Vivian Lynn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vivian Lynn
Lynn in 1971
Born	Vivian Isabella Robertson (1931-11-30)30 November 1931 Wellington, New Zealand
Died	1 December 2018(2018-12-01) (aged 87) Wellington, New Zealand
Education	Ilam School of Fine Arts Auckland Teachers' Training College
Known for	Contemporary art
Notable work	Works held in public collections at Auckland Art Gallery, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Christchurch Art Gallery
Style	Print, drawing, painting, sculpture

Vivian Isabella Lynn (born Robertson) was an important New Zealand artist. She was born on November 30, 1931, and passed away on December 1, 2018.

Vivian Lynn's Early Life and Learning

Vivian Lynn was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1931. She went to Wellington Girls' College from 1945 to 1948. After high school, she studied art at the Ilam School of Fine Arts at Canterbury University College. She finished her Diploma of Fine Arts in painting in 1952.

Later, in 1954, she also earned a Diploma of Teaching from Auckland Teachers' Training College. At art school, her teachers included famous artists like Rata Lovell-Smith and Bill Sutton. Vivian Lynn said that her art classes mainly focused on old European art. They didn't teach much about New Zealand art or new art styles. However, she did meet other New Zealand artists like Colin McCahon and Rita Angus.

Supporting Women in Art

Vivian Lynn was one of the first artists in New Zealand to explore ideas about women's roles in her art. She started doing this in 1968. She strongly supported the women's art movement in New Zealand. In the early 1980s, she helped create the Women's Art Archive. This archive helps keep a record of art made by women.

In 1983, Vivian Lynn was featured in a special issue of a New Zealand magazine called Broadsheet. This issue was all about art by women. In an interview, Lynn talked about how her parents both worked during World War II. They also shared family chores and raised their children. She felt that during the war, women's work was valued more. This made her expect equality. But after the war, society changed. Women were expected to be wives and mothers again. It seemed like having a career and being married were not possible at the same time.

Vivian Lynn's Amazing Artworks

Vivian Lynn created art using many different materials. She made collages, drawings, paintings, prints, books, sculptures, photographs, and large art setups called installations.

In 1972, Lynn spent a year in the United States. There, she became very interested in printmaking. Throughout the 1970s, she made many prints. Some of her works from this time include Book of Forty Images (1973–1974) and Playground. These artworks explored why women faced social and political challenges.

Between 1977 and 1979, Lynn created a series of works on paper. These are now kept at the Christchurch Art Gallery. In these pieces, she reworked old drawings from her art school days. She used them to comment on how women were shown in traditional Western art history.

Large Installation Art

Vivian Lynn is perhaps most famous for her large installation artworks from the early 1980s.

• Guarden Gates (1982) is a sculpture made of seven cyclone-wire mesh gates. She wove human hair and ribbon through them. This artwork is now at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Each gate has a special title. These titles show different stages of a woman's life, like Matrix and Rebirth.

• Her artwork for the 1982 Wellington sculpture festival, called Mantle, was also an installation. It was a rectangular shape made from hair. She collected this hair from local hair salons over several weeks.

• Another artwork using hair was Stain (1984). This piece looked like a stream of human hair flowing down the marble steps of a cathedral. It was part of an art project in Dunedin.

• In Lamella/Lamina (1983), Lynn made 15 delicate columns. She used architectural drawing paper that she treated to create texture. This artwork was shown in Hobart, Australia. It was a response to the threat to the rainforest on the Franklin River. Lynn said the columns were like a symbol for how sensitive and vulnerable things are. They also showed how people become stronger as they get older.

• Gates of the Goddess – a southern crossing attended by the Goddess (1986) is another large artwork. It has three big panels. Two panels form a path for people to walk through. The third panel has the shape of a goddess. This work is now at the Auckland Art Gallery. It brings together many of Lynn's ideas, especially about healing and valuing things that were once seen as unimportant. She used damaged tapa cloth (a traditional fabric) to show how women's crafts were often not given much respect.

Later Works and Exhibitions

From the late 1980s to 2008, Vivian Lynn explored new ideas in her art. She used images of her own DNA in a series called Drawing Connections. She also became interested in the mind and brain. She used Rorschach images (inkblot tests) in works like Your Mental Set and Mind Field. In 1997, she showed a large installation called Spin: versor versa. It featured nine images of her own brain. This was shown at City Gallery, Wellington.

A special exhibition of Vivian Lynn's work was held in 2008–09. It was called I, HERE, NOW: Vivian Lynn and was shown at the Adam Art Gallery in Victoria University of Wellington.

Vivian Lynn's art can be found in many public collections across New Zealand. These include the Auckland Art Gallery, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and the Christchurch Art Gallery.

Melanie Oliver, a curator at the Dowse Art Museum, said that Vivian's art covered many important changes in New Zealand art. She created her own unique path. She asked questions about nature, the environment, identity, and how women's and men's cultures are different.

Vivian Lynn was also a teacher. She taught for many years at the Wellington Polytechnic School of Design. This school is now part of Massey University.

Vivian Lynn's Passing

Vivian Lynn passed away in Wellington on December 1, 2018. She was 87 years old and had been ill for a long time. Her death was just one day after her 87th birthday.

Exhibitions of Vivian Lynn's Art

Vivian Lynn had many solo exhibitions (shows of only her work):

• 1971 Vivian Lynn prints and paintings, New Vision Gallery, Auckland
• 1982 A survey 1972–80 and new work, City Art Gallery, Wellington (now City Gallery Wellington)
• 1983 Twist, National Art Gallery, Wellington (now Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa)
• 1986 The Goddess gateway: a southern crossing attended by the goddess, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
• 1993 Vivian Lynn: Guarden gates and related works, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• 2008 I, HERE, NOW Vivian Lynn, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington

She also took part in many group exhibitions (shows with other artists' work):

• 1963 Contemporary New Zealand Painting 1963, Auckland City Art Gallery (now Auckland Art Gallery)
• 1980 Opening exhibition, City Art Gallery, Wellington
• 1983 Lamella-lamina, ANZART-in-Hobart, Hobart, Australia
• 1984 Aspects of recent New Zealand art: anxious images, Auckland City Art Gallery (and touring)
• 1993 Alter image: negotiating feminism and representation in recent New Zealand art 1973–1993, City Gallery Wellington
• 2018 Embodied Knowledge, The Dowse Art Museum