Artist Andre Bronnimann has depicted Wanganui landmarks in a "traditional with a twist" painting to showcase the district.
Mayor Michael Laws commissioned the painting, paid for from his foregone mayoral salary, and it will initially hang in the mayoral office and later be on public display.
Mr Bronnimann, of Wanganui, formally handed
the 3m by 1.7m work over yesterday. His painting Bird of Paradise features on this year's Wanganui telephone book. It is an honour he has held twice before, for the 2003-04 and 2001-02 phone books.
Mr Bronnimann said Mr Laws' brief was something that was traditional with a twist. It took him 150 hours, and he was paid $2500.
A carpet cleaner by day, Mr Bronnimann hoped to become a full-time artist.
Mr Laws said he chose Mr Bronnimann for the work because of his success in the phone book competitions. The work was a surrealist twist on all the things that were great about Wanganui.
He said the artist had a rare talent for capturing mood. He thought the painting was "absolutely fantastic" and he would be proud to show it to visitors. It was readily available to be assimilated, enjoyed and understood by many Wanganui people and was not elitist art.
Mr Laws said feedback on the painting had included "Oh my God, you've taken everything out of context", but international class work did that. The Maori carving on the Opera House pillar recognised the physical contribution of tangata whenua and local iwi to the physical and cultural environment.
Wanganui lacked art work and writing that was a public representation of what the district was, Mr Laws said.
"We're not very good at telling our story in Wanganui. It's almost as if we want to shrink away from the rest of New Zealand. I'm a loud and proud man."
Mr Laws said he planned to jazz up the council chamber and make it available as a formal reception area for all the district.
Already photographs of his 25 predecessors had been hung around the room and he planned to ask council for funding to commission art work to tell Wanganui's story.
A Peter McIntyre painting of Wanganui and a honours board of former town clerks etc would be installed in the chamber.
