Front Row Forward

1989

Llew Summers

Accessible

Type

  • Sculpture

Medium

  • Concrete

Dimensions

  • W1930 x H1500 X D2080mm

Llew Summers, ‘Front Row Forward’ (1989), Jaycee Park, Kaitāia

Image: Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

Description

This figure is a rugby player from the 'front row forward.' Players in this position compete for the ball in scrums and line-outs and tend to be the bigger, stronger, but also slower and less agile members of the team. The massive bulk of Summers' front row forward is poised on a single leg. The torso is held horizontal above the ground and the rugby ball has been tucked in close underneath the body. The player's face is vertical to charge forward with all the weight of their body behind them.

This work was made in 1989 and won the Aotearoa Contemporary Art Festival Sculpture Award Kaitaia ($2000.00) in 1990. It was subsequently purchased by the Far North District Council for $12,000 raised through fundraising.