Book Launch | Happy Moments by Len Lye

Scorpio Books, the Len Lye Foundation and Atuanui Press warmly welcome you to the launch of Happy Moments by Len Lye, edited by Roger Horrocks. Initially published posthumously in 2002 (though written in the 1960s) this new revised edition coincides with the 125th anniversary of Lye’s birth in Christchurch, New Zealand, and features previously unpublished memoirs, photographs, and drawings.

In celebration of the 125th anniversary of Len Lye’s birthday, trustees of the Len Lye Foundation will speak to the legacy of the artist and this colourful account of his early years in New Zealand. It covers his most intense experiences during the first two-dozen years of his life, including his childhood years at the Cape Campbell lighthouse, his passion for drawing, his exploration of sex, and his discovery of modern art. Lye documented his experiences in crisp, rhythmic sentences, full of sensations and feelings, described by the poet Alistair Reid as “beautifully transparent and heart-stopping.”

Happy Moments is the remarkable life story of a streetwise young man who grew up in severe poverty but had the energy and vision to become a highly creative artist. Lye’s text is accompanied by many of his unique drawings, or “doodles” as he called them, and also by personal photographs. Happy Moments is a lively, down-to-earth record of early experiences and a rich introduction to Lye’s original approach to art.

The book launch will be introduced by Sarah Davy and Alexandra Porter of the Len Lye Foundation

Born in Christchurch in 1901, Len Lye is one of the most important artists to have emerged from New Zealand. He was one of this country’s first modern artists in the 1920s, going on to have a spectacular career as a painter and filmmaker in Britain (which has celebrated his filmmaking on a British postage stamp) and later in the USA (where his art has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney, and other major museums). He earned a global reputation as a pioneer of experimental filmmaking and as a leading creator of kinetic sculpture. Though working internationally as an artist, Len deeply valued his formative years in New Zealand, and he wrote the book Happy Moments to celebrate them.