quite cool to watch though I would have preferred the movements to be more slow mo and last longer than 10 minutes, it would have made it more impactful mesmerizing. Other rooms show contemporary artists, in which one includes a photography. The gallery seems dedicated to LGBTQ arts which I do not find too artsy. Nevertheless, I could see why Len Lye was a great artist and pioneering in his field of kinetic art. I would love to see more of his works in this time