National Contemporary Art Award finalists
Forty-three finalists have been selected from amongst 283 entries for the Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award 2009.
Award judge Charlotte Huddleston, who is a well-known curator and essayist, and is currently the Curator of Contemporary Art at Te Papa Tongarewa the Museum of New Zealand, selected the finalists from a diverse range of artists and media.
“If there is a common thread between the 2009 finalists it is a plurality of approach to thinking and making that is most evident,” she said. “The works reflect a multi-faceted and enquiring interaction with and response to the experience of contemporary life. It is a real pleasure to be faced with such a variety of works that use material and situation to engage thoughtfully and imaginatively.
“There are a multitude of ways to view the world and as many ways to represent it. The works that I have responded to are those which are reflexive, responding to or questioning their situation, and sometimes challenging ways of being and looking.”
Waikato Museum Director Kate Vusoniwailala said the museum is proud of its association with the annual award.
“The award is the highlight of our arts programme for the year and provides a key opportunity for emerging, as well as established artists, to participate in one of the leading contemporary art competitions in New Zealand,” she said.
The winner will be announced on 4 September and will receive $15,000 in prize money sponsored by Trust Waikato. The finalists’ work will then be exhibited at Waikato Museum from 5 September until 24 January 2010.
Of this year’s finalists, four (Lisa Benson, Shelley Norton, Meliors Simms, and David Roper) are Hamilton artists.
The full list of finalists
Dane Mitchell, Auckland
Collateral (Various),
Simon Glaister, Auckland
Bumprise (Paper),
Nicki Wynnychuk, Melbourne, Australia
Tree to sea ceremony (Type C digital print),
Leonie Smith, New Plymouth
...camera obscura, 2 piece kit, one size fits all, (2009)... (Papier mache, found objects, house paint),
Jodi Ruth Keet, Te Puke
Husband and Wife (Self-portrait and portrait), (Photographic print),
Leslie Falls, Hastings
Girl talk (DVD, ink and graphite drawing),
Helen Calder, Christchurch
51 fl.oz. (Acrylic paint, stainless steel rod),
Helen Calder, Christchurch
68 fl.oz. (Acrylic paint, stainless steel rod),
Richard McIlroy, Auckland
Kite (Timber, hardboard, watercolour paint, PVA),
Ruth Cleland, Auckland
Travelator (Graphite on paper),
Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Auckland
Ah-round (HD digital video),
Brydee Rood, Auckland
Down to Earth (Mixed media installation),
James Robinson, Wanganui
Threshold (Mixed-media painting and assemblage on canvas and board),
Janet McGifford, Wellington
Taj Mahal (Lambda photographic print),
Clinton Watkins, Auckland
Avalanche (Single channel 4:3 video loop, stereo sound on DVD),
Kirsty Lillico, Wellington
Study 5 (Lambda photographic print),
Gary Peters, Wellington
Lookout (Acrylic on canvas),
Stafford Allpress, Auckland
Keep door shut (House paint, wire, MDF),
Justine Walker, Wellington
Untitled (performance #8) (Paper, pencil, stickers),
Bernie Harfleet, Auckland
In the eye of the beholder (Photographic print 1/1),
Cath Watson, Wanganui
Topsy (Kiln-cast, lead crystal glass lost wax technique),
Jill Sorenson, Auckland
Horse (Pine, coloured pencils, modelling clay, magazine clippings, graphite),
Matt Ellwood, Auckland
From a photograph taken a couple of years (Charcoal pastel on paper),
Virginia Woods-Jack, Wellington
An untitled empty portrait (Video installation),
Shelley Norton, Hamilton
I like Olympia in plastic (Plastic shopping bags and entomology pins),
Meliors Simms, Hamilton
You are an agent of change (Textile),
Marcus Williams and Susan Jowsey, Auckland
Thames Mercy (Photograph),
Imogen Kerr, Auckland
Jacob (toilet) (Oil on MDF),
Akiko Diegel, Auckland
Up where we belong (photograph),
Deborah Crowe, Auckland
Kibble Palace, small world II (C-type photographic print on aluminium),
Catherine Day, Masterton
Zephyr (2008) (Video),
Ellen Smith, Whangarei Heads
Clearing III (Pigment inks on acid-free cotton rag),
Vivian Ward, Auckland
Intersecting time (Digital photomontage),
David Boyce, Wellington
Short Stories: We danced after you told me you loved me, and then we told stories (Silver gelatine black and white photographic print),
Deborah Erueti, Christchurch
Untitled (Photograph),
Deborah Erueti (x2), Christchurch
Untitled (Photograph),
Miranda Parkes, Christchurch
Flapping Gannet, Muriwai 2009 (DVD, 1; 14s looping),
David Roper, Hamilton
Waikato watercolours (Digital photomontage),
Richard Maloy, Auckland
Sculptures 1-6 (Six photographs),
Lisa Benson, Hamilton
Still (Antique black and white photographic paper, gathered light from artist’s studio, and Waikato Museum during the exhibition),
Amit Charan, Wellington
Aluminium, mirror, glass sheet (Painting),
Ash Kilmartin, Manukau City
Making progress: Clarity of Vision parts 4-6 (Pine, leather, brass),
Maree Wilson, Kaikohe
Organic wood painting (Gesso, automotive paint on MDF)
Image: Kirsty Lillico, Study 5 (detail), 2009. Lambda photographic print.
