Saturday 24 July - Sunday 29 August 2010
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Macquarie Street Hobart
A message from the Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Rob Valentine
Welcome to the 2010 City of Hobart Art Prize exhibition - an event that Hobart City Council is very proud to present.
The works created by the 22 artists practicing within the fields of digital media and ceramics demonstrate the high calibre of contemporary art work being produced both here in Tasmania and across the nation. I extend my congratulations to all the participating artists for their individual contributions to this nationally significant art prize.
My thanks go to the staff of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery for their expertise and professional assistance and to our valuable sponsors for their support of the exhibition. Hobart City Council would also like to acknowledge the ongoing commitment of its Visual Arts Sub-Committee.
My thanks also to this year's judges - Jose Da Silva, Curator (Film, Video and New Media) Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane and Brian Parkes, Managing Director, Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide who have travelled to Tasmania and committed themselves with enthusiasm and great professionalism to what is an always difficult task. In addition I would particularly like to acknowledge (our third judge), Jane Stewart, Principal Curator of Art, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery who has generously given her time, advice and energy in working with Council staff to make the City of Hobart Art Prize a truly professional event.
Selected from the exhibition, the works of the two winners in each category are acquired for the City of Hobart Art Prize Collection.My congratulations to the winning artists whose work stands out in what is an exceptionally strong field of contemporary Australian art practice.
The Council is very proud of its role in initiating and continuing to present this important national art prize. We believe it reflects our City's cultural identity as a place where contemporary visual arts, craft and design are nurtured and celebrated.
Please enjoy the exhibition!
2010 Prize Winners
Digital Media
James Newitt
Dreams 2008-09
2 channel 16:9 HDV, stereo sound
8:10 min
.jpg)
ARTIST STATEMENT
Through my work I explore forms of social encounter: people are observed, questioned or directed to perform. Both actual and fictional narratives emerge out of these encounters but fiction and reality are not presented as binary concepts, rather they co-exist and intertwine.
In the video Dreams, four street performers are connected through a series of beautifully tragic performances.
Futility and failure seem ever-present during these isolated and introverted performances, which are enacted in public spaces in the evening. The performers seem to be responding to their immediate environment, marking their presence in the city. Subtly extraordinary actions permeate the pulse of the city and everyday space becomes aestheticised and cinematised: a puppet dances to an unknown rhythm, a man hypnotically drums the street and surrounding structures, a clown waits for something to happen and a man softly hums folk songs over the din of relentless traffic. These performances introduce a human dimension to an indifferent urban landscape. Dreams was filmed in Los Angeles in 2008.
Ceramics
Gerry Wedd
Silent Spring 2010
Porcelain paperclay, cool ice, slips
Dimensions variable
silentspring_installation_(Medium).jpg)
ARTIST STATEMENT
I walk a lot, well that is if hitchhiking to and from the surf without any success constitutes serious walking. As I walk and the world slows down, I notice a lot more than I would from the passenger seat of the car; useful pieces of rope, various discarded bits of clothing and footwear (thongs are prominent) and of course rubbish. Lately I have noticed the alarming and portentous amount of small dead birds: canaries- in- the -coalmine perhaps? Have they flown into reflective windscreens? It's hard to say as the bodies show little evidence of trauma.
The MONA Prize
Belinda Winkler
Composition of Curves (20)
2010
Porcelain
Dimensions variable
.jpg)
ARTIST STATEMENT
My ceramic work explores sensual bodily form and tension in curve. These forms connect to the body in both an aesthetic and making sense. Both the process and the purpose are linked - for me making is a sensual experience.
My approach to slip casting is to push the original plaster forms into, over or between parts of my body. The slip cast forms that result from this process retell the memory of my body and are imbued with the tension and pressure of their creation. Positioned closely, where curve almost meets curve, space is compressed and the tension between forms is heightened.
Judges' Commendation Digital Media
Merilyn Fairskye
Fieldwork I I (Chernobyl) 2009
Single channel video projection
100 min
.jpg)
ARTIST STATEMENT
In February 2009 I travelled to Chernobyl, Ukraine to shoot footage of reactor #4. Driving into Chernobyl, a long row of abandoned houses stood on snow-covered ground still contaminated by radiation. Further along the road more toxic houses were shrouded in a thick layer of clay intended to contact the spread of contamination and prevent seepage into the earth. Despite the lasting contamination of the area, there has been a dramatic revival of its wildlife. Wild horse, boar and wolf populations are thriving, lynx have returned and barn swallows nest in the reactor building.
Judges' Commendation Ceramic
Stephen Benwell
Collection (1) Collection (2) 2009
Earthenware, found objects
24.5 H x 50 W x 50 D cm
.jpg)
ARTIST STATEMENT
This work came to mind after a trip to Greece. Each collection is a small installation that combines the influence of both museum displays and archaeological sites. The components look like classical antiquities - statuettes, busts, urns and trophies. Details are added by a scattering of modelled stones, rubble and shards. The collections could be from a just-opened tomb in which the contents, tumbled together, have the sense of being left behind only recently. Or they could be sites of ancient ruins where masonry and statues have fallen to the ground and settled in interesting, albeit awkward ways.
Exhibiting Artists
Digital Media
Chris Bennie, Damiano Bertoli, Merilyn Fairskye, Chris Howlett, James Newitt, Elvis Richardson, Grant Stevens, Matt Warren.
Ceramics
Stephen Benwell, Les Blakebrough, Stephens Bowers, Penny Byrne, Alan Constable, Michael Doolan, Neville French, Jeff Mincham, David Pottinger, Penny Smith, Vipoo Srivilasa, Gerry Wedd, Belinda Winkler, Sara Wright.
Judging Panel
The members of the judging panel for the 2010 City of Hobart Art Prize were:
- Jose Da Silva, Curator (Film, Video and New Media) Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
- Brian Parkes, Managing Director, Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide
- Jane Stewart, Principal Curator of Art, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
The members of the judging panel for the 2010 MONA Prize were:
Lindy-Lou Bateman
Leigh Carmichael
Judges' Statement
This year, the three judges took the liberated curatorial line. paring back the number of finalists in comparison with past City of Hobart Art Prizes (CHAP). This was uncharted terrain in the history of the Prize and we approached the selection of finalists with a studious degree of care and consideration.
There is rarely an exhibition that brings the moving image and ceramics together in isolation, so rather than separates the two disciplines; we chose to explore the conceptual and aesthetic connections between all works. CHAP 2010 may be a little quirky owing to the seemingly disparate disciplines, but it is also an arresting survey which spans emerging to senior practice across the nation. It represents diverse approaches to each art form: from slip cast, wheel thrown and hand built ceramic vessels and sculptures, to projected and screen based images which adopt documentary, animation, interactive, and appropriative techniques.
The interplay between traditional and contemporary materials and approaches establishes a platform where common perceptions of each discipline might be challenged. Ceramics is viewed in the slippery, intangible, and motion-charged world of screen based media, which is enhanced by the materiality of crafted objects. For art forms which are founded on opposites (light/substance, motion/stasis, 'new' media /traditional) there are universal similarities in the artists' interests, with works from each discipline exploring landscape, popular culture, identity, relationships, and loss, with a mixture of sobriety through to irreverence.
Hobart City Council is commended for embracing Digital Media in this acquisitive award. It has demonstrated a willingness to roll with the times at a period when art prizes nationally are under scrutiny. Such responsiveness is made possible by the unique flexibility of this prize , ensuring CHAPs continuation as a vibrant contemporary exhibition of thought and practice nationally.
Jane Stewart
Principal Curator of Art
Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery
The Peoples' Choice Award
A non-acquistive award of $1,000 for the most popular work in the exhibition, as voted for by the people of Hobart. www.moorilla.com.au
View the 2010 City of Hobart Art Prize Catalogue.pdf
