2005 National Art Award Media Release
Prime Minister Helen Clark
with Judge Warren Feeney of CoCA,
and
the winning work Mr Yip Man of Hong Kong by Louie Galloway
WAIKATO NATIONAL PAINTING AND PRINTMAKING AWARD, 2005
Pavilion, Hamilton Gardens, Hungerford Drive, Hamilton.
At 7.00 pm on Friday, February 18, this year’s invited
judge, Warren Feeney, Director of CoCA, Christchurch announced 19 year
old Louie Galloway as the winner for 2005. Galloway is the
first local artist to win the Award, and his win follows a sell-out
first exhibition last year. Carol Fletcher, Wintec Media Arts
student, and WSA member was awarded one of the four merit awards for
her work Brown.
Feeney selected 48 finalists, many of whom were present
at the gala award presentation, out of around 300 entrants from
throughout New Zealand. This is the 5th year of the National
Painting and Printmaking Award, and as usual the judge has been asked
to curate the exhibition.
Mrs Lyn Vela, representing the sponsors, the Philip
Vela Family Trust, presented the winner with a cheque for
$15,000. The Trust also purchased Galloway’s Mr Yip
Man of Hong Kong, making this one of the most lucrative and sought
after awards in the country. In building their collection
over the past five years the Vela family have amassed an outstanding
collection of contemporary New Zealand
art.
This week Mr Vela announced that the Trust support of
$25,000 per year: $15,000 for 1st prize, and $10,000 towards purchase
the winning work, and possibly other finalists, is to continue for a
further 5 years. Exciting news for the New Zealand art
world! Feeney feels that this Award is now unique in the
country, and would “very much like to see it travel.”
Previous winners and finalists have used this
prestigious event to springboard their careers both in New Zealand and
overseas. Pam Nash, spokesperson for Waikato Society of Arts,
coordinators of the awards, says “The standard of work entered
increases every year. We are delighted with Warren’s exhibition,
and are sure that our visitors will think so, too. This is an
outstanding opportunity to view the best of current artistic thought
and endeavour, and also to purchase extremely affordable work, as all
entries are for sale”.
Prime Minister Helen Clark spent an hour privately
viewing the award prior to the opening as she was unable to open the
exhibition as hoped.
Virtual Image Turns Into Real Object
[News Release] -- February/March 05 --
Digitally-created, re-painted, mixed media work
is finalist in National Painting Award.
Clay
Bodvin’s work "Raw MAterials (Still Life in Waiting) #2" is one of 47 finalists selected, out of 247
entries, for New Zealand’s Waikato National Art Award, Summer 2005
exhibition.
This work was initially composed and rendered
digitally for a limited-edition of inkjet prints and was the first of
Bodvin’s work in 2004 to undergo a Maroflage-type process that
transfers the digital image onto prepared panels. The process includes
overpainting with oils, acrylics and wax pencils to produce the final
work.
The artist says "...as a painter the desire to
maintain that notion of the one-off original, created by hand remains
very strong and, at times, is the appropriate solution...with the
process I'm now using, as much of the textural detail and colour of the
original digital files can be maintained as desired."
A large body of Clay’s work completed in 2004 can be seen at
http://www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/m/mediummixer/
Also look out for a dramatic departure from
previous images in a new series of work, about to be posted on Bodvin’s
website above.
To contact the artist click on
mailto:clay@mixedmediums.com